The other day, I was sitting on the rooftop because electricity was out. As it is usual, especially, in the countryside area. The tractor's noise had softened somewhat, the generator sounds, which I hate the most, had faded, and the sky looked bigger. Bunch of stray dogs barking. And in that moment, I found myself staring at a small rock near my charpai (bunk bed) - just an ordinary piece of stone.
A strange thought engulfed my mind: what if this stone could speak?
Not in English; not in Urdu. Not in any language I know. But speak in its own way, just like animals do.
I once came across an idea about a man who tried to “teach a stone to talk”. And, to be honest, it does not even sound strange. When one can talk with dolls, then what’s wrong with a stone? Moving forward, he would wrap an ordinary stone in leather, keep it carefully, and when it was time for its “class”, he would sit with it and attempt conversation.
Before any meaningful conversation, even between humans, three things are required.
First is sacrifice. He sacrificed his time. In our world, time is the biggest blessing. We give it only to what we consider valuable: work, screens, useful people. But to sit with a stone is to declare that it matters.
Second is suppression of self. We are so full of our own noise that nature feels approachable anymore. In this social media oriented, fast paced world, you have to step back, push your ego aside and allow something else to exist without you being the dominant factor.
Third is deconstruction - a shift in intention. What if a stone is not only for breaking glass, hurting someone or building houses? What if, for a moment, I allow the possibility that it carries meaning beyond the usual use?
A stone would share its stories.
If it came from a river, it would tell you about it being shaped by currents. A desert stone would speak about being burned. A mountain one will talk about witnessing countless generations.
We demand speech in our language and call everything else silence.
Look closely. When we cut a tree trunk; the tree speaks in years. The droughts it survived, the flood it endured or the season rain. Science has given us powerful discoveries: photosynthesis, chemical equations and what not. But there is a difference in writing the formula of photosynthesis on paper and standing before a flower. The equation explains the process; it does not replace the experience.
However, in this contemporary world, we approach nature with drills and machines, asking what it can produce. Our relationship has become utilitarian, special thanks to human's greedy nature. If something has no visible benefit, we struggle to see its worth.
Humans are Social Animals
Yet humans cannot survive without relationship. In the film “Cast Away”, when the character Chuck is left alone, he creates a companion out of a volleyball and names it “Wilson”. He speaks to it because connection is not optional for humans, it is a basic necessity. Remove every other quality, but leave the capacity for relationship, because it is what makes us human being.
Even when scientists tried to communicate with chimpanzees, we tried to teach them our own sign language, instead of seeking theirs. Maybe we should have learned their way first, and then tried to impose our framework. But nah, we are the higher being.
And perhaps that is our limitation. The stone will not speak in vocabulary. The tree will not respond in formulas. The chimpanzee will not arrange itself into signs. They speak in different ways, in various patterns.
In the end, if we ever want a stone to speak, we must first become quiet enough to hear it. We may feel abnormal, but what good is it to be normal?
“What you seek is seeking you”
-Rumi
......
Peace
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