Sunday, February 12, 2017
Thursday, February 9, 2017
MORNING WALK, THE BABY AND THE SERPENT
Unlike many of my friends, i don't believe in a strict exercise regime to keep myself fit. I tell them ,"I don't torture my soul" They retort," You are an expert in citing scriptures selectively to rationalize your weaknesses and your laziness''.Last Monday was a holiday and i was enjoying a golden slumber when a piercing call of a bird from a neighboring tree woke me up.I had no idea which bird it was.My bed was awash with bright sunlight flowing through the window
.This lifted my spirit to go for a morning walk. A quick cup of tea and i finished the initial morning chores , donned my walking sweat dress, neatly tied the lace of my walking shoes and paced briskly towards the Kamla Nehru park nearby. I am yet to find the rationale behind christening almost all the gardens in the country after Kamla Nehru.Was she an environment activist ?
I entered the park which has some very rare species of trees .In four corners there stand four gigantic trees on which name plates affixed identifies these as KAILASHPATI meaning the Ruler of mount Kailash ie Lord Shiva. The tree bears low hanging red flowers, as if volunteering to be easily reachable, that spread very enchanting smell and ball sized fruits with very hard cover.I fell to the temptation of breaking the garden rule,'"Don't pluck the flowers" and stealthily plucked one and started walking while inhaling its smell in intervals. The park has two walking tracks ,one of hard concrete ,the other one is of clay . Old walkers prefer the latter to minimize the jerk in the knee to
avoid injury. I preferred the former one to be identified as a younger person prompted by an aspiration to be at least seen as a youth.
I made, perhaps, three rounds of the track and in keeping with my guiding philosophy of not torturing the soul, said to myself,"Enough exercise for a week of good health"I decided to take a break and relax for a while. I trained my eyes to locate an empty chair, rarely found empty.I was lucky to find one near the children's play area with an added attraction of a beam of sunlight falling through the gaps amidst the trees. I started running like a child to preempt any one else appropriating this valuable facility , reached there and comfortably reclined. The warm sunlight soothed my nerves tired after my walk.
I am in the habit of observing people in various activities in the park. A group of senior citizens was sitting in a circle and animatedly discussing the pros and cons of demonetization . Some obese persons were running painfully with profuse perspiration to shed some weight. A group was practicing yoga under the guidance of a teacher. The atmosphere was disturbed by a chorus of laughter by a group of persons of a laughter club. I was amused that most of them were feigning a laugh as their faces were betraying discordant countenance.I don't know if manufactured laughter can add to their health or do the opposite.A man was dog walking but was totally at the mercy of the animal as the heavy and energetic one was charging forward with erratic speed and direction and the man was unable to match and control it with the chain.Certain other teenagers were hyper enthusiastic in exercise and trying to exhibit their skill in balancing their body in precarious postures to the congratulatory applause of onlookers. A few old men and women sitting like a statue lonely and unaccompanied,perhaps left lonely behind by very successful children living at distant foreign lands busy earning dollars and pounds from Multinational Companies.
I saw a tiny lonely child toddling with gay abandon on the sand in the children's play area in my vicinity. He was falling, rising up and giggling tingled by the sand below his feet.I was besides myself and almost merged within the child in his mirth.A sight suddenly struck my state of blissful enjoyment like a lightning. I saw the child laying his tiny palm on a moving thing that was glistening in the sunlight and i realized it was a serpent.In knee jerk reflex i was about to jump ahead to disengage the child when ,to my horror, the child had already caught the tail of the snake.I arrested my instinct and instantly stopped to ensure that by my action i should not harm the child which the enraged snake might do.I stood up ,raised my hands and shouted for help. The gardener rushed and picked up a stick intended to thrash the snake when he was overtaken by a lady running in lightening speed towards the child.In the flash of a second she snatched the snake from the child's hand throwing it away.She lifted the child in both hands to her bosom and rained kisses on him while sobbing incessantly.She was cursing herself for being at a distance from the child and in the same breath she was profusely thanking God for saving him.In the mean time the noisy crowd was telling the gardener to locate and beat the snake to death.Suddenly the lady intervened and
shouted,'Don'nt harm the snake, the agent of Lord Shiva. The snake has not harmed my child thanks to Shivji's boundless grace, Jai shivji,jai Kailash pati"
The mother slowly walked out with the child blissfully ignorant of the serious happenings like a baby monkey safely clinging to his mother totally oblivious of the surrounding. The crowd waned living me alone .I was dazed and fixed on the bench as a witness to the real life drama full of surprises, horror,tears and joy rolled into one.
I slowly tried to come back to myself and walked slowly back home .What a spectacle of an impending disaster that turned out to a pleasant cathartic anti climax triggered by God endowed immense motherly love coated with the intense spiritual belief in Kailash pati ? I was silently thanking the queer bird that woke me up with its piercing call in the morning that was responsible for taking the morning walk to day against my philosophy of''' not torchuring my soul", that i could see the wonderful slice of life.
I promised to myself,"I shall certainly go on regular morning walk beginning from the root of KAILASHPATI and end with the bench near the children's play area.''
