Dingo was a small bird, he was 3 months old. His parents Toto and Avery, did not come from affluent families, they were ‘low flyers’. So ever since Dingo’s birth they taught him one valuable lesson that you must never fly high. You must not even think of doing something that we haven’t done in our own lives. Dingo was very agile, from a very young age, he displayed capabilities far beyond his age. He could do tricks in the air like no other bird of his age group could. One day, his father Toto caught him somersaulting off of tree branches and reprimanded him by saying “don’t you ever do this again, if you get injured, I don’t have the money to take you to the hospital”.
Dingo started going to school, a very expensive school. The fees was simply exorbitant but it seemed worth it to his parents. His parents had saved all their money and then they had sent him there. They sent him there with just one hope, to see him become a very rich bird one day. Where all the teachers taught him how to fly as low as possible and also how to be in one’s limits. These limits in question were decided by the teachers themselves. They often said “those who fly high, drop the hardest, so you better fly low”. They also had a school song, that went like “fly high, drop hard, fly low, you’re dope”. In the coming months, Dingo had been completely indoctrinated. Now he used to look down upon the rebels in his class who did flying tricks in the recess period. The school he was in was a preparatory school, their primary job was to decide whether the bird was fit enough to be sent to the market to be sold, or in other words, whether the bird was ‘market-ready’.
His school’s name was rather oxymoronic, “Fly Low High School”. The school’s motto was embossed on the board just below the school’s name: ‘Fly Low To Achieve More’. Placement season was near, this is when the school authorities organized an aptitude test, to assess whether the birds were ‘market-ready’. During the aptitude test each bird had to fly through a certain number of rings and jump through hoops as well. But the final test was called the ‘low altitude assessment test’ or LSAT colloquially, this test was really difficult and required enormous amounts of practice. Birds had to force themselves to fly just 3 inches from the ground for 15 minutes for this assessment. Several upright and bright birds joined the nearby “New Heights Academy” for extra practice. They eventually snatched the highest prices at the market, one of them was sold for a whopping 40 thousand and was kept inside a silver cage by the owner.
Dingo came from a middle-class family and couldn’t afford to attend that coaching academy. Those who couldn’t clear the much-feared LSAT, were kicked into the school garden and were told to fly as high as they wanted to, but to not show their face to society ever again. Dingo was frightened out of his wits after learning this, he started having sleepless nights. He had heart palpitations and panic attacks just thinking of what would happen if he flunked the LSAT.
That dreaded day came soon, LSAT was being conducted. Dingo had studied and practiced all night. But yet, as luck would have it, Dingo could only fly for 10 minutes, whereas LSAT demands that the bird must fly 3 inches from the ground for 15 minutes. Dingo was kicked out from the school and was asked to fly high but not show his face to society ever again.
Dingo had gained ultimate liberation, now he was allowed to fly free and fly high. Societal rejection set him free. He was a rebel, an outlaw, a disgusting bird who failed the LSAT and was not good enough to be sold at the market, as he was not 'market-ready'. Society rejected him, but life embraced him, he went on to be one of the highest flying birds ever known.
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