The Freedom of Existing: Simple Life Rules from the Movie Hoppers

I recently saw this movie called Hoppers, and there’s one character who really touched me: the KING Beaver and his pond rules. They’re simple, but they make living easier for all the other animals in his kingdom which is basically just a pond :). I’m dropping the pond rules below, along with what I understood about my own life and what I think about them.

The Pond Rules by King Beaver

Rule 1: Don’t Be a Stranger

He says you should know everyone here and their names. He introduced literally more than 10-20 animals, and it was hilarious the way he did it, introducing all these creatures to the newbie beaver, who was actually a human in a beaver robot with human consciousness wired into it, kind of like the Avatar movie.

When I look at life around me and the people in it, I realize this is something I’ve totally overlooked or ignored. I basically don’t introduce myself or interact much with people. In my head I’m always like, “Talk business and there’s nothing else I want to hear or care about.” This really reveals something about me, and a lot of people like me, that we’re distant. We don’t really know each other, and we’re not reaching out or talking much. After watching this, I actually started calling my mom and dad way more often.

Rule 2: When You Gotta Eat, Eat

This one was really sad, but basically: if a bear wants to eat a rabbit and catches it, the bear can eat it. The rabbit has no complaints about it. They understand that the bear had to eat, so they’re ready to be eaten, unless they manage to outrun their friendly predator.

Such a simple rule, but it made me question: Is this really how animals in nature are? Would they actually be okay being eaten by other animals? A group of wild buffalo, rhinos, or elephants are strong enough to take down a lion or a whole pride, but they don’t do it often. And I agree this is how nature has made them. Maybe nature isn’t kind, but it is balanced, and the animals know it and believe in that balance.

On the other hand, humans today including myself are completely out of balance. We’re over-consuming, and it feels like nothing is ever enough. It’s so sad that we think we’re at the top of the food chain and that our intelligence somehow separates us from everything else. We’ve done all this without considering that balance, nature, and our existence are bounded. Our needs, desires, cravings, and emotions are all just part of nature. We exist. We are animals, just like every other animal. That doesn’t make us superior, and it doesn’t make other animals inferior.

How different and happy our world would be if we just accepted that we are part of nature and we exist. No chasing, no comparison just existing, caring about other people and animals. Rebuilding the forests we destroyed for our homes, planting more trees. Living a life as part of nature, with a community that cares about both animals and humans. Above all, believing in the balance of nature.

Rule 3: We’re All in This Together

The “Hustle Culture” tells us that life is a zero-sum game: for me to win, you must lose. King Beaver’s third rule completely rejects that. It acknowledges that the health of the pond depends on the health of every single inhabitant. When we realize our well-being is tied to the collective, the urge to hyper-compete just vanishes.

Doesn’t it say everything about our current world? We’re all part of this big FOMO machine that everyone is running and feeding. New fashion, new designs, new technology, especially in India. Celebrities promote stuff, people who follow them buy it and wear it. People like me, who don’t follow celebrities, see others and think, “My God, is that the new fashion? Am I missing out?” Then I tell myself, “Man, just stick to basics and classics that never change.”

People are always ready to fight one another. And we’re made to fight by the people in power (big corporations, politicians, etc.) to keep us distracted so we never question them. Because we, the masses, gave them that power. How? Not directly, but indirectly yes. We elected them. We choose their products and services. We support them and are ready to defend them.

Just think how good our nations would be if we all accept this thought that we really are all in this together. In this world, people together are powerful and they can make a nation great. How? By thinking about things that do matter: healthcare, education, making current systems better to remove corruption from the system, fair compensation, better skill development programs, population, deforestation, air pollution, over-crowding, high taxation, bad roads, hero-worship, and many-many other things that we should be discussing and talking about — along with the other things we discuss like cricket scores and tasty food, etc.

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