At first glance Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol, is a magical tale where a young girl Alice, bored out of her wits on a hot summer day, spots a rabbit talking to itself and carrying a pocket watch. Now there may be many a rabbit who can talk, but carrying a pocket watch, now that piques one’s interest. So off she goes following the rabbit down a rabbit hole and thus begins her adventure.
What follows her fall down the rabbit hole is a fascinating turn of events leading to many a crazy character, conversation and situations. People/animals/birds she never thought she’d encounter like this, questions that puzzle her more than the answers do, reactions she never fathomed, all makes this Wonderland a curious place to stumble upon.
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”
“I don’t much care where –”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
Alice and The Cheshire Cat
What is fascinating about the story and what has endeared people from all ages across all times, is the wisdom that can be found in those little conversations Alice has with all the strange characters she meets. Nuggets of wisdom that make sense when you are stuck in such situations. Not that all of us are lucky enough to meet magical creatures in our lifetime, yet the characteristics often remind us of people we encounter atleast once in our time. Everyone can acknowledge having found themselves, unwittingly being party to said people or situations – mentally falling down into a pit not being able to make any sense of it, meeting a person who is always running because they are always late, saying things that suddenly make the audience around you disappear, being annoyed by a crying child, unwillingly attending a party where no conversation makes sense, being confused about the time or place or infact the person you are, not knowing where to go, getting advised vaguely by people who disappear after giving the advice, coming across a boss whose only response to everything is to fire everyone involved, feeling out of place everywhere and questioning ones identity – I could go on and on. And for anyone who has read the book, you sure know what I am talking about.
Infact for all of us who’ve read the book or rather have grown up with it, going back to the book is a new adventure every time. There’s a new meaning hidden in there waiting to be found out every single time we turn the pages. We know what is going to happen next, yet we read on. We read on because we know that every conversation in there, every dialogue, has a different implication, something that will resonate with what we are going through at that point in life. And sometimes, there might be nothing but pure fun. Such is the magic of Wonderland.
So, go ahead. Pick up your copy and indulge yourself. This is an adventure you’ll forever hold close to your heart.
Photos: Remya Nair
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