A Journey to the Core of my Heart - JeShAl

The Himalayan Expedition – Part 3

2012-02-06T04:21:00.002+05:30

This is the third part of a series about The Journey, Visit to an Old Friend, The Climb, Temple of the Snakes, A Folk Song, the Fire, and the Ganges

Dated: October 19, 2011

Participants of IIM Indore at the Nag Tibba summit (~10000 feet above sea level)

As I’ve said earlier, the most difficult part of mountaineering or trekking is descending, and more so is keeping it clean of plastics and other non-biodegradable wastes. Most of the ‘so-called’ disposable plates that we used while in Nag-tibba were collected and taken down to the valley on the back of mules by the local hikers, who accompanied us. The small plastic wrappers of the energy bars and candies that we were eating found a dump-yard in my new leather waist bag.

We started our descent at around 4pm. Since most of us were too tired or sore to carry our own luggage, we paid a small fee to a local guide to carry our luggage. Normally a mule is used for carrying luggage but since it was getting dark and most of the mules were required in the base camp, the gentle man agreed to it. Mr. O N Brahma (no relation), our guide and consultant of India Hikes, told us that he would join us later. So Amit, Alok, Divya, Puspa, Panda and I started our descent without any guide. We were able to manage fine, with steep descent and intuitive trails, when we met our luggage carrier. In a typical Pahari accent, he informed us that we were descending by one of the most difficult routes and that the easier route is through the sides of the mountain. Since we were already on our way down, we thought of continuing with the trail. While we were deciding on our next route of trails, our luggage carrier ‘vanished’ in front of our eyes, as he hurried down the mountain range (since he was familiar with the terrain).

Shortly after that we heard a voice from behind. It was Mr. Brahma. That was a relief, as we were kind of lost on which route to take. So was Amit. We could hear Amit’s voice though. Later we ‘discovered’ Amit enjoying the cold water of the mountain, from a villager’s stream. We took a few minutes of rest near the stream and then continued our descent. Meanwhile, it was getting dark and we had only 2 torches and another 6-7 kms of descent left. The remaining light of that day, Oct. 19, 2011, was used to climb down goat trails and a dangerously steep trail. The trails were so narrow (just enough space to place a single foot) and dangerous, that one wrong step and we would have fallen down into the valley in no time, all crushed to our deaths of course! So we were coming down very carefully under the leadership and guidance of Mr. Brahma. As darkness fell, we switched on our two torches. One was in front and the other one with the last person, as we were walking in a line. That downhill trek was in itself an adrenalin rush which we did by singing songs and joking and laughing (more so to overcome our fear). As we reached further below, Mr. Brahma told us that we need to stay close to each-other and not to panic or shout if we hear weird noises of the night; which in a way, informed us that we needed to pass a jungle.

For a long moment (so it seems), there was silence. I guess we were undecided on who should make the first sound, the jungle or us. This silence was soon broken when Mr. Brahma started humming a tune from an old Bollywood movie, a Kishore classic. He had an excellent voice: we were informed by Panda that Mr. Brahma had also sung for a few rock bands in Kolkata. Now the worry of the weird noises of the jungle was gone and overpowered with the desire to sing or hum along with our rock singer. Somewhere behind some animals was screeching, some birds were crying but we were busy in our pursuit of bettering our vocals with the singer.

After we crossed the jungle, it took us another hour to reach Pantwari. Arjun, our driver, and Mr. Brahma’s company for most of his expeditions, was waiting for us. Like a hungry pack of wolves we had our snacks and loads of tea in Pantwari, before we started our ride back to Mussoorie.

A FOLK SONG

Mr. Brahma took to the wheels at around 8 pm, as we insisted him to accompany and drive us back to Mussoorie. After about 5 minutes into the drive, the singing session started again, but as none us of had much energy left, after walking about 13 kms and descending over 5000 feet, we resorted to Arjun’s music system in the vehicle, which had a mix of Hindi and Garhwali songs. One Garhwali song in particular caught my attention. Although I heard the language for the first time, I realised I understood the lyrics of the song quite well. The song may not be a folk per-se, but the originality of the song cannot be denied by history itself. The song is “Na Kata Taun Dalyun” sung by Nar endra Singh Negi. The mean ing of the song is “don’t cut the trees, friends, don’t cut the trees”. And how history cannot deny that the modern Chipko movement was started by the brave women of Garhwal, and I suppose this particular song is a tribute to these brave women.

