Here in Himachal Pradesh, it is the time of the ladybirds (ladybug in American English). There are many of them. And they are such beautiful little creatures.
How likely is it that ladybirds have come into existence? Of course, we know that they have, so it might seem a rather strange question. Think about it though. If you had never seen a ladybird, nor heard of them, would you ever imagine such a beetle? If a child drew a picture of one, we would exclaim that she has a vivid imagination.
This is the beauty of life. It creates the most unlikely of beings; and such beautiful ones!
At this point, the scientists amongst us will be proudly quoting Darwin’s theory on the origin of species. Have you noticed though, that the theory only works in retrospect? Given an existing species, one can dream up how its features have given it some survival advantage. Looking forwards, though, it is impossible to predict what nature will create.
All this applies not only to ladybirds and other species, but to individual beings too. Who amongst us can predict the exact shape an individual tree will grow to be? Isn’t life rich and wonderful for all this unpredictable diversity?
Each if us humans, too, grows to be a unique being, quite unpredictable at the outset. So we can also ask of ourself, how likely am I? The answer, of course, is that each of us is extremely unlikely. Yet here we are, each of us a beautiful, unique being, adding to the rich diversity of life.
