House on Fire

How does one decide what is most precious for herself/himself?

The new year began very interestingly. Going through many different types of New Year Resolution posts, I read one which stuck in my head. It asked to evaluate what we would save if our house was to catch fire. As a new year wish, I asked my family members to ponder on what they would save from a burning house. It led to such fun discussions and bouts of laughter as we came up with superficial, inane things at first, and then the soul-searching began.

In Darjeeling most old houses and many new ones are made of wood. In case of a small careless act of a still lit cigarette stub, or a short circuit, or sometimes even a conspiracy to purposefully cinder a house, the whole thing goes up in flames in minutes. By the time the fire brigade arrives, the show is over. Thus, in our case, it was a pertinent and very real question.

Of course, the first few obvious ones were that we would save our old, ailing parents and children. We don’t have pets, but I guess they would be a huge priority for pet parents. When my husband jokingly (actually, I am not sure) remarked, that we should save the photo frames. We jumped on him and told him to save the people rather than the pictures.

It was heartening to see that none of us wanted to save any clothes, jewellery, silverware, money or other (so called) valuables. Slowly we started delving deeper into our most precious possessions. A dear, dear friend said she would save herself first. The concept of putting the oxygen mask on yourself before you try to help others. Another person said he would save some super important papers as the well being of the family depended on the same. One of my sons said he would save his laptop as all his essentials were in it.

An extremely interesting answer was that this young man wanted to save a bunch of letters that he had received over the years and which he treasures above all things. Please read carefully, he said ‘letters’ and not emails. My heart was truly warmed! Yet another kept thinking and he said he really had nothing else to save if the family was safe after the fire. I wonder, would he be considered soft in the heart or soft in the head?

Lastly, what would I save? I thought and thought, once the family was safe, what could I possibly ask for? In my mind’s eye, I went through the cupboards and drawers, and there was nothing that I could not do without. Some more contemplation over a cup of Dorje Tea, and I had my answer – The TREES. Oh, those beautiful, wonderful, old, huge and ancient trees! If the fire would spread, they would be destroyed and with them, the birds and other creatures that depend on them. I would do all I could to save the trees of Second Chance House. After all, we are family!

What you would save from a burning house?

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