The Beginning of the Journey

Even a journey that covers thousands of miles should have a single step to start with. When the journey is of one’s thoughts and ideas, this step will be an incident or a person that left ever-living marks on his or her mind. And there is every chance for that specific incident to be the one that happened during childhood days, because even a minor incident happened on those days will influence the life and thoughts of the persons for a long time and sometimes whole life. It was a large Mimusop’s Elengi tree, which was there in the south eastern corner of the compound where my house was located, that influenced me immensely to love and care nature. Or in other words, I can say that it was that large tree that evoked the nature lover in me and made me to fight for many environmental issues.

Elengi tree was a dwelling for many living things. There were crow’s nestles were there and there was a few owls on the next branch. Several bats were seen hanging down from the top most branches and there were many other small creatures that used the large tree as their house. It was an ideal habitation where many creatures lived together, although with a little bit of petty quarrels and fighting over petty issues.

Elengi is a flowering tree and the fragrance of the flowers is too strong and piercing. When the small flowers blossom in bunches, the fragrance will get spread in the atmosphere and one can experience the same even from a distance of a few meters. The smell of elengi flowers is identified with the arrival of angels in the fairy tales of grandma. Usually the flowers blossom during winter and during monsoons. The moisturized evenings during these periods will have the fragrance of elengi flowers as an added attraction. The little mind used to flourish with romantic thoughts of fairies and angles during those wet evenings. The cool breeze coming from the rivulet that forms the northern boundary of our compound used to give more dimensions to the thoughts. I used to get evolved to the little prince who is waiting for the princess from the fairyland. The waiting may continue even after the twilight disappeared and the darkness appears.

On those moments the Elengi tree will become a castle filled with a lot of wonders and hurdles to cross before reaching the room where the little princess is sleeping. Entire night I will be busy with entering inside the castle. My dreams and thoughts will be filled with a lot of adventures then.

Monsoon season will invoke a totally different mood. As the starts aggregating on the western hemisphere grandma begins her stories as usual. During this season, most of the stories will be horror in nature as she might have thought that the mood of the story should match with the mood of the environment.

“Have you seen that darkness in the western hemisphere?” Grandma always starts the stories with a question. She will be sitting on the verandah on the western side of our house stretching her legs to the steps that extent to the white sand. “That is the fort of devils. They are planning to attack us and undergoing training in different warfare.” When she tells, her facial expression itself generates a sort of fear in us, her grand children. Then she continues with different exercises being carried out there. The thunders are the sound arises when they practice with clubs and the lightening is the spark that comes out when two swords clashes with each other. Elengi tree will carryon the mood of the story throughout the night with the howling of owls and the noises produced by bats and other small creatures. Providing suitable background music, the rain falls heavily on the roof tiles to create rhythm of devils.

Thus the elangi tree played an important role in my childhood life and introduced me to different moods. It provoked the imagination power in me too. As the things were going on quite smoothly, to my shock I came to know that the tree has been sold and the people will come to cut it soon. Of course, my first worry was about my fairy princess. Her palace is going to get destroyed and her brave prince will have to watch it helplessly. I really feel pity on me and became sad as I am not able to rescue here when a real need aroused. All my adventures in my daydreams went in vein. The result was a few sleepless nights.

However, those sleepless nights turned me a realistic. The howling of owls in the night and the noise of crows made me to think realistically. I left my romantic princess in my dreams and started thinking about those owls, crows and different other creatures lived on that tree.

“Where will they all go, grandma?” I asked her as she was the only source for information on those days. My father will always be busy with his official works and mother never got time to come out of the kitchen.

“When the god created them, he has arranged their food, shelter etc too. You don’t have to worry about it.” But my grandma’s answer did not satisfy me this time. The D’ Day came at last and the inevitable thing happened. When the axe fell on the trunk, I heard the heart braking crying of my little friends who used to stay on that tree. But, what a seven year old can do? I had to watch the entire episode with weeping hearts. I remember that a few drops of tears that came out of my eyes.

Thus the elangi tree has become a thing of past and a new bungalow has come in that place. However, the screaming of my friends who lost their house did not leave my heart. Those helpless requests for a place to stay started burning within my heart. As the time passed those noises of agony became fire of angry. And that fire still keeps me enthusiastic to fight against many such things.

