Pandora’s Box

Yess! Finally, i have joined school, joined school in real sense. I did my schooling in eighties like all other kids do, but i learn’t what education meant when i started teaching my kid, who happens to be in VI th division.

It has become routine as such now for last two months when the schools reopened after summer vacation.  This year my kid decided almost unilaterally that he will not go to tuition, fed up it seems he was with the troublesome tuition teacher.  So, i decided to shoulder the responsibility of doubling my role as his teacher. So, after tiresome and hectic day in office i return to home at around 7 pm and don the role of teacher at around 7.30 pm till 09.30 pm. As i taught him various subjects, i started learning in real sense.

Yesterday, i happened to teach him the lesson in English Subject, the lesson named Pandora’s Box. Wow what an eye opener it was. 

All along we come across various words and phrases, quite frankly, atleast in my case, i dont understand the meaning of some of them, or atleast don’t know the real meaning behind the phrase or proverb. One such word was Pandora’s Box.

Almost always, whenever any celebrity or politician speaks out controversial, it is said that he / she has opened Pandora’s Box. Till now i knew that Pandora’s Box was akin to some kind of spiralling controversial issue that goes beyond control. The tale that i taught to my kid and learn’t myself was endearing. 

The folklore tale goes on to say that there was a time in this world when the kids never grew up, the world all over was a happy place with kids all over, the tress adorned fully with fruits and there was nothing but joy all around. There happened to be a boy call Epimethius who stayed alone in the cottage, a girl came to live with him, her name was Pandora. Now, in that cottage somebody had left a beautifully designed box locked with golden chain. Epimethius welcomed Pandora, with instructions that the box should never be opened. Curious little Pandora kept on looking at the box, her curiosity kept on growing day by day to the limit that one day she decided to open the box to atleast peep what was inside. As she was to open the box, Epimethius reached the door, but, inertly, he too was curious to know what laid inside the box, so he did not prevent the girl to open the box. As the girl opened the box, the tale goes on the say, the cottage filled up with gloom and darkness, and strange creatures with sting in their tails popped out of the box. One such creature stinged Epimethius while Pandora too got her share of sting. The situation was now out of control and they were struggling to close the box. The creatures that popped out were known as Passion, Greed, Vice, Disease etc. After that incident, people around the world started growing, grew older and started dying.

After some days, the Pandora could hear tap on the box. A cute little voice requested Pandora to open the box, Pandora was too frightened to repeat her first mistake. The voice urged Pandora to open the box and told that it was not like the creatures she encountered before. Pandora risked to open the box again, this time, the room filled in with bright light, there was a joy all around. A little fairy popped up. She touched Epimethius and his pain, he got by the sting had gone, she then kissed Pandora’s forehead, her pain was also gone. The fairy told them her name.. Her name was Hope… Epimethius and Pandora asked whether she could stay with them forever. The fairy said, she was Hope.. and one can have hope as long as he wanted.

What a beautiful lesson it was, it taught so many things, it taught me positiivity, not to lose hope and more so during difficult times.

As a kid, i too must have read and studied and by hearted many a stories, without understanding the gist of what was being taught. Truly, i understood one such lesson today. A teacher became student today. I am glad that i have started learning, all the way again and discovered many a new meanings of same lesson.