Collective effort

It is amusing to be a silent spectator to problem solving

Most evenings, I take a short walk around the apartment complex. The community is a middle class community with children playing outside every evening. Seeing children playing outside is a joy, and never fails to lift my spirits.

One day as I was walking past the play area, I stopped to see what the commotion was all about. Slippers were being thrown as high as little hands could, and all the little children were standing around giving instructions. It was then I noticed the two badminton rackets lodged up in the tree branches above.

The little band of racket-throwers were now trying to retrieve them from the trees. It is amusing to be a silent spectator to problem solving such as this. Several suggestions were being given by all gathered (Some enthusiastic, but clearly not grounded in laws of physics. Others, theoretically brilliant but lacking the practical aspects such as the presence of a long seven-foot stick). When it looked like they were close to dislodging the racket by themselves, I carried on, only to come back a few minutes later on my rounds to see that several attempts had yielded nothing. A general despondency had set in, and some gloomy faces stared at the unyielding tree with its branches so ridiculously high above.

When it was obvious that the little folk could not dislodge the rackets, a small dip in their collective can-do attitude was apparent. Sensing this, the older children, playing a little distance away, gathered to help. On my walk as a spectator, this was such a heartwarming scene, for I could see the future of humanity secure in this simple act. When one of us suffers a setback, the others come to help willingly without even being asked. The older children had height on their side, and the tallest one lifted a younger child, who then dislodged the racket with a stick lying around.

The cheers erupted all around. One might have assumed that a World Series match was just finished. But this jubilation was a different one altogether and play resumed.

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