The First Experiences

Vasan Sri

There is always a first experience in
everything we do in this world. The first
time you taste ice-cream and you are hooked
on for life...Some experiences are and can
be traumatic. The first day in K G class in
a nearby school when your mom leaves you
there and turns away ,with a drop of tear
in her eyes and you slowly enter the class
room amidst new faces of other children.
There are many first experiences which
are thrilling ,even if fearful or anxious ,


that is stuff of life. How you experienced
your jump into a pool of water? Your first
kiss with a person of opposite gender!
Your hug with your partner in life?
For most of us who have to earn a living,
the first job can be traumatic---the first
day in an office before an employer or your
boss...you want to do things right,create
the best impression and all that; yet you
feel some anxiety ,because you do not know
everything about the job or the company.
When they announce the winners in a
contest and your name comes up, you are
thrilled , rather surprised sometimes and a
wave of exultation passes through your


spine...that may be your first experience.
We all learn many new things and each one
is tipped with first experience--often with
some fear and trepidation.Recall how you
sat on the seat on a bicycle and some one
pushed it from behind ,yelling "Look
straight and try to balance" ...No one can
really teach you to balance on a bicycle
but you pick up the knack of doing it;
after all ,no one really taught you to
stand up straight; you learned it
genetically, hard wired in your brain by
generations of 'homo sapiens' doing that
--- from the cave men or Neanderthals.
May be most of our frightful first


experiences would be transferred to our
genes as useful skills and passed through
our DNA...that is our fond hope as skills
required are increasing day by day. A child
today needs to know how to use an I-phone
or I-pad instinctively!
One of the thrilling first experience
and certainly a painful, thrilling and
fearful experience , anxiously awaited
,especially for girls, is the first sexual
act. It can be gentle or brutal. But the
joy one gets compensates for the pain and
anxiety--- a marvel of Nature.
In every society, elders have wrapped this
experience with mystery and also gentle


'preparations' in many ways...there have
been so called 'primitive' tribes in which
the sexual act is guided by the parents in
a gentle and technical manner! Can we call
them 'primitive people'?
We all crave for certain adventure
experiences which alwas entail some
risk...risk taking is part of life and we
seem to ask for such first experiences. One
such is the sky jumping from an aircraft
with parachute strapped on. What if the
parachute does not open up?
Again consider the first experience when
you receive a letter from a magazine editor
that your article has been accepted or a


publisher offering a small advance for your
book. These could be the terminal
experience of long struggle with hundreds
of rejection slips...so what?
Life uncovers itself in small steps after
several struggles...A young musician looks
for a break---to perform before a live
audience in a major concert hall!
Our life, with all trials and
tribulations,consists of many 'first
moments'---with trauma or exhilaration...We
may fear them or cherish them for the rest
of our lifetime...that is what our life is
made of!!
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