I loved The Ugly Duckling story as a
child. Today, I admire it on so many levels. Many people criticise it
as the ugly duckling has no part to play in its transformation. After
all, nature did everything; what did the poor bird do? Wait for the
usual course of nature. But that’s the whole point of the story,
isn’t it?
The ugly duckling never existed, not in
the real sense of the word. It was never a duckling; it was always a
swan. The only way a tiny swan would seem odd, clumsy, and
ill-favoured was trying to fit it into attributes of a duck. All its
variations made it unacceptable as a model duck. If the little bird
had been brought up as a swan, no one would’ve termed it ugly. The
little swans are supposed to look like that, act like that. The ugly
duckling had a horrible time, because everyone perceived it a duck.
The irony is that though the ugly
duckling doesn’t actually exist, it exists everywhere in the world
around us. It exists in our mind, and outlook. In fact, it is so much
imbibed in our DNA, that our society is full of ugly ducklings. But,
instead of blossoming into magnificent swans, they mature into
beautiful ducks.
