Two Pathways, One Life: Lessons from Javed Akhtar and the Koel on the Mango Tree

 

🌿 Two Pathways, One Life: Lessons from Javed Akhtar and the Koel on the Mango Tree

"कोयलिया आम के पेड़ पर बैठकर कूक सुनावे,
कौआ छत पे बैठकर रसोई के कचरे में पड़ी सूखी रोटी पे नजरें गड़ाए।"
— Anonymous Folk Wisdom

Javed Akhtar, the poet who paints truth with the ink of simplicity, once spoke about two distinct pathways in life — one that conforms, and one that explores. His words hold a mirror to us all. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AfqrcXkht/

The first path is well-trodden. It's the path most parents and societies silently nudge us toward. Study hard. Get a respectable job. Marry at the right time. Buy a home. Raise children. It’s safe, structured, and secure. Like the crow on the rooftop, it’s always looking for survival, eyes locked on the dry chapati of predictability — life measured by EMIs and accolades, rather than inner peace or passion.

The second path is far lonelier. It's the one where you stop midway and ask: “Whose dream am I living?” This is the way of the rebel, the artist, the seeker. You may not have a monthly salary or a five-year plan, but you’ll have something rarer — a chance to meet yourself. Like the koel singing on the mango tree, this soul is not driven by crumbs but by the joy of its own voice. It may not always be fed, but it is always free.

Why This Matters Now

We live in a world obsessed with certainty. We fear the unknown more than mediocrity. But Akhtar’s reflection reminds us: There’s a price to pay for both comfort and courage. One costs your potential. The other, your convenience.

And here’s the irony — even those who follow the first path eventually yearn for what the second offers: meaning, authenticity, and peace. While those on the second path often crave the shelter and simplicity of the first. There is no perfect choice. There is only an honest one.

Are You the Crow or the Koel?

Ask yourself:

• Do I wake up to chase my needs, or my nature?
• Do I speak to survive, or do I sing because I must?
• Am I climbing a ladder leaning on someone else's wall?

These are not questions for monks and philosophers. These are questions for the middle manager, the homemaker, the startup founder, the retiree. For you.

Final Thought

Life is not about choosing one path once and for all. It's about recognizing which one you're on — and whether it reflects your truth. Some of us are born koels but trained to be crows. Some are crows dreaming of singing. Either way, the mango tree of possibility is always there — if only we look up.

So pause.

Listen.

And decide — are you feeding the stomach or the soul?

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