<p>Eight-year-old Sharada was mumbling ‘mutation’ repeatedly. She has a habit of pronouncing a word she has not understood repeatedly. I was afraid she has been reading too much about what was happening around. So I wanted to divert her mind to the broader aspect of mutation.</p>.<p>“Do you know Charles Darwin? I will tell you an incident that happened in his life.” She was ready for a story and sat in front of me, palms under her chin, without any clue that she was about to be introduced to one of the greatest mysteries in evolution. “He travelled to a picturesque little island on the west coast of America where he found thousands of a particular bird species feeding on the fruits of certain trees.</p>.<p>After several years he visited the place again and found it almost deserted, with few trees and fewer fruits and a new variant of the original bird with a longer and stronger beak. He theorised that the once-flourishing island with trees was later impoverished because there were more birds eating away all the fruits and healthily reproducing till there were not enough fruits left to feed them all.</p>.<p>The birds starved and died in large numbers, and there were not enough birds to carry the seeds to help grow more trees. The natural cycle of trees and birds depending on each other for survival came to a halt.</p>.<p>But when everything was fine and the birds multiplied in huge numbers, the birdlings had a wide variation in characteristics though a majority looked alike. The wings, eyes, beaks etc were all slightly different from each other. The ones with longer and stronger beaks could break the seeds in the fruit and eat and survive, while others perished.</p>.<p>These successful birds produced offsprings whose beaks were stronger and longer, and better-suited for survival. So the new face of the island was barren with few trees and fruits and fewer birds with long and strong beaks”.</p>.<p>Sharada was very disappointed with the sad ending. I told her that’s what mutation is. When disasters take place, the extreme ones which are most abnormal may survive while the more orderly might perish. This is nature’s own mechanism of preserving<br />species.</p>.<p>Back in society, we find that it is the mavericks and the ones that go beyond acceptable social norms that make phenomenal changes in civilisation. The risk-taking Columbus found America. Einstein, with his out-of-box thinking, unified space-time. The normal ones lead a disciplined life and perish without leaving behind a footprint.</p>.<p>I was wondering whether Sharada is a normal child or a pain to her parents, destined for greater things. I dared not ask her, because just then I saw her parents entering the room.</p>
<p>Eight-year-old Sharada was mumbling ‘mutation’ repeatedly. She has a habit of pronouncing a word she has not understood repeatedly. I was afraid she has been reading too much about what was happening around. So I wanted to divert her mind to the broader aspect of mutation.</p>.<p>“Do you know Charles Darwin? I will tell you an incident that happened in his life.” She was ready for a story and sat in front of me, palms under her chin, without any clue that she was about to be introduced to one of the greatest mysteries in evolution. “He travelled to a picturesque little island on the west coast of America where he found thousands of a particular bird species feeding on the fruits of certain trees.</p>.<p>After several years he visited the place again and found it almost deserted, with few trees and fewer fruits and a new variant of the original bird with a longer and stronger beak. He theorised that the once-flourishing island with trees was later impoverished because there were more birds eating away all the fruits and healthily reproducing till there were not enough fruits left to feed them all.</p>.<p>The birds starved and died in large numbers, and there were not enough birds to carry the seeds to help grow more trees. The natural cycle of trees and birds depending on each other for survival came to a halt.</p>.<p>But when everything was fine and the birds multiplied in huge numbers, the birdlings had a wide variation in characteristics though a majority looked alike. The wings, eyes, beaks etc were all slightly different from each other. The ones with longer and stronger beaks could break the seeds in the fruit and eat and survive, while others perished.</p>.<p>These successful birds produced offsprings whose beaks were stronger and longer, and better-suited for survival. So the new face of the island was barren with few trees and fruits and fewer birds with long and strong beaks”.</p>.<p>Sharada was very disappointed with the sad ending. I told her that’s what mutation is. When disasters take place, the extreme ones which are most abnormal may survive while the more orderly might perish. This is nature’s own mechanism of preserving<br />species.</p>.<p>Back in society, we find that it is the mavericks and the ones that go beyond acceptable social norms that make phenomenal changes in civilisation. The risk-taking Columbus found America. Einstein, with his out-of-box thinking, unified space-time. The normal ones lead a disciplined life and perish without leaving behind a footprint.</p>.<p>I was wondering whether Sharada is a normal child or a pain to her parents, destined for greater things. I dared not ask her, because just then I saw her parents entering the room.</p>