Dear Aurelia,

Welcome to our family. This beautiful day, I would like to share with you a creation story of our kind, humans, humanos, descendants of Manu.

This creation story came to us through the Hindu mythology. It is about Manu, the first human.

Manu, a great sage, was praying on the banks of the Ganges river, when one little fish came to him for protection. Manu put him in his hands and asked, “What do you want?”. “A bigger fish wants to eat me, please, save me”, said the fish. Manu, moved, carried the little fish to his home, put the fish into a little pot and fed the fish. In the morning, the fish had become as big as the pot and said, “I cannot live in this pot any longer”. Manu then carried the fish and put them in a tank. The next day the fish was too big for the tank, so Manu carried them to the river. The next morning, the fish filled the river, so, finally, Manu carried the fish to the ocean and let them free. As Manu was putting the fish in the ocean, the fish called Manu and said, “Manu, Manu, in a few months, a big flood will submerge the whole earth. You must build a big ship”. As the fish had predicted, the rain came. Manu started to build the boat and other people started to help him. They took seeds and food and called out to animals to take refuge in the boat.

Manu, the other women and men who also built the boat, plants and other animals got into the ship. The fish then said to throw them a rope. The fish took the end of the rope and pulled the ship through the water, through the nonstop rain. Eventually, as the rain started to decrease, the fish led the boat to a mountain top that was safe from the flood. Manu and the beings in the ship had survived.

This is how a new world and our kind was born. We are the children of Manu, who once decided to stop and care for no other reason than just because. That is the story of our kind, and what defines us being human.

I hope the kindness that touched Manu’s heart be with you all the way, in your heart and in the heart of the people in it.