.This lifted my spirit to go for a morning walk. A quick cup of tea and i finished the initial morning chores , donned my walking sweat dress, neatly tied the lace of my walking shoes and paced briskly towards the Kamla Nehru park nearby. I am yet to find the rationale behind christening almost all the gardens in the country after Kamla Nehru.Was she an environment activist ?
I entered the park which has some very rare species of trees .In four corners there stand four gigantic trees on which name plates affixed identifies these as KAILASHPATI meaning the Ruler of mount Kailash ie Lord Shiva. The tree bears low hanging red flowers, as if volunteering to be easily reachable, that spread very enchanting smell and ball sized fruits with very hard cover.I fell to the temptation of breaking the garden rule,'"Don't pluck the flowers" and stealthily plucked one and started walking while inhaling its smell in intervals. The park has two walking tracks ,one of hard concrete ,the other one is of clay . Old walkers prefer the latter to minimize the jerk in the knee to
avoid injury. I preferred the former one to be identified as a younger person prompted by an aspiration to be at least seen as a youth.
I made, perhaps, three rounds of the track and in keeping with my guiding philosophy of not torturing the soul, said to myself,"Enough exercise for a week of good health"I decided to take a break and relax for a while. I trained my eyes to locate an empty chair, rarely found empty.I was lucky to find one near the children's play area with an added attraction of a beam of sunlight falling through the gaps amidst the trees. I started running like a child to preempt any one else appropriating this valuable facility , reached there and comfortably reclined. The warm sunlight soothed my nerves tired after my walk.
I am in the habit of observing people in various activities in the park. A group of senior citizens was sitting in a circle and animatedly discussing the pros and cons of demonetization . Some obese persons were running painfully with profuse perspiration to shed some weight. A group was practicing yoga under the guidance of a teacher. The atmosphere was disturbed by a chorus of laughter by a group of persons of a laughter club. I was amused that most of them were feigning a laugh as their faces were betraying discordant countenance.I don't know if manufactured laughter can add to their health or do the opposite.A man was dog walking but was totally at the mercy of the animal as the heavy and energetic one was charging forward with erratic speed and direction and the man was unable to match and control it with the chain.Certain other teenagers were hyper enthusiastic in exercise and trying to exhibit their skill in balancing their body in precarious postures to the congratulatory applause of onlookers. A few old men and women sitting like a statue lonely and unaccompanied,perhaps left lonely behind by very successful children living at distant foreign lands busy earning dollars and pounds from Multinational Companies.
I saw a tiny lonely child toddling with gay abandon on the sand in the children's play area in my vicinity. He was falling, rising up and giggling tingled by the sand below his feet.I was besides myself and almost merged within the child in his mirth.A sight suddenly struck my state of blissful enjoyment like a lightning. I saw the child laying his tiny palm on a moving thing that was glistening in the sunlight and i realized it was a serpent.In knee jerk reflex i was about to jump ahead to disengage the child when ,to my horror, the child had already caught the tail of the snake.I arrested my instinct and instantly stopped to ensure that by my action i should not harm the child which the enraged snake might do.I stood up ,raised my hands and shouted for help. The gardener rushed and picked up a stick intended to thrash the snake when he was overtaken by a lady running in lightening speed towards the child.In the flash of a second she snatched the snake from the child's hand throwing it away.She lifted the child in both hands to her bosom and rained kisses on him while sobbing incessantly.She was cursing herself for being at a distance from the child and in the same breath she was profusely thanking God for saving him.In the mean time the noisy crowd was telling the gardener to locate and beat the snake to death.Suddenly the lady intervened and
shouted,'Don'nt harm the snake, the agent of Lord Shiva. The snake has not harmed my child thanks to Shivji's boundless grace, Jai shivji,jai Kailash pati"
The mother slowly walked out with the child blissfully ignorant of the serious happenings like a baby monkey safely clinging to his mother totally oblivious of the surrounding. The crowd waned living me alone .I was dazed and fixed on the bench as a witness to the real life drama full of surprises, horror,tears and joy rolled into one.
I slowly tried to come back to myself and walked slowly back home .What a spectacle of an impending disaster that turned out to a pleasant cathartic anti climax triggered by God endowed immense motherly love coated with the intense spiritual belief in Kailash pati ? I was silently thanking the queer bird that woke me up with its piercing call in the morning that was responsible for taking the morning walk to day against my philosophy of''' not torchuring my soul", that i could see the wonderful slice of life.
I promised to myself,"I shall certainly go on regular morning walk beginning from the root of KAILASHPATI and end with the bench near the children's play area.''
Saturday, February 4, 2017
VILLAGE MEMORIES
The lonely cow
Vast expanse of harvested paddy fields
Golden in the afternoon sun
A black shadow settled lonely
O, a solitary cow sitting still
I walk on the beaten track
Approaching the quadruped
And see her injured leg bleeding
Left behind lonely by the herd
Unable to match its speed
I sit and softly caress her neck
Feel the solace in its blinking eyes
Wish someone comes to treat
Suddenly a dog appears in the field
'Beckon him near and show the wound
It lowers its mouth & licks with tongue
Suddenly stops & runs afar
I thank the dog and touch the cow
A few minutes passed and the cow limps up
I prod its back and both walk up.
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