The World is Flat
By Padmaja Ganapathy
There was a time when everyone believed that the earth was flat. That the world was created by a judgmental humanoid superpower at a singular point in time. That there is a place called heaven and a place called hell. They built temples and shrines, wrote verses and chimed, they appeased the gods and prayed for afterlife.
There was a time when everyone believed that the sun revolved around the earth. And then for a while they believed the earth went around the sun. They believed in black holes and worm holes, in inertia and the laws of physics. They looked for forces and particles, for numbers prime and a unifying force. They chipped away at the blocks hoping to find the cause.
There was a time when everyone believed humans had to live eternal. They cured the plague, curbed the epidemic. They studied the cells, the brain, the spleen, and made 3-D printed organs to prolong life. They killed the chicken, enshrined the dolphin, poached the elephant and protected the walrus. They swayed to the whims of survivalist fads.
There was a time when everyone believed that there was a right way and a wrong way. And that life had to be led a certain way. They formed rules, imposed laws. There were traffic rules, marriage laws, building codes and tax laws. There were dress codes, grammar rules and social norms. They believed all men were equal but some were not, that women didn't matter until they said not. Then all were equal but animals were not. Every two score and one, the mores changed, the laws changed but beliefs stayed.
There is always a time when everyone believes.
In one thing or another.
About the Writer
Padmaja Ganapathy
I am and I am not. Neither boxed into a belief, nor am I defined by my body. I am insane and intellectual. I am materialistic and esoteric. I am narcissist and humble. I am mundane and spiritual. I am simple and incomprehensible. Defined by my mind, by my thoughts, a breaker of tags, I am abstract.”