I watched the two men in the photos above, taking a turn to walk along the less travelled narrow unpaved foot path, which leads to the flowing river below. There is a notice at the mouth of this foot path, which cautions people to take that path as it can be slippery! The long and broad path to the river is further ahead!
I watched them navigate the foot path carefully till they were visible to me from a distance.
The less travelled path is a risky path!
The often quoted verse from the poem, The Road not taken, by Robert Frost, published in 1916 : "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference" came to my mind. I traced the poem to get the full text.
The first stanza, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked dow finished n as far as could
To where it bent in the undergrowth",
truly told story of these two men, who waited a while to choose their path!
I met a nurse recently who having finished the nursing training in another country was offered opportunity in a promising situation. But within, this person felt a prompting to go to a rural hospital and start the nursing practice there. Having been in that setting on two occasions spending few months each time, that person talked about a sense of purpose emerging through this experience.
The non conventional paths do not appear inviting or impressive as the 'broad path' has enticing setting and appealing prospects.
When Dr Paul Brand was the Principal of the Christian Medical College, Vellore he happened to encounter serious limitations in the functioning of hands those who suffered from leprosy. Dr Edward Gault and Dr Brand visited a hospital where patients of leprosy lived with ulcers in the feet and deformed hands. It was that sight that urged him to relinquish his position as the Principal and spend his life time of service to study and respond to the neurological damage caused by Lepra Bacilli. That further led him to the reconstructive surgery of hand and foot of such people and rehabilitation. Dr C.K.Job became his partner in this endeavour after Dr Gault returned to Australia. Dr Mrs Brand worked on restoring the eye lid functions surgically, of such people.
I remember Dr Brand quoting in an interview, the poem of Robert Frost and said that 'he too chose the less travelled path into the unknown of the mystery of the nerve pathology in patients of Leprosy'.
The less travelled path is often a solitary path. It is occasional that one would find co-travellers or companions in the course of that journey till something substantial springs out of that journey!
It will be soon 14 years since I retired from my regular academic and clinical work. I spent 12 years after that in exploring a path that I thought would be pointers to others to consider. There was a handful who became co-travellers during this period. I feel grateful to them and feel touched by their enthusiasm to persevere.
The 'less travelled path' is also a way of living, where life receives lessons to stay content by living centred in matters that concern others, who long for help and direction!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
