Lessons the river taught

Imagine if birds were tickled by feathers,
One would see a flock of birds fly by laughing hysterically…

This and many more thoughts – some serious some others not so (I wonder y thoughts should ever b classified, isn’t there more humor in them than any relative value shouldnt the mind buzz continuously akin to the breathlessness tat continues to remind us of the life within us???) ran through the little radius of grey matter that my head held as we walked through the wilderness at 6.30AM through the jungles of Dandeli with our guide Manjunath. The drizzle that accompanied us made us appreciate the natural hues and the relative shades between the leaves of different species of trees and the collective splendor they held.

For someone accustomed to walking a stretch of road that keeps getting a painful and expensive root canal, the sharp contrast of the jungle – its pure crooked smile of little rivulets flowing in between, its eternal beauty manifesting in all life forms around –
From the many trees that stood embracing the sky as if holding it in a firm grip and ensuring the mischievous sun wouldn’t strike his playful and at times severe rays on us,
From teaks that were worth a few lakhs to Rose wood whose value was like an irritating tick on the back of one’s neck-many locals in their ignorance and greed scratching and prying over it to sell it like a tick that has insurmountable value and once disposed would be easily forgotten,
To the herd of deer who followed the lead of the handsome stag who shielded them from all danger,
To the lone jackal we caught sight of,
To the secretive and hidden elephants whose footprints one saw in the rain soaked muddy path acting like a teaser to the curious human eye,
To the many insects and creepy crawlies who continuously tried to create an orchestra which was as contemporary as the musical fusion of Carnatic Music and death metal(nobody is crazy enuff to mix the two! Well!just a thought:)),
to the man made God form - 3 steps looking up at the divine through the beams that fell at an angle and the beautiful expanse of the sky as colorful as a palette of multiple hues that sun the painter held and kept dabbling with as they became one and the more- it was a canvas sooo far that the human could not see, and sooo dynamic that it felt like an equation that became equal to null and infinity together
– the balance between strength and delicacy manifesting itself over and over reemphasizing that in contradictions are all forms and formless bound/unbound…

Bound were we with the education that Kali gave us unrequited and comforting and unbound of the clutter and clammer of the dull routines we belonged to..

The Kali jungle resort is attached to a forest reserve 240 KM wide, with 11 tigers and 35 panthers and black cobras whose numbers no one knows (some of them rumored to stand as tall as the tallest humans), with about 200 elephants that crossed paths across Karnataka, Kerala and TN covering an average of 40-50KM and joint wood spiders who taught humans to create life protecting bullet proof jackets and about 300 bird species with names as common as the woodpecker to Iora a little yellow bird- small yet significant in its brightness- she would glide by like a miniature shooting star:)

The jungle caught me in her spell- it was like a school of magic that had hidden meanings and reasons for existence- sometimes spoken some others felt and learnt through indulgences (experiments and experiences)- v ate a leaf said to have medicinal properties its bitterness and rancid taste making us spit it out half way..the pungent smell of the death of an animal making us realize that some spells could end up becoming curses and act as antidotes too -such is the essence of life- bitter sweet

Silence is not only golden its seldom misquoted is the lesson I want to carry.

With eyes wide open I tried to soak it all in, the silent comfort of being with friends who were carefree and cool, the infinite kindness of a family that hosted us and embraced us as their own, the sincere and candid confessions of a forest guide and the efforts that he believed our tourism dept made to improve his and his community’s life were all messages – Silent in their own light – powerful and significant as most of what was shared was not merely words but much deeper- it was in the concern in the eyes of a friend I knew briefly, as she looked at the many medications I had to consume, in the warmth of the household that barely knew us but allowed us become a part of their sanctum sanctorum, in the comfort that the little mouse who traveled as a co-passenger - unafraid and brave… that there was much to be held onto…these words are but empty if it weren’t for what was felt and needs to be recorded, silence she triumphs in the peace and purity of thoughts that run through the fingers that type across the keyboard…