Maybe it’s having the twins back home again, that reminded me of a conversation I had with them a couple of monsoons ago: “What’s that?” asked one of them pointing to a huge shell on the ground.

“It’s a shell, with a snail inside it!” I explained. They both looked at it awhile, and slowly we saw the snail’s head coming out and two beady eyes looking at us. Then the snail slowly started its journey across my garden.

“But if it’s not careful, a bird can grab it by the head!” they shouted fearfully, looking at the sparrows and crows around.

“Yes!” I said, “But if it’s going to be scared of those birds it may never find food to eat, and may ultimately die of fear inside its own shell!”

“Looks like it’s taken care of itself quite well!” said one of them, “Seeing it’s grown quite big!”

“It’s used to sticking out its neck!” I chuckled, “Which has helped it grow!”

We looked at the snail, as it slowly glided across the ground even as I looked up and saw birds, quite a few of them watching it with interest, and yet, the snail, knowing it was being watched, did not stop. It seemed used to little dangers, and had also learned how to counter those risks, as I saw a crow, flying dangerously close and in a moment, the head had disappeared inside its shell. The little ones next to me squealed, “The snail has learnt to take care of itself!”

“Yes!” I said thoughtfully, “After having taken a few risks, it’s taught itself to survive!”

I continued looking at the snail slowly going across, and realized how close it was to how I looked at life.

How easy it was to stay sheltered and closeted inside one’s comfort zone and never grow.

I watched the two take a few steps across to where they had seen a rose. I was about to shout for them to be careful of the thorns, when I saw one of them, touching the flower, without letting the thorns hurt him. In his little life, he had taken a risk, and learnt to handle a problem.

We have to get out of our protective shells, more and more I realized if we want to grow, and as we do so, learning from each encounter, we learn to handle lurking dangers and predators.

“It waved to me!” shouted one of the twins, near the snail.

“Yes!” I said, “It saw a kindred spirit, one who was willing to take risks!”

“And it waves at you!” cried the child.

“Maybe complimenting me on allowing you to take small risks and grow!” I said, as we all laughed at the snail, willing to stick out its neck and grow..!

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