Walking past the crowded lanes of Mumbai, I was compelled
to disembark from a place which kept me away from listening to abuses on top of
the voice, the shoulders which constantly rubbed mine, the drops of sweat which
were never fortunate to the touch the earth.
I wanted to be away from the visible signs of discrimination where you
can see palms bearing 2-3 coins stretched in front of a place called mall where
these 2-3 coins hardly make any difference. I wanted to be in a place where I
could walk barefooted without grimacing at the spittings or escaping from the
scorn talks, a place where I could connect with Mother Nature.
Dumping my stuffs into my bagpack, I embarked on a
journey to my destination. The crowd of this city only brought smile into my
face reiterating the fact that I am undeniably departing to a better place. Even
the multi-wheeler I was travelling seemed to have a grimace on its face and was
as eager as me to reach the destination ‘green’. The crowd and dust gradually was petering out
replacing them all with green.
Sunflowers were ogling at the sun with much of admiration. I wondered if
humans could stare at the sun even for a second. May it’s the intense love
which brought the unison of these souls. I couldn’t wait to get down from the
train and adhere to the new world. I closed my eyes firmly so as not to leak
any surprises that nature has kept for me. I suddenly could feel a shake on my
shoulder. My co-passenger informed me that I had already reached MY place. I
eagerly grabbed my stuffs and jumped out of the train. My happiness knew no
bounds.
As soon as I stepped my foot, nature gave me my first
gift by means of a crow, a white gum!! I smiled and thanked for whatever it
gave me. After all, it’s nature, the gifts ought to be out-of-the-box. The crow
flew right away. May be there are many people waiting in the village to receive
its gift. Meanwhile, I could listen to some feeble bleats. I couldn’t stop
myself from moving towards the sound. Closer the sound came from the happier I
was. But the scene brought a frown in my face as I saw a goat trying hard to
pull its leg from an entwined wire of fence.
I immediately freed it. It gave me a second’s gratified look and hopped
away merrily. I felt as if the flower bud in my heart had blossomed.
The avenue to the destination-less destination wasn’t
one which could let a ball roll freely. Nature had beautifully spread out the
red carpet comprising of stones and thorns. Every stone which scratched and
every thorn which pricked brought me closer to the beauty and augmented my
smile. All of a sudden, a leaf settled on my shoulder, all one of the trees I passed
could give me. I softly kissed it and admiringly gazed at the tree. I silently
thanked for endowing a shield from sun and tightly hugged its trunk. Is there
another place called heaven? I wondered.
This shady path led me to an open land under
cultivation. To one of the concluding trees was tied a cow.
It had black and white colours artistically used and a
white mark on its forehead. Its long hairy-ended tail was constantly swaying. I
had to give a hop just to escape one of its sways. The small bell tied around
its neck produced sweet, light tinkling sound which overcame the existing
silence. I didn’t miss a chance of caressing it, especially its marked
forehead. My caress least bothered it. But something bothered me. I could hear
an additional tinkling. I went around the tree only to see its calf resting and
an irked mother proceeding towards me. ‘Mother’, the embodiment of love, the
word that rules the universe!
Initially, I hesitated a bit to get into the open
field as the sun was acting too harsh. Standing under one of the trees I
glanced though the crops. A small temple built under a plant caught my
attention. Disregarding the scorching heat, I ran splashing the water let out
for irrigation. It almost doused my bagpack.
A small idol smeared with kumkum sated the so-called
temple. There stood a formless divine with a bowl of sweet waiting to be
relished by Him. Ahh! Sweet! Where did this come from? I was distracted by a
sound of cough. I turned around to see who it was. A dark old man with a cloth
tied around his head was smiling at me. Sweat was dripping down his forehead
which was being constantly wiped by him. He invited me to his house without
even asking for an introduction. His house was a small hut which had a
‘stoopery’ entrance. I was mesmerized by the strong aroma of dal. He offered me
a seat in his hanging net cot. I swung in the cot for few minutes and enjoyed.
He brought a glassful of water, cleaned one of the stools and placed on it.
Slowly spreading his mat on the floor he asked “so girl, what brought you to
this place?” This was one question which had no answer. I raised my eyebrows,
smiled and answered “No idea. May be there’s someone who loves me, other than
my mom” He replied, “No dear, it’s the mutual love which connects two ends” I
got his point and nodded in agreement. Meanwhile I didn’t miss to take few sips
of water which didn’t taste less than nectar (though I haven’t tasted one). I
couldn’t contain my curiosity. I asked him in a mild tone, “Don’t you want to
know who I am and from where I have come?” He calmly replied, “none other than
the devotees of Nature pay a visit. And any devotee of Nature is a member of my
family.” His one-liner replies banged my heart and brain. He led me to the
other end of his house which exited to a beautiful view of mountains crowned by
clouds.
I was dumbfounded at their beauty. Both of us enjoyed
few moments of silence which didn’t last long when a sparrow began loudly
chirping searching its mate. It anxiously took few glimpses of us and flew away
continuing its search. I could strongly sense a connection with God, a cosmic
energy uniting the souls. I could feel the Nature within me and visualize
myself in Nature. That’s when I understood the power of ONE. I requested him to
lend me few minutes and immersed into a small meditation session. Every cell in
my body resonated with the cosmic music, unbounded by time. My shoulder sensed
heaviness. I opened my eyes. He invited me to lunch.
After having a sumptuous tasty, fresh meal, I
preferred to go for a siesta in a cot kept on the backend.
Suddenly, his dog started barking (which was when I realized
he had a dog. It had gone to hunt for food). My siesta broke but I sensed
something was wrong. With the intention of finding out the reason, I set off
the cot only to land upon something which didn’t seem like the rough ground I
had experienced since morning. It was a snake!!! I missed a heartbeat. A shock
ran through my nerves. Next thing I intended to do was ‘yell’. But I gave it a
second thought and intently looked at this creature. It had life, the light
within still glowing. It was a creature, just like me. I simply smiled, stayed
away and let it go. It could understand the language of Love.
Dusk was approaching; the sun of excitement within
also seemed to set. But an eternal peace had settled in my heart which wasn’t
allowing sleep to conquer me. After much of battle, I finally decided to sleep.
Coke-a-doodle-dooooooooooo!!! There crows my cock!
someone whom I had missed out to mention. Rays of sun tickled my eyes. I smiled
at it and proceeded to my bagpack. With a heavy heart, I dumped my stuffs into
it. I set out on the field, talked to the crops and revamped the scarecrow. I
didn’t speak even a word to the farmer. But he could read my mind and feel the
heaviness in my heart. I wondered how a person who had hardly spent a day with
could comprehend!! I went up to him and said just ‘bye, thank you!’ I was
falling short of words. I lifted up my bagpack n placed it in my shoulders.
Tears had already started rolling off my cheeks. Tears swathed my eyes
refraining from enjoying the beauty.
Oh my gosh!! I had forgotten to take pictures of all
the beauty I had come across, especially, the man who acted as a mode of
connecting me to nature. I immediately took out my camera and rushed back to
the hut. But… but…but…, there was no hut, no man, no dog, only crops and
mountains standing erect far off. I pinched myself and it was no dream. Then
who was he? God’s messenger? Well, I again had no answer for this. Carrying all
the beautiful memories, I ensued my way back to city. I appreciated my memory
for not having reminded about the camera which would have definitely given a
blemishing effect to my visit to the village.
