Feel the sylvan symphony
“You
should sit down and go on writing…” I heard someone say.
I had my doubts about the statement. In any case I cannot just sit
down and go on writing. I am not that wise enough, or may be not mature
enough. Or precisely ideas won’t come that easily.
The statement nevertheless sounded intriguing. It coincided with
something I’ve encountered in a recent trip I made to Kumana. The guy
next to me was interesting not only because he was a teetotaler as well
as a vegetarian – well that’s a rare characteristic, I must say – but
also because he had a whole lot of ideas and experiences.
One of our aims was to meet Hindu pilgrims walking their way to
Kataragama taking the Kumana route. Rightly so the place was crowded
enough. But we took alternative routes too, to take a peek at the
wilderness.
That’s when my friend admitted how fond he is of these wild
sanctuaries. I was listening to his story without interrupting.
****
I go on jungle tours with many kinds of friends. They are mostly no
exception when it comes to taking pictures, laughing out loud, all this
and that you know. But they are the educated lot too. The thing is as
anyone they were always on the lookout for any wild creatures to appear.
I had a hard time convincing them that the forest is not a zoo for
wild creatures to pop out at your beck and call. This is their kingdom
after all, and we need to be vigilant to spot them. I’m sad to say only
one of them really agreed with me. But that one person was enough for
me.
We were looking down at a tree bark for sometime maybe a minute or
two. Following that moment, we could notice a change in the bark. That
was a lizard disguised in camouflage for its defence.
We stared into waters, and within a few minutes we noticed it causes
ripples. There were crocodiles. They make sure of the environs before
making a move. That was the lesson of bio diversity not only my friend,
but I too, learnt. We could work it out, because we cared to stay still
for some while simply doing nothing.
That night we spent outdoors, just to see what’s going on. That day
we could make out an elephant in the dark. Our eyes grew used to the
dark, and we realized elephant’s colour is different to that of the
dark.
We were still observing, without even a whisper.
Everything changed all of a sudden a growl was heard from afar. Fear
took grip of us, though we forced to let it slip by. A leopard had
grabbed a calf from its mother. Its mother, a grown up cow very much
stronger than its enemy, was on feet chasing behind the leopard. The
leopard seemed to have no option but climb up a tree. But he could not
get down, because the cow was waiting for him in the ground. Half an
hour must have elapsed, when leopard finally dropped the calf to the
ground. But believe or not, even before cow could move, the little
victim had another claimant! That was a crocodile dragging the carcass
to the waters in a fast pace. And finally we were listening to the sound
the waters made.
The following morning our guide said such incidents were something
common in wilderness. But none of our friends could witness this type of
action-packed live drama.
It made me think rethink, in fact. How many of us go to the forest
with a steadfast mind? Most of us go with alcohol. Sometimes it’s
barbecue. We do barbecue, sing aloud and leave our leftovers. We come
back saying we couldn’t see much of the ‘forest’! Of course most of
these wild creatures are scared of us humans. They don’t get close when
they hear us.
You have to be patient to spot the tree bark change. You have to be
silent to hear the movements in waters. You have to be steadfast to
observe what’s going on in the forest.
The forest has its own symphony the sylvan symphony. Only if you
really care to feel it!
*****
We are always moving so fast in reading and writing. We all talk,
read and write about this book and that movie. But have we really cared
for a respite at least for an hour by a streamlet to just feel what the
Mother Nature has to offer us?
That’s where you feel really calmed down, inspired and re-energized -
something books or any other work of art cannot do all the time.
Have you ever felt that symphony of your own? Or do you have one? If
not, feel it now. Feel the sylvan symphony!
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