Thresholds are so symbolic, they mean differently to different people. They not only mean the partition between two rooms but also the act of stepping into a different world from a known world.
In the days of long ago women of a household, specially in villages were not allowed to step out of the threshold of their home on their own. We believe that this was in the past but unfortunately , even now, in places where people are still living in the last century, women are still chained. Their lives are still governed and controlled by the men of the family.
Early this month, our grandson, who has now completed eight months, crossed a threshold for the first time. He crossed into the prayer room while exploring the nooks and corners of his home. It was a time for celebration. There are many more thresholds to cross.
This makes me go down memory lane. I remember all the thresholds our son has crossed to become what he is now. He has had Retinitis Pigmentosa from birth. He is now doing his Phd in English Literature in one of the best Universities for Languages in our country. Just last week he crossed another threshold in his life. He has gone to the US, on his own, to attend a Conference and present a paper there.
Thresholds can either jail us within four walls and within our own mind or they help us to cross over and go out into the wider world to achieve our dreams.
Kahlil Gibran has rightly said, “The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”