After about half an hour of music, when we were all about to go to sleep, Mr. Brahma suddenly shouted in Bengali “Oye Saala, Baagher Baacha, Baagh-er Baacha” and our vehicle came to a stand-still with a screech.

Song: “Na Kata Taun Dalyun” by Narendra Singh Negi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-4hCp1ynRk

(to be continued…)

Note: This article appeared in the January 2012 issue of Expressions eZine, published online by iCare India.

If horses had wings…

2012-01-16T02:00:00.000+05:30

If horses had wings,

They would march with the Penguins;

Flop-flips, hop-hips, blong-blings,

Little Blue, Yellow-eyed, Emperors & Kings.

If horses had wings,

They would fly along the Springs;

Neigh-ing, quack-quacking, splashing,

Yearlings, Ducklings & Waxwings.

If horses had wings,

There would be a tune they sings;

Trang-trings, Clang-Dings, Yodellings,

Drafts, Hot-bloods, Orientals & Kiangs.

If horses had wings,

They would sit in the railings;

Pong-Pings, Zong-Zings, Poop-ings,

Done with my words and rhymings’…

PS: Most of the Onomatopoeia used, individually have actual meaning. The last line of stanzas 1 & 3 are different type of breeds.

The Himalayan Expedition - Chapter 2

2011-12-22T21:55:00.003+05:30

This is the second part of a 3 part series about The Journey, Visit to an Old Friend, The Climb, Temple of the Snakes, A Folk Song, the Fire, and the Ganges

“KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!”

As I knocked on the door of Mr. Ruskin Bond’s house, I was greeted by a voice, followed by a familiar face. Even those who’ve never met him know he’s a gentleman and a very humble person. I guess the child in him is still alive and kicking. We chatted for about 15 minutes, where we discussed our mutual interest in books, bits of Hindu mythology (e.g. the meaning of my name), etc. I also complimented him on his collection of books. Time seemed to fly past and when I looked at my watch and it was already 6 pm. With a heavy heart, I bid farewell to him, and wished him good health. He wished me good luck on my endeavours to go beyond the ‘gunas’ (you might want to Google the term ‘Gunatita’).

As I reached my hotel, my friends we all getting ready to go out for dinner at the famous ‘Lovely Omelette Centre’ in Mussoorie. I joined them, and we headed out to eat the cheese omelettes. Post dinner, I made a few last-minute food purchases for the trek the next day. One of the things that I purchased was “Yak Cheese”, a tasteless, hard and solidified cheese made of Yak milk. From my previous experience, I had found Yak cheese to be a very useful food during trekking, as it gives tremendous energy. After the purchase, I went back to the hotel where we had another briefing about the trek and were reassigned a new group. My team consisted of team leader Narendra, Amit Bhil, Synrop, Prateek, Chanakya, Manmit, Prabhu and myself.

THE CLIMB

As per the course requirement, we were supposed to climb a hill. The locals call it Nag Tibba, which is one of the highest peaks in the lesser Himalayan range, standing at about 10,000 feet.

We started for Pantwari from Mussoorie (about 60 kms) at 9 am, three hours late from our scheduled departure. Luckily I got to board the trekker and not the bus. I was accompanied by Kim, Divya, Pushpa, Indu, Keerthi and Prabhu. We completed the journey, replete with a winding ride and scenic beauty all around us, in about two and a half hours. Once we reached the base, i.e. Pantwari, we were told to be with our newly assigned group mates. After we had had our breakfast of oat meal, eggs and tea, we were given instructions for the climb. A packet lunch was handed over to us. There were 6 groups in total, and we were the last group (Team 6) to start the climb with a difference of 25-30 minutes between each group. The instructor, Mr. O M Brahma (no relationship with the writer), told us that the team that reaches the summit first will win.