Mystic Clouds of Nostalgia

Many times we lose our control over our mind. It is just like a horse without harness. It keeps on traveling back to the past through the time. There will not be a specific route. It may turn left or right at any moment and may take a rest at a place. It will spend a few moments there and pick up some shells that contain several pearly memories.Some time it will walk continuously through the tracks of memories which ends nowhere.

The sunset at the beach is always a sweet memory. We used to gather there in the weekends and recite poems of our poets. There was a cement bench facing the sea and that was the one which is very close to the sea. Whenever we sit there the waves used to come and wash our feet. Sometimes it will soak us fully too. We enjoyed the hugging of waves a lot and it increased the enthusiasm in us. The beach was always crowded with visitors and beach side vendors. Shouting and laughter always made the beach noisy. Still we had privacy on that cement bench which is located in a remote corner of the beach. Some time we all sat in silence. The roaring of the sea will be the only noise around us. When the last rays of sun disappears and when the sky becomes dark the bottles will get open and the whiskey will flow into the glasses.

“Have it man. It is the blood of devil.”

When he cheered the rest I could see tears in his eyes. He was a poet and used to sing beautifully. The long beard is not at all matching his face; still he will not shave it. He never trimmed it too for a long time. Unevenly grown hairs and beard gave him the appearance of a genius and he really was the one. However, I used to feel that some sad feelings are haunting him and the purpose of the unevenly grown beard is to cover his emotions. He may not like others to see his emotions. There was an incident which proved that my feelings were right. It was on a weekend evening. As usual we were sitting on the cement bench on the beach. He started recite his own poem which was a funny one. We all really enjoyed the jokes in that poem and laughed loudly. At the end of it as an advice he told.

“Share all the happiness with everybody and keeps all the agonies for ourselves. I am selfish and I do not want to share my agonies with anybody else.”

I watched a drop of tears in his eyes at that time too. I had to leave my friends and my native place shortly after that incident and at a time when the communication industry has not as developed as they are today, I could not get in touch with them frequently. Adjusting with the new atmosphere and mingling with new friends I slowly forgot them too.

 A couple of years passed and one fine evening when I returned back from my work I received a telegram saying that my poet friend is no more. It was a shock to hear and entire night I spent sleepless. At that time I realized that I cannot forget my past. After a few days I got a detailed letter from one of my friends. The letter told about the death of the poet friend in detail. He was a cancer patient and was living with us hiding the fact. Whenever he sat with us, recited poems and cracked jokes he was quite aware that his days are numbered and the inevitable death will come to his doors at any moment with a bouquet of violet flowers to take him away from this world. Still he did not want to share his agonies. He shared only the happiness and left all of us in agony.

The globe continued with its rotation around its axis. Days and months have passed and so the years too. Life has changed a lot. The days of solitude have ended with the arrival of her in my life. Add more beauty to our life she gave birth to a baby boy too. Hectic work schedule and domestic responsibilities will take the joy of life from you many times. Holiday tour is the best remedy for it. I have decided to visit my native place after a long time.

Of course there are many places there which will ignite the nostalgia in me, but I prefer to go to the beach first. I thought that my little son will enjoy the crowd there. We went to the beach. As expected my naughty little son enjoyed the beach. We felt it difficult to control him as he started running over the loose sand. Somehow we caught him and then went to a beach side refreshment stall to have some snacks and soft drinks. The beach has changed a lot from those days. Instead of pulling carts which used to sell eatable on the beach, new restaurants and refreshment stalls have come there with all modern facilities. There were a few toys installed at the beach which entertains the kids a lot. Speed boats and water skiing provided new entertainments to the new generation. We enjoyed everything a lot and there was not a single moment when we kept quite.

The last rays of sun disappeared and the sky got darkening. Suddenly I had a strange feeling. It is just like someone penetrating your heart with a small needle. I stood there for a moment and then sat on the sand, but could not sit there for a long time. I felt like somebody is pulling me. I could not withstand that force and I started walking in the direction of that invisible force. I walked to the remote corner of the beach. My wife and son were accompanying me with a bit of wonder. Suddenly I stopped seeing a cement bench close to the sea. It was empty. In the twilight I saw the waves coming to touch the bench. A cool breeze came and went murmuring something. I could not understand what the wind tries to say me. Suddenly I heard a loud voice.

“Papa, what are you thinking? Just share the happiness and forget everything else.”

