The Story of Mankind
Introduction
Humanity. We are the favorite child of Mother Gaia. Walking
upright with the vision of accumulated wisdom, we have far more control over
our own destiny than any other beings known, or unknown. Why are we so unique?
There are many important factors in-play. Our ability to share obscure ideas
and facts into rich and vibrant stories is one of them. We can create
vivid-stories out of pure fantasy and share them among ourselves. Thereby, personal
fantasy becomes shared fantasy colored with realistic plots and summarized with
dramatic conclusions that make the message memorable. Over time,
though the real stories may have embellished into legends and myths, yet, the true legacy of the original humanity continues on…
History
In the beginning, before the invention of words and symbols, images
accompanied us. Drawn chronologically from beginning to the very end, we were educated with lessons of survival from the hunting technique to the best places to gather sweet berries, drinkable water, and safe resting places. The hunting and gathering age was fraught with mortal
dangers, visible as well as invisible. Out of necessity of survival, we had to be always vigilant to those dangers.
Younglings were more vulnerable to such and to mitigate that, knowledge in the
form of lessons was necessary and thus they were imparted by the elders of the tribe in the form of stories, as all the members gathered around the warmth of the fire.
The discovery of fire was and still is an important turning point in how we communicated, for we can now travel at night with a belly full of cooked food which was able to conserve more energy than before when we ate foods raw. We could use smoke as signals from miles to warn of danger or arrival of friendly hunting or foraging parties. With plenty of time and energy, we started to develop art and culture, technology, communication, and such which surpassed the sharp teeth and mighty claws of the top predator of the food chain. We have more time in hand for our imagination to develop. With time we invented the wheel and axle and more importantly languages. We started to farm and live in a community. We started to be more specialized in what we do, thereby excel in the mastery of arts which developed humanity in terms of sophistication. Some of us traveled to far places and returned with a wealth of knowledge in the form of stories.
Bards used to travel to and fro around the different lands with important news
and stories. They sang about the bravery of warriors during the wars and of
prosperity during peace, stories that were both real and imagined. The legend of “300” or the Battle of Thermopylae during 480 B.C. is a legendary story of bravery, sacrifice, and glory of warriors of ancient Greece. “The travels of Marco Polo” during the 13th century from his home-city Venice to the Imperial Court of Great Kublai Khan
despite dangers in the then silk road is still truly fascinating. There are
many other stories of travel and adventures that propelled humanity to what it
is today.
The western world borrowed gunpowder and compass from the Chinese
to conquer the world including paper money for banking and tea as a welcoming
beverage. In turn, the rest of the world borrowed the “English” language as a form
of universal communication, followed by French, Spanish, Russian, and so on.
Thereby we exchanged culture, food, language, technology, and many important facets of
humanity to make ourselves more complete which trace back to their own stories
forgotten in the chapters of history.
War-Peace
“Only by experiencing the tragedy of war, can we truly
understand the value of peace”
War and peace are in our blood even before the rise and fall of
civilizations. The greatest civilization accompanies the richest stories and a legacy of victorious battles and wise administration. They were the victors who triumphed in the annals
of history with their glorious achievements. And how do they accomplished that? It is by
spinning tales of bravery, of extraordinary leadership, and of glory resplendent
in the shining armor of sacrifice.
If we talk about the glory of Alexander the Great who conquered half of the known
world, how can we leave behind the woes of his comrades’ home-sick and tired
from years of the military campaign? If we tell the tale of the nightmarish Mongol
hordes pillaging and taking lives like there was no tomorrow, how can we leave
behind the historic development of the Silk Road which miraculously united Eurasian trade and
commerce? If we talk about war, it is also necessary to talk about peace
and vice versa.
The story of wars is also the story of the extreme clash of
civilizations, the whim of powerful rulers of the past, of the deciding will of few elite families, the
ideologies of polarity, and an insatiable hunger for power to grasp more and more power.
Obscured in these stories of wars, there lie sub-stories of humanity, that are perhaps equally important or even more than that; the uprooting of the entire human race, the personal experience of unimagined pain, sorrow, and surprisingly a little spark of happiness. Wars test humanity to their utmost limitations, to realize their mortality, to understand how low or high
they can be, the greatest lessons of wars teaches us the selfishness of power,
it has no master and never will, it serves to serve itself.
The greatest of all wars, WWII saw the rise of the greatest
dictator, Hitler. The appealing story of personable Nazism is the unequal story of the humiliation of German as
a Nation by the greedy Allies. The proud Germans were forced to agree to the
humiliating Versailles treaty. The great depression and massive unemployment
with the fall of the economy to the lowest led to Nazism rising to the supreme power. Patriotism
and unity of all Germans as a façade, they took away not only the wealth of
Jews but also created an institutionalized form of class division. The rule of
divide and conquer used by European power over the sovereign of Africa and Asia was
reintroduced. That is the story of oppression that eventually came to an end with the end of WWII but the tragic stories of the concentration camp still resound to this day marking an indelible tragedy in the history of humanity as a whole.
What about the cold war’s where ideologies clashed? The arms race,
the race to the moon, division of the globe in two halves; Capitalism and Communism, the Cuban crisis,
the Vietnam war, the Korean War, and the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall signaling
the fall of the Soviet and the rise of Russia as we know it. The Gulf War, The Arab Spring, or the Syrian
Civil War and other known and unknown modern wars have led to massive hostile
and civil conflicts for freedom or in the modern sense war of extremism in the name of true faith. Perhaps this represents the real back story of the
conflicting human natures for dominance, power, and interests.
