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Why?

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by ojaantrik, Dec 30, 2018.

  1. ojaantrik

    ojaantrik IL Hall of Fame

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    I ran into Ogden Nash sometime last year and forgot all about IL. The fault lies entirely with Mr. Nash of course. He confronted me with a deep dark question that left me struggling. It's best that I economise on the size of this post by moving directly to the root of the problem. Nash, as many of you must surely know, was the Laureate of American Light verse. Unfortunately though, the lightness of his verses were treacherous and immensely heavy. I realised this as soon as I landed the following two liner that he gifted to mankind to ponder over for the rest of eternity. The poem was titled The Fly and this is the way it ran.

    God in his wisdom made the fly
    And then forgot to tell us why.


    My life changed totally I think after reading these lines. People discovered long ago that each why led to yet another and there was no end to the sequence of why's that confronted you were you irresponsible enough to proceed why-ward. Peaceful existence demands that you never ask "Why?"

    Ogden Nash was well aware of this and drew my foolish attention toward this lethal problem. I stared at the poem and asked in my innocent sort of way why God might have created the fly. I wasn't exactly sure that I knew the answer, but soon enough I figured out that the fly was not the only miserable creation of God that God forgot to justify. Among others, I questioned why he had created me, assuming of course that I was created in the first place. I had absolutely no idea why he decided to create me along with the fly and, worse, why he made the fly fly around me for no obvious reason.

    I was pretty much close to losing my mind, the reason for the creation of which itself appeared to be an unknown. I decided to call up Cheeniya, the Wise. This is how our conversation proceeded.

    "Cheeniya old man, do you know why the fly and I were created?"

    He replied, "Well, I don't think God had any good reason for creating you."

    "But then why was I created?" I asked in alarm.

    "Who told you that you were created?" said he.

    "Ogden Nash," I replied.

    "You are wrong my dear chap. He was talking of the fly. He was asking a far deeper question than the reason for your creation."

    "What?" I howled back tearfully. "You consider the fly to be more important than I?"

    "I don't," said he. "My experience suggests that the fly was created. I am not sure that you were created at all. So, you should stop bothering me about God's machinations vis-à-vis you."

    To tell you frankly, my fury was on the verge of a volcanic eruption.

    "Were you created?" asked I. "And if so, WHY?"

    "Oh, there was good reason for creating me. God created me to read up everything that Wodehouse had ever written. I have finished doing what he wanted me to do. God created me for a good reason."

    "But have you solved Nash's Wodehouse puzzle?"

    "What puzzle?"

    Which came first, the egg or the rooster?
    P.G.Wodehouse or Bertram Wooster?


    There was death-like silence at the Cheeniya end of the line.

    "Hello," yelled I.

    Silence.

    "Hello, hello," yelled I again.

    Silence. I think he has blocked me out in his phone.
     
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  2. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    LOL. It is such a delight to have you here again OJ-da! And what a hilarious write up. Now you have sent my mind flying fly-ward as well. Not just with the original problem vis a vis a fly, but wondering how you came to be if you were not created! I think I know the reason why you were created. To share such literary delights such as haikus, Nash, your own blogs and a lot of fun times with all of us here. And then, seriously, who came first PGW or Wooster? Don't worry, CS will come running here faster than his legs can carry him! I have beat him at that! :grinning:

    Wishing you a Very Happy New Year and all of us here many more delightful snippets from you.
     
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  3. GeetaKashyap

    GeetaKashyap IL Hall of Fame

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    @ojaantrik Sir,

    Hilarious write-up! 'Why' is indeed an extremely difficult question to answer. This reminded me of our silly childhood activity. When we were kids, if any friends uttered the word, 'Why?' with gusto, all of us would say, 'Because your mother is a butterfly and she doesn't know to fly...:thinking:' Sorry, can't recall the exact words. I don't know what was so funny but we certainly did enjoy those (meaningless) sessions.
     
  4. Viswamitra

    Viswamitra IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Sri Ojaantrik:

    It is so nice to read one of your threads after a long time. Happy new year to you. We hope it is a sign of more threads from you in the year to come.

    Cheeniya Sir, Sri Ojaantrik and Viswa meet in Chennai:

    Ojaantrik: Good morning friends, Ogden Nash tells me that "God in his wisdom made the fly, then forget to tell us why". Can you tell me why a fly is created?

    Cheeniya: It creates employment opportunity for someone who works in a sweet shop to keep swatting them.

    Ojaantrik: What about you Viswa?

    Viswa: If you notice the fly sits in the corner of our nose, a spot where we can see only with one eye. When we try to catch it, the fly flies away only to make another attempt sitting at the same spot.

    Ojaantrik: It is a serious business guys. Don't try to fool around and I need crystal clear answer to my question.

    Cheeniya: When I read Wodehouse's books, sometimes I keep my mouth open and suddenly a few of them enter the prohibited territory. Perhaps, God is telling me to enjoy the humor and wisdom of Wodehouse without opening my mouth.

