Nature

When it rained in night

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One moonlit night,
Clouds played,
Hide and seek,
With the moon,
Around her face.

And it rained outside,
Within the trees,
Where we stood,
After running again,
Hands in hands.

Lost in the forest,
In the rain,
Where there was fire –
That never spreads-
To burn the leaves,
But to sooth the souls.
With the warmth of love.

Wind was silent,
So do the birds,
Silent were the tree leaves,
All were hearing –
The dripping water
In the pond, falling drops –
From the pine grooves.

But in the thunders,
All the sound seemed lost,
somewhere in darkness,
And we felt our entity,
Hands held together.

गन्ना

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हरा-भरा वह,
रसीला मीठा,
गन्ने की तरह ।

साफ किया उसे,
काट लिया जिसे,Sugarcane
गन्ने की तरह ।

मजबूत गोल बेलनों ने,
रस निकाला उससे,
गन्ने की तरह ।

फिर वहीं माटी में,
फेंक दिया उसे,
गन्ने की तरह ।

The Moon

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When sun sets down,
My energy is gone.
When the darkness surrounds,
In the mid night –
And I am alone.

Everyone is slept- none awake.
I do search for some light,
Of love or at least hope.
Someone who can hear –
All my pains and dreams,
And I need a company.

I sit alone on the roof,
And watch the countless stars,
The stars of luck –
The twinkling stars,
But they are still far.

In the cool breeze,
I find only you,
The dearest – my nearest,
Glowing with all might,
O’ dear – my moon.

All your soothing light,
When touches my soul,
Me, so delicate – feel so cool.
I am wet in your moonlight.

Its a bliss my dear,
When in the clear night –
Just we sit together-
Feeling nearness,
None – but I and You,
Silent – talking nothing.

And the next morning –
The world is around,
And you are hidden.
In morning garden -I walk alone.
And I see the drops –
Of pearls,
On the rose buds,
Dew drops – the world says.
Dear may I ask you,
Today – just one thing ?
Do you too cry – my moon.
On those lonely nights ?

I can see my dear,
You too have a scar,
In your heart,
May be – Just like mine.
So your company,
Is always soothing –
And it knows – the pains.

O’ moon, in all nights,
As I have seen you,
Crescent and full moon,
Of growing big night by night.
Limiting again same way.
Playing hide and seek,
Just for while,
I have learnt from you,
Life is a full circle.
O’ my dear moon.

Waiting for you,
Since ages of loneliness.
I do wish, one night –
when I am there,
Come down moon,
Silently – Just one kiss.
And my life will be complete.
I know – my moon,
You are born for millions,
Would you come ?
One night – just for me !

I guess, you may never !
And I have a song for you –
Dedicating tonight –
O’ my dear moon.

Smoking is a healthy custom !

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Have you ever seen Bidis used as agarbattis ( incense sticks) ?
Or have you ever seen fishes smoking like our ‘Khan brothers’ in movies ?

Yes I saw it at Calicut beach and captured the moment for a pukka evidence. Here in the picture you may see a boat with one fish smoking smartly on the wood and other lying on the floor.Smoking Fish

On the same wood block I sat for sketching 2 hours ago, before the boat went into the sea for fishing. The black old fisherman with one company took the boat into the sea and came back with big fishing net entangled with big sea crabs and several variety of fishes. They took this specific fish first out and lighted one bidi and then put it into this poor fish’s mouth. A fish uses its gills and mouth to breath. And a bidi is securely placed in its mouth, in its normal process of breathing, it became smoking. It seems to enjoy bidi. No jumps of the fish or any movement.

The poor fisherman is at least honest to his agarbatti, unlike we corporate civilians who use smoke ( oh sorry fragrance ! ) of Chandan and Mogra to offer God and enjoy the smoke ( again sorry, Oxygen! ) of cigarettee for enjoying self. For the fisherman as per customs , it may it be a aggarbatti offering to the Sea God.

Anyway the fish remained alive for long and enjoyed the smoking like all my friends, who prolong the tea time with smoking . Who says smoking shortens the life ? See the other non-smoker fish thrown down in the little water at boat’s bottom water left the world early and could not see his friend smoking so nicely.

What strange customs we do have in India as well as around world ? I was equally surprised to see costly liquor bottles offered to Gautam Buddha at Tibbetan temple. Anyway these customs are being followed since ages and deeply entangled with faith. These are all lovely customs around us, many of them can be adpoted, if one wishes !

Anyway its a beautiful world, that can be observed only after travelling wide.

Exploring Kerala (3) – Handicrafts

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Kerala is rich in Handicrafts too. My Kerala tour was really good in all terms. I was able to spend considerable time in Uravu shop for handicrafts. I bought many coconut and wood crafts to my satisfaction. At the counter, when the purchased items were arranged at one place, a small cardboard box was needed to pack them up and needed a specialWooden Handicrafts of Kerala care in return journey.

I knew my purchases, hence spending support their efforts. And to be frank, when the bill was presented to me, I requested them for making it to some round figure. Its worth to say that they reduced it a considerable themselves more than what I expected. Hope this money (including more), I shall spent for those crafts again for those wooden pair of elephants some day!

Almost every place of India has some indigenous natural products. For our local area, we have Jute of best quality for handicrafts. And Kerala is rich in coconut, wood, forest (dry) flowers and stones. Since generations lasts, they have learnt the method of processing, refining and giving them a shape of elegance.