In a shock I stared at the cement bench. My little son is sitting there with a naughty smile. I saw a few hairs growing beneath his lips. I felt like his hairs are growing longer. The red and soft lips turn darker. I felt like getting fainted. A soft touch of my wife brought me back to the real world. My son was not on the bench then. He was running away from us with his naughty smile and waving goodbye to us.

My Childhood Friends

Although the green paddy fields come first in the memories of my childhood, it was not in a village I spent my childhood. It was neither a town too. A middleclass locality where a few families were staying has all the facilities in the nearby areas. It was a calm and quite area with narrow gravel roads and one main road that leads to the nearby town. The main road was also very narrow when compared with the present day roads and the traffic was less or almost nil at most of the time. Bicycles were the only vehicles seen on the road baring one car belongs to a doctor and two scooters and one or two buses that used to carry the inhabitants to and from the nearby city where most of the male population used to work. Except for two or three teachers, most of the womenfolk were leading a life of home makers. Their primary and the only duty were to take care of their wards.

My house was situated in the middle of a big compound which may extend to an area of more than an acre. The old styled tiled roof house has a built up area of hardly 100- square feet. Rest of the compound was filled with many trees and bushes. On those days the minimum age to join school was five years and the period well before joining school was the most romantic period in my life.

We were living in a joint family. My grandmother and the cook will be busy inside the kitchen and my uncles, who were bachelors on those days, will leave for their work in the nearby city. In a joint family, there are rooms allocated to each branch of the family. My mother, two brothers and I used to stay in a room that is located in the south-east corner of the house. The room has two big windows one facing the east and the other facing the south. The windows were secured with iron rods run parallel from one end to the other of the window apart from two wooden shutters. We never used to shut the window except when it is raining heavily. 

My younger brother was too young to be a companion for me and when my elder brother leaves for school I feel alone. That solitude was not at all boring. I used to climb on the iron rods of the window facing the east. Just outside there was a huge jackfruit tree where a good number of squirrels were living. I have a friend among them, a little one who used to come to the tip of a branch of the tree that is almost reaching our window. He (to be honest, I didn’t know the gender of that squirrel still I preferred to treat him as a male on those days) sits there for a long time staring in my eyes. He used to tell something in his own language which I guess what he means and used to reply in my language. Every now and then I used to throw small pieces of bananas and other fruits down the soil, which he will come fast, pick up and then go back to the top of the branch. I swear that I used to see his eyes shining brighter whenever he looks at me after taking the gifts I am offering him.

Some days there will be a visitor, a sparrow. She ( I didn’t know the gender here also still I treated the sparrow as a female) will sit in a branch next to the one where my friend squirrel is sitting and starts teasing us with her chimes. Although I enjoyed her chimes a lot some time I used to get angry. Mostly it happens when she interfere with her chimes when I am discussing something seriously with my friend. But she had the sense to stop teasing when I am getting annoyed.

Days have passed and I had to join school when I became five year old. The new friends, new lessons, new knowledge, new wisdom everything made me a new person and slowly I started forgetting my childhood friends, the squirrel and the sparrow.

As you turn the pages of your text books, you are not only gaining knowledge but also getting old. It is a natural process and no one can help undergoing it. And when you gain more knowledge you are assisting the development of your society. And when you get old you will feel proud of assisting your society in development.

Being guided by the law of the nature, I too participated in the development of my society. I studied well, got an employment, got married and paid all taxes properly. I never turn behind from using the latest technology whenever it is necessary as I felt that it will turn our society back to centuries. Along with me my society was also developing.

Recently in a weekend I left alone without anything to do specially. I was experiencing the solitude once again after years. Presently I am staying in a city apartment and even this has two windows one facing east and the other south, but I could not see the branch of jackfruit tree near the windows. When I opened the window on the eastern side, I saw a young girl standing in the balcony of the nearby apartment and talking to someone over her mobile phone. Suddenly the old days came in my memory. I never had the need of equipment to talk to my friends. Even we didn’t have a common language, still we communicated our feelings and emotions clearly and that was the reason for the longstanding relation between us. I felt guilty for neglecting them for a long time. I have grown up and that 3 year old boy has a son now. What would be the condition of my childhood friends? The question started haunting me.

