Fireflies in our community

FIREFLIES

by Jude Allen

I spent an evening focused on fireflies once. Sitting at the edge of a shallow bank about three feet near Kheenjar Lake in interior Sind, near Thatta; It was perhaps early evening, sometime in February 1998, and maybe on a Sunday. My vagueness is due to being a long way from Karachi’s urban civilization for several days, and having lost track of time; which is what I came there to do.

No television, no radio, no newspapers, no fax machines. DHL hasn’t even reached there yet. Not much to do at night but to sit still, smoke cheap “beeri” cigarettes, sip some “Kawa” tea and watch fire flies. Not very exciting; which is great if the last thing you want in the world is excitement.

The tree in front of me was full of fireflies - as though somebody had overdone it and put too many white lights on a Christmas tree; jokes aside. The fireflies were doing synchronized flashing. Altogether. On. Off. On. Off. The locals out there told me they were all males “calling out for love.”

One of these little flashers landed on my pillow when I went to bed. So I put a water glass over him and watched him up close. And wondered;

How much control does a firefly have over his light?

Could one be trained to do Morse code and be worked into a flea-circus act?

Does a firefly ever attract teeny-tiny moths?

Is his light like the stars and always there, only we can’t see it in the daylight?

Does a firefly enjoy getting turned on, or is it more like having hiccups - just an urgent involuntary spasm?

Do fireflies come with different wattage, like light bulbs?

Do firefly bulbs burn out, leaving old fireflies to wander around in the dark, unnoticed and unloved?

What might it be like if we humans were similarly equipped? What kind of pants would we have to wear?

I know some children who give off a lot of light; because they have absorbed a lot of light them selves. They even sing a song called “This is my little light of Joy” and when they sing, they sing it with pride. They shine. This is not the kind of light you can actually see with your eyes of course. But then, there are lots of parts of the spectrum light that we cannot see. We only experience the results of its existence. It takes a different kind of looking.

These ‘Children of Light’ are sometimes camouflaged by the relentless battering they receive by the Fatima Senior Choir and the Parish Priest, Fr. Archie D’Souza. Yet, they let their light shine all the while. And, though they may be left out of all major occasions of the Holy Church of God to sing songs of praise, they continue to shine all the while. And, even though they may be restricted from singing for masses such as requested weddings and special occasions, they still sing & shine all the while. A long time back on Mother’s Day too, they were considered outcasts and forbidden to sing songs of love to their very own mothers…..their mothers are still proud of them. That little light of theirs just keeps shining on. They are the St. Dominic Savio Junior Choir;

And they live by this motto which has become a part of their vision

To Look this way is to See.

To See is to have Vision.

To have Vision is to Understand.

To understand is to Know.

To know is to Become.

To become is to Live Fully.

To live fully is to Matter.

To matter is to become Light.

And to become light is to be Loved.

And to love is to Burn.

And to burn is to Exist.

Off and On! Off and On! Off and On………..............

Maybe the Fireflies and the St. Dominic Savio Junior Choir are on to something?