    Viswa: Seriously, Don't you realize that the edge of the nose is the only spot where human beings can't see with both eyes? Moreover, when you try to touch a fly sitting in the edge of the nose, it flies away only to come back and sit in the same place. Perhaps, the fly is created to teach the humans some important lessons about selecting a path and persevere towards the goal.

    Ojaantrik: Okay, Never Mind. Now let me move on to the second part of the question. Why did God forget to tell us why?

    Cheeniya: I have been suffering from writer's block all these days as I have finished writing about Lizards and Roaches but never wrote anything about the Fly. Perhaps, God created them for me to ramble.

    Viswa: In my view, God created both the man and the fly only for one reason. He believed the man has to perform actions 24/7 and if he has nothing to do, at least, he would be swatting the fly.

    Ojaantrik: It looks like I am better off retiring into my own home and keep contemplating on it rather than seeking help from either one of you. God has wasted his effort.

    Both Cheeniya & Viswa: On what?

    Ojaantrik: In creating both of you.

    :rolleye::BangHead::facepalm:
     
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  5. Srama

    Srama Finest Post Winner

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    Dear Oj-da,

    Welcome back! I was recently thinking of you and it is always a pleasant surprise when the person you were thinking of, shows up :) From what I understand, any 'how' can be answered but not a 'why'! So why ask these questions even. I was reading a book on oceans, don't ask me 'why' and after reading about the life in the bottom layers of the ocean and the things we do not know yet, I replaced my 'why' with a 'wow'!!

    I have been reading a bit of Nash here and there! I think I made some of students go home and complain to their moms when I shared this as one of my favorites.

    I didn't go to church today,
    I trust the Lord to understand.
    The surf was swirling blue and white,
    The children swirling on the sand.
    He knows, He knows how brief my stay,
    How brief this spell of summer weather,
    He knows when I am said and done
    We'll have plenty of time together.


    Don't blame me for sharing this as a favorite, I truly enjoy all of His creation - religion can be optional!

    One of my other students challenges me on meditation. He very well knows that all edibles that are crunchy (including the packaging) get my goat. So every opportunity he gets, he goes "Mrs.S, I want to eat these crunchy chips while you meditate and I want to understand how you feel"! Fair enough question for I know it is going to be super hard. It is during these kinds of testing times, I remember Nash again and this poem

    Celery, raw
    Develops the jaw,
    But celery, stewed,
    Is more quietly chewed.


    You know while the young man develops his jaw, I do too, by clenching it hard enough :)

    It is refreshing to read you again! I want to say please don't disappear again, but I will suffice with a "I will take it whenever you post!"

    Happy New Year to you and aunty! So nice to read you again.
     
  6. kkrish

    kkrish IL Hall of Fame

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    :roflmao:
    That was hilarious @ojaantrik sir!

    So you never found out from our @Cheeniya Sri sir, why you were created, eh?
    I am sure Sri sir, the wise man he is, is just dodging the question. He surely knows.
    Let me not steal Sri sir's thunder; let him tell why you were created.

    This question on why this pesky fly was created bothered me also for a long time. So I decided to ask Nash himself if God provided him the answer. Of course He did!

    God created the fly so that it can flee the flue with the flea!

    Here is Nash's response:
    A flea and and a fly in a flue
    Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
    Said the fly, "let us flee!"
    "Let us fly!", said the flea.
    So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

    Enjoyed your delightful write up and also @Viswamitra 's equally delightful response.:thumbup:
     
  7. HariLakhera

    HariLakhera Platinum IL'ite

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    I guess I know why God created Fly. We, as NCC cadets during school days went on a three day trainig camp in the Army Cantonment outside the city with our PT teacher. The trainer if I correctly remember was an Army Hawaldar. We were to get up early at five in the morning and be ready for parade on the ground and other activities at 6 A.M. Then breakfast at 7.30 A.M. Followed by more physical activities, tracking etc and back to base for lunch at 1.00 P.M. Lunch over, we were not allowed to rest. We were sent to the dining hall to kill the flies flying or sitting over the dinnig tables or whereever under the watchful eyes of the teacher and the Hawaldar. There were more sports and other activities in the afternoon.
    This makes me guess that flies were created to keep us and the like of us busy and productive.
    If you ask somebody having no work or soemthing, what are you doing, he may say 'Makhiyan maar rah hoon.(I am killig flies)'.
     
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  8. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    Why fly?
    Oriental: because there is sambhar/rasam.
    Occidental: because there is ointment.
     
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  9. nness

    nness Bronze IL'ite

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    "This Is Going To Hurt Just A Little Bit." :wink1:

    God, on Twitter...

    Screenshot_2018-12-30-23-46-28-724_com.twitter.android~01~01.png
    :lol: Just for laughs. Enjoyed reading, thank you.
     
  10. ojaantrik

    ojaantrik IL Hall of Fame

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    Dear Satchi,
    Did I come to be? Who knows! I could well be an illusion.

    Yes, I want to see him start running. He had better solve this W vs. W puzzle for me. He has been claiming himself to be the world's greatest authority on W far too long. It's time he faced up to a challenge or two.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR SATCHI !!

    oj-da
     
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