Shades of Black!

It was a surprise to me to find during a walk four dragonflies in different hues of black in their wings. 

They appeared different, which is why I traced them, even after they flew away probably disturbed by my presence!

All colours have different shades and they are distinct.  Although the shades of a colour still represent the original colour and belong to the family of a particular colour, it is worth pondering over this because of its significance. 

The green, white and the saffron in the National Flag of India have to be of particular hue, because there is a meaning attributed to each of them. 

So hues of colours are often distinct with a meaning or a message. 

I am not surprised by this because, each of these four dragon flies behaved differently. The first one remained still in one place all through my time beside the stream.The second one intermittently flew away only to return to the same place of its earlier location. The third one was a frequent 'flier' but returned to the vicinity of its earlier location but changed it landing place every time it returned. The fourth one was an explorer and took a while to reappear. It reappeared in other adjacent places. 

Although this behaviour might have nothing in common with the different hues of black, it nevertheless conveys a message: the dragon flies have distinct behaviours. We notice the difference first in the hue of the colour and later in their behaviour. 

Their appearance and some features make them different from each other. Still they are dragon flies! They are not more or less!

It is this identity crisis that we are weighed down with in India now. Some people project their identity based on language, ethnicity, religion, social class, etc. 

We are humans and fraternal beings. To me that alone matters!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)