From a whole coconut with fibers they can make a cute elephant, flower vases and so many other items. There can be whole description about the usefulness of coconut fibers for making handicrafts. The Bamboo trunk, they use for making a whole variety of table top items as well as wall hangings. But after seeing the bamboo craft, I felt NE Indian craftsmen are better in indigenous Bamboo craft work. There were whole range of spices and paintings too for sales.

When the fortunate enough people, work in sync with underprivileged ones, filling up any unnecessary gaps, with helping hands and clean soul, social economics prospers.

I enquired about the shop and they gave their visiting cards and information booklet. All these social initiative were taken by Uravu. Now with my inquisitive tendency, we discussed about their efforts. I shall like to personally see their tribal crafts processing sometime in future.

Exploring Kerala (2) – Traditional foods and drinks

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All the south Indian marriages till now I attended, are simply quite different than north Indian ones, and thats true regarding lunches too.

On the auspicious occasions, there are no non-veg items on menu. Foods were cooked with minimum spices. Thick small rice ( but tasty), sambhar, rasham, chutney, mazziga and at least 8 types of unnamed (boiled type) sabzi’s, papads and of course the famous banana chips. Finishing touch was with kheer in cups and ice-cream.

I was satiated, as I expected something different than north India. As I love variety in everything of life, I was pleased to have the meal with hundreds other there on a banana leaf.

The Kerala is a state with a good traditional knowledge of Ayurveda. Everywhere the water that was served to drink as normal drinking water used to be lukewarm and coloured pink or yellow or colorless sometimes. Customary, they prepare drinking water after boiling some herbs in it and cooling them down for drinking. The herbs ( I bought it later, its red wood type actually ) make the water coloured after inducing medicinal properties, appearing as if rose leaves extracts were diluted. And there is a slight specific herbal aroma in water. Though I drink a lot of water and that herbal treated water I took more than normal litres during my Kerala tour, the effect was better than packaged ones of Bangalore.

The main point about Kerala food is coconut. Though sometimes I failed to recognised the medium of cooking but most food items are cooked in coconut oil including egg curry and non-veg items. But the best thing about food is, for sure, cooked well and tastes well ( as per taste buds of my team there). Its difficult to find any trace of aroma of coconut oil that we find in coconut hair oils.

Over the head there one can find hanging thousands of coconuts everywhere, on the roadside – one can find broken coconuts drying in sun.

The climate in mid january is as if the climate of march-april in north India. Days and nights were warmer than Bangalore. So there was abundant in number of the shops, selling salt water boiled amla, carrot, mango, ber, anaras in glass pet jars. People buy them in considerable amount. For me two amlas were more than enough for my sensitive tooth. And that was a natural way for them to beat the heat in summers, I think !

Cofee and tea is mostly served unfiltered in one glass with an additional glass to pour and sip. The black coffee / tea many people prefer to sip after the dinner.

Loving the wild flowers

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Many a times, I thought to write on big things but in reality the plans finished off fast before actual execution.

And I end up writing for small things like this again :

I would like to wander into my vacation destinations, my first love the mighty hills with springs, flora and fauna, second love – the cool beaches (and riversides) where the emotional tides play on the shores, third love the sand and barrens to know the harsh reality of life.

Among these places, wherever I go, I find one thing growing in all the sites – the wild flowers of various shapes and colours. Some growing in grasses, some in knee deep water and some orchid type on high branches and some poor fellow stuck in stones. )

There have been several occasions when roaming around our farmlands, I find small tiny flowers in grasses – pink,violet, red or blue. I used to pluck them and make a small bunch and tie them up to make a super-mini bouquet and bring back to home for giving to my sisters and make them smile. Though I know that , plucking these tiny souls must felt them hurt, but I could not resist to do so. Even while traveling the hill towns of Mirik ( Darjeeling still unexplored for me ! ), I brought home the bunch of wild hill flowers.

Again months back, while during Madikeri downhill journey, while my friends were busy buying honey and cardamom, I was busy collecting orchid kinda flowers roadside. In the light drizzle, I made a bouquet again with them. Should I add that it was again an object of laugh for my friends. Inside the vehicle, the wild bouquet again added to the beauty in front of windscreen.

The reasons may be credited to my unknown love for natural flowers or to be exact zoology. Still I can recognise well a Palmately compound leaves and Pinnately compound leaves. And then multiplied the taste, to realize the exact value of many of them, Ma’s love for Ayurvedic plants Blooming Wild Flowers - Harangi Dam - Koduguand volumes of books by Vaidayraj Shivkali Bhattacharya to identify medicinal plants from wild plants and their parts and make medicine. Wish I could had been a Ayurvedic doctor or at least married to, to make her efforts true. Aree haan ! One day I will write how I missed to fill the medical entrance exam form by one day !!

Anyway for the time being, you needn’t wonder if I pluck a flower from bushes and give you to chew for curing your mouth sore and telling it is ‘sipsipi’ flower, that will cure the sore with a sweet sensation on tongue for just few minutes, which is another  yellow little wild flower went unnoticed for many years for me.

We can grow the flowers of several variety at our home garden, but never tried to grow them so carefully. I think what makes them look nice and important, is the growing in the purest environment in the true care of nature.