It was long time since I visited my native place and I decided to visit there once. Dreaming about an evening walk on the calm and quite gravel roads I landed in the airport. As the cab approaching my place, I could see wider roads and huge buildings. The compound where my tiled roof house was situated has become a colony consisting of many modern bungalows. And there was not a single tree in the vicinity. Except for some pet dogs I could not find any animals or birds. My heart was beating fast and I felt like getting unconscious. The thought about my childhood friends started haunting again me. Where they might have gone? Now, being a science graduate I know that they will not be alive as their life span is lesser when compared to that of human beings. But is it possible to see some their successors? I started walking through the black top road, which was a gravel road during those days leading to the riverside. 

Everything has changed. There are no coconut trees that once used to extend to the middle of the river. There is no mango tree in the front of the gate. Everything has paved way for the new generation buildings. But to my joy I found the same old small shop near the river which used to sell cigarettes for the fishermen. I approached the shop. It is as same as the one it was years before. The shop owner who was a young man then turned old. When I introduced myself he recognized me. He offered me a cigarette and when I offered to pay for it he rejected it with a smile. I talked about the changes in the surroundings. He replied with calmness.

“When you want to gain something you should sacrifice something.”

Yes. I want to gain but why the sparrows and squirrels should sacrifice their lives for my gain? When I want to live in luxuries, why should they lead their lives in the cages in zoo? Why we are making others to sacrifice for our gains? Is this earth belongs to humans only?

Mind has become more unrest with haunting questions and paining memories. I could not withstand the force of emotion. I waved goodbye to shop owner and went back to my cab. Asked the driver to take me to the nearest bar.

Farewell to Lord Ganesha

If you ask me about the happiest ten days in a year, I will say without any doubt that the days we spent with Lord Ganesha in our colony. For my friends who are not familiar with Indian culture and religious rituals I would like to share a few things before narrating my experience.

Lord Ganesha, the elephant faced god is considered as the god who will remove all the obstacles in your path. This Hindu God is being worshiped before starting anything new. In the auspicious day of Vinayaka Chathurthi, idols of Lord Ganesha will be installed at various places. Usually it is being done by the people living in a colony or in a street as a team. The idol will be worshiped for ten days and on the eleventh day it will be immersed in nearby water bodies such as rivers, lakes or ocean.

These ten days really exhibit the might of team work and celebrate the union. The religious rituals followed by devotional music will have more entertainments such as fun games, cultural programs etc. This year it is estimated that almost 77,000 Ganesha idols were installed at various places in our city. The size of the idols ranges from two feet height to 59 feet height. 

This year I enjoyed it more because of my son’s presence. He born up on the auspicious Vinayaka Chathurthi Day of last year and within one year he became able to enjoy the drum beats and to raise his hands in tune with the rhythms of drums. All the ten days, we spent the evenings in the Pandal, where the idol was installed. I guess my son enjoyed the crowd and the noise the best. He might have felt Ganesh as his elder brother and that could be the reason why he cried when the volunteers lifted the idol and placed on the truck to take the same to the nearby lake. However, it was only for a short while. He quickly returned to his original mood and started dancing to the rhythm of drum beats. Of course he was sitting on my shoulder all the way.

After reaching the lake, the necessary rituals being performed by the priest who accompanied as and the hand of crane came down to lift the platform where the idol has been kept ready for immersion. The hooks were fixed. The crane started lifting its hand. Suddenly I felt a drop of tears in my eyes. It was just like waving bid adieu to someone whom you love the most. The pain will be much more when you knew that you will not seeing him again. I wiped tears with my handkerchief.

As the crane hand moved towards the middle of the lake, my little son too started exhibiting uneasiness. He might have thought that he is going to lose all the joy he enjoyed for the past ten days. The platform where the idol has been kept came down. It touched the surface of water. A few seconds left before I lose my Ganesha forever. My heart started beating fast. I felt like losing my courage. My mind filled with a different sort of agony.

As I kept on looking, the idol went down the water slowly. First it was the holy feet of God where we offered the flowers as a symbol of our heart, then the pot belly which is a unique feature of Ganesha. Then slowly the trunk, the sharp eyes and elephantine ears… I lost all my control and was trying to hide the tears from others. My son too went moody. The drums have stopped. The people who accompanied the lord all the way to the lake stopped their dancing. All were sad I believe.

I just turned back and went a few yards away from the lake as I was not able to see the lord going down completely inside the lake. There was a small piece of rock and I adjusted on it along with my son. As I was wiping the tears I heard the shouting from the lakeside.

“Agale Baras thu jaldi Aa” Come earlier in the next year.

Yes, I am also waiting for his visit next year as I love Ganesha close to my heart.