Stories of the open road

By Pathum Punchihewa

He is ready to make his move. The Knight… the menacing yet the most tactful dynast of the chess board… And still there are some advantages left on the board for you but you ought to concede that it’s all about saving your king at all cost, by any meaning. Hence through that meaning, “the king” is the most important fact of the chess board but even as a rookie chess lover, you know that you are able to do nothing if you are left on chess board with only the king and winning desires!

And that’s not all. You might possess pawns alongside the king. Soldiers on the chess board that you are willing to sacrifice without a blink. But remember, a Pawn is not just a low level soldier just for ‘open fire’ and ‘sacrifice without a heartache’.  Three pawns in definite positions can protect king from attacks.  Three pawns in definite position can check mate opponents king. It’s your chess 101. Never underestimate a single piece of the board, neither Queen nor Pawn!

Now the Moral of our little chess talk... Let me put it in this way. Once, in a web page I have read something like this: "Whether one is rich or poor, educated or illiterate, religious or non-believing, man or woman, black, white, or brown, we are all the same. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, we are all equal. Each of us has hopes, worries, fears, and dreams.”

If you decide to follow the philosophical stream and consider life as a one giant chess board, well you are just another piece that is game to contribute your part. A piece with the ability to attack, counter-attack, defend the whole wing, allow taking the biggest turn of the game and even the one that make pronounce the end line: “Check mate”!

Life is a chess board and we all are pieces who move toward till the game ends… Twisted Shakespeare if you ask me!

Now it’s your turn to take a look at inner ‘you’. Are you willing to accept each and every fellow human as a part of the brotherhood despite all the differences, asymmetries and discords? Consciously or unconsciously, all the time we becomes a part of the society, we renege a certain set of people over many reasons. Class, cast, knowledge, education, color, status… yet when it comes to the big picture, does those inconsistencies really matter? We all are the crew of a one giant space ship after all. Just pieces of a giant chess game…

“I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. From the very core of our being, we desire contentment. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace.” That’s by Dalai Lama and that explains a lot about being human, the unique equality.

As I highlighted before, ‘Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box’. An Italian Proverb and wise saying… we all are earthlings after all!

Published on Daily Mirror (21st July 2011)