Vedantic Tales : The Discipleship
        of Ajay : The Osprey

I can't live that kind of life, he said. I won't.

It is the life you came here for, Sanyal replied. The life you have spent three years training for.

I came here to learn to fly. Not to fight!

Well, are you going to settle down, then, and raise a family?

Ajay shuddered. Never! he exclaimed.

The householder's life can be a good life, Sanyal went on. There can be greatness in it. A devout and selfless householder can realize the Infinite.

Ajay looked at him sharply. He had never told his friend of his youthful Experience or of the deepest longing of his heart; nor had Sanyal ever mentioned such matters before.

I could never be a householder, he said more calmly. The very idea suffocates me. Tied wing and foot to a nest. Hatching eggs, feeding babies who will hatch eggs and feed babies who will hatch eggs and feed babies who will ... It's been going on for millions and millions of years and will go on for millions and millions more. No!

Well, you don't have to decide this moment, Sanyal said. You can't take the exams in this conditions anyhow. Neither can Ahmad, if that is any comfort to you.

That he had badly wounded Ahmad was no comfort to Ajay. He loathed himself, not for having fought, but for the blind rage that had possessed him during the battle. It was something he never wanted to experience again.

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