Coming to Present
Once, the American Dream, the story of the land of milk
and honey was believed by all, and still many do. The USA is the land of immigrants. Known for the land of opportunity, it
still is popular due to the story of rags to riches. It caused mass
immigration because people believed in its story of prosperity. Why do Mexicans
or any refugees choose to enter the US despite the danger to their life and loved ones?
It is because they believe the story is true, once they enter they are settled
for life. Which is, of course, a fact to be doubted
What about the Chinese story? The world saw the meteoric rise of China, the dragon of the east, in the last decade from a closed economy to dominant world power. It was not easy to rise, yet they did it with gradual economic reforms. As China’s economy has matured, its real GDP growth has slowed significantly, from 14.2% in 2007 to 6.6% in 2018, and that growth is projected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fall to 5.5% by 2024. Still the story of its rise is worthy to be noted and replicated if possible after considering its consequences on the environment and increasing gulf of economic class and the generation gap
Furthermore, the story of The European migrant crisis, also known as the refugee crisis, was a period characterized by high numbers of people arriving in the European Union (EU) overseas from across the Mediterranean Sea or overland through Southeast Europe illegally. In March 2019, the European Commission declared the migrant crisis to be at an end. Yet the story is still not ending, for those people are still suffering in foreign soils with a lack of proper facilities and government supervision. Due to COVID-19, the problem has been more severe.
If we talk about the COVID story, it is the story of isolation. It is the story of unemployment, hunger, and tragic deaths to those who are marginalized as “Have not’s”. Yet, it is also the story of humanity and kindness wherein people such as doctors and nurses worked 24/7 to help the infected and their desperate family. It is also the story of youths who took the streets for basic check-ups for COVID. It is also the story of kind people who gave away food to the hungry be it human or non-human, paid transportation to the home-sick, and such. It is also the story of social media controversies from the film industry, show business to absurd government policies, and failing social justice which is getting shadowed behind the political power play. When we immerse and live in these stories, only then do we realize how blessed we are. When we ourselves are experiencing the tragedies of conflicts not as a bystander, we truly understand why peace is a necessity, not a luxury.
There are many perspectives concerning the stories of wars, of conflicts and of peace which defines history as we know it and casts light to the underlining smidgeons of human progress, pointing out that which was forgotten or obscured, to the pedestal of attention which it deserves to be
Story of a developing Nation
Known for its majestic mountains in the north, rich cultural
heritages in the Capital, unforgettable adventures in the surrounding of Lake
City, Safaris in the Jungles of Plain and other hidden gems of Nature and
man-made, Nepal is a rich country. Yet, locked in-between the two greatest
super-power of the world, the country is still far from reaching its full
potential.
With the shrinking commerce and prosperity due to the falling
remittance and tourism, the economic health is dire. Social media is highly
popular and yet is rife with journalism that is impartial and subjective. The
political stance is focused on staying in power. The only service industry is
floating but barely. Agriculture still plays a great role, yet
self-sustainability is questionable with massive imports from India. Education,
health, infrastructure development is far-cry from ideal.
Stories of Inspiration
Success Stories inspire us to take
risks, fight for our dream. Despite physical, social, or financial challenges,
people have found their way to success. Time, dedication, and luck play an important role. Though the environment may be unfavorable to us, the struggle
and resilient mindset make the adversity worth it. By going through the struggling
phase and gaining invaluable experience, we make the eventual victory sweeter.
No success story is an uphill story, like everything in life, it has its ups
and downs. National heroes like Mahabir Pun, Kul Man Ghising, and Anuradha
Koirala has been excellent examples of innovative-leadership, resource
management, and gender equality.
Stories of Fiction
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge
is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating
progress, giving birth to evolution.” – Albert Einstein
Fictional stories are the playground of human imagination. The
limit of the storyline is the limit of imagination. From “Animal Farm” wherein
human society is represented (Capitalist/Communist/Fascist/Socialist) to
futuristic predictions in the novels of Herbert George Wells that came true, to
the magical world of J.K. Rowling and many award-winning and readers mind-blowing works have changed the world as we see it. From Journey to the west to
the Vampire System have presented different perspectives on life, adventure,
action, and world-building. Other than that, online platforms have proliferated wherein
young writers have been encouraged to create the world of fantasy in different
genres (Adventure, Sci-fi, Romance). These works have inspired brilliant minds
towards unprecedented inventions and discoveries that have made life easier and
convenient.
Non-fiction
Memoirs, Travel Guides, Self-help, History, Philosophy, Academic
Texts and more fall under non-fiction. “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne
Frank is a beautiful work of a teenager who went through Nazi Occupation.
Similarly, Helen Keller, the American author, and activist has written several beautiful works despite being deaf and blind. “Jiwan Kada Ki Phool” by
Jhamak Ghimire is an inspiring work, an award-winning best seller of all time
in Nepal. “I am Malala” is another remarkable in light of women’s role and
fight against women by the religious group “Taliban”
Conclusion
If fiction means using the brain muscle on boundless imagination,
then non-fiction is the remembrance of something precious that happened in
reality. These stories entail humanity’s greatest or worst moments. It may even
encompass the non-human or awakening of individual and group consciousness.
Story-telling is a way through which we can connect with each other. We can feel the “me
too” moments. By doing so, we share our happiness, woes as well as mundane or
even extraordinary moments. The characters in the story resonate with our own “me”
and we could live their life and be them and transcend of ‘I” to “us”.
“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body rests in sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” - Jonathan
Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal
Reference
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/storytelling-quotes
https://pikadiana.tumblr.com/image/124681140724
https://makeagif.com/i/FMbHv6
https://ro.pinterest.com/pin/422775483741092276/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_migrant_crisis#:~:text=The%20European%20migrant%20crisis%2C%20also,to%20be%20at%20an%20end.
https://giphy.com/
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