WOW! WOW! WONDERING IN WANDERING

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By Ashok Silwal
Kathmandu

In the past days,
All around in our Valley,
Experimenting directly
With my dear little son
Less than three years old,
What means WONDERING:
Being excited by new things..
Surprise, astonishment, fuddle…
Not yet able to express his emotions in words,
Not yet able to ask for explanations,
Answers to his ‘why’,
He runs everywhere to the right and to the left,
He goes up and down the steps,
He hugs the statues of elephants and griffins
Of Bhaktapur stairway,
He is calm, silently observing in Pashupatinath
Almost feeling the respect that the place requires,
He has fun with the monkeys in Swayambhunath,
With the elephants and crocodiles at the zoo.

It is a deep WONDER for me too:
Seeing his wide eyes, his mouth that laughs and smiles,
Always looking for a new surprise,
A new discovery to make.
What pride, what joy for a father..
Inexpressible, in front of this enthusiasm.
WANDERING and WONDERING both!

And I, becoming aware of how important it is,
Even as an adult
To know how to be amazed!
‘Whoever fails to feel awe and WONDER
Is already dead, – said Eisnstein –
And his eyes are unable to see.’

Children are curious without prejudice,
With the purity and innocence that distinguishes them,
They are able to grasp
The beauty of life in all its facets
And it is an exciting sight to watch them:
Being amazed, discovering,
Looking for new surprises around the corner,
A color, a material, a shape, a smell.
All this is knowing….
And the spirit of conquest puts in a good mood.
WONDERING in WANDERING.

Over time, we become more rigid,
More pragmatic, more cynical.
Children have no past experience,
Then it is easier to WONDER.

But that does not mean we adults have to give up..
We shouldn’t turn off the light in our eyes.
WONDER is something unexpected and sudden
That cannot be predicted, anticipated.
It is for what makes us happy
To discover, to know even in old age.
Just because it is not a question of age,
But of attitude: don’t take anything for granted and sure!
Of course, we can also WONDER at bad things..
It is life, it is knowledge, it is an experience..
Let WONDER be childish..
Because whoever fails to be surprised lives a flat life
An infinite sequence of habits and repeated actions.
Curiosity is as joyful as children:
Who knows how to amaze is enthusiastic.
He is confident of discovering a secret,
An enriching surprise…
WOW! WOW!