We started our climb at around 12:40 pm. From our base, the Nag Tibba point is about 9 kms, with goat tails and less travelled roads. We were told to follow our instincts if we got lost, but needed to maintain a distance of 30-50 meters between groups. We might cross a group, but could never leave any team-mates behind.

The first 100 meters was an up and down slope, but I got bit exhausted while walking the trail. We left Team-5 behind in the first 100 meters. Due to this initial triumph, we missed the narrow trek on our left and instead took a right. We travelled the vehicle trailed road for about 1 km, when we meet the Team 4, consisting Tony, George and others. We thought that we were on track, but while interacting with the villagers, came to know that we came the wrong way. So we travelled back again while Team 4 took another route, and searched the narrow trek that we were supposed to take.

From that point, the climb was steep and getting difficult. With boulders and rocks in the trek route, I was finding it difficult to get a grip, but somehow managed to do just fine. My backpack was heavy as I was carrying loads of food and water. Thankfully, my team leader swapped his bag which was lighter with mine. Post that, I got a bit of enthusiasm and inspiration to climb and not let my team mates down.

There was lack of water in the hills, so we drank whatever we carried, and after that we filled up from the village well. The villagers were kind enough to let us use their well and help us with directions. The well water was very sweet and rich in minerals. After drinking it, a new wave of energy swept within our team, and we went gung-ho to master the summit. We climbed quite fast in order to leave behind few more teams. At a short distance, after taking very little rest, we saw another team going just ahead of us. While we tried to move ahead of them, we saw that all the other teams were just ahead of us, along with few of the trekkers from India Hikes team. The trekkers (locals) told us to take some rest and have our packet lunch, and that our basecamp for tonight is just half to an hour climb ahead. Two more teams were yet to reach the site where we were having lunch. The final league of the climb was very competitive as all the teams had to start at the same time, and the winning team needed to have all its members in the basecamp. With hard work and heightened spirit, our team climbed the very steep hill and about an hour later, became the first team to reach the basecamp, with all the members. We celebrated the moment vociferously.

Later Mr. Brahma joined us with the rest of the teams, and after resting for a while, briefed us and showed us how to build a tent. We built our tent, but because of the slope, couldn’t get a proper location.

Post those activities, and a few photographs later of the setting sun, we sat down for our bon-fire and reflection session. After the dinner, we retired in our tents with weary and tired bodies. The weather was very cold and I wore about 3 layers of clothes to protect myself.

TEMPLE OF THE SNAKES

After waking up at around 7 am, and having a quick breakfast, we started for our trek to the Nag Tibba temple and the summit. Nag (Snake) Tibba is an ancient temple and the villagers come there to pray to the Nag devta (God) for protecting their harvest and cattle. From the base camp, it is only 3 kms, but a steep climb.

I was the last to start the trek for Nag Tibba along with Mr. Brahma and Divya. Mr. Brahma taught us few breathing techniques to be used for high-altitude trekking, and told us to climb at our own pace, enjoying the scenery around. Due to the fast climb the previous day, my right knee was paining severely, so I had to take a branch as a support. With slow paces, we reach the Nag Tibba temple at around 10 am. After visiting the temple and seeking blessings from the Nag devta, we continued our trek to the top of the summit. Pushpa, Amit, Alok, Jaitun and Panda joined us for the final climb. The most enthusiastic among us was Amit, who in a playful way, was selling tickets in his imaginary vehicle to transport us to the summit. Limping for most of the last climb, I, along with my other friends, reached the summit at around 12 pm. After spending some time in the summit, clicking few photographs, Alok showed me the tip of a distant mountain covered in ice. The whole panoramic view was beyond what words can describe.

After about an hour in the summit, we started our descent back to the basecamp. Climbing down the hill is more difficult than climbing up, and I learnt it with an injured right leg. While coming down, Amit declared that he had lost his mobile’s SIM and that we would have to revisit the temple again. After some 15 minutes of searching near the temple, Amit finally found his SIM near the temple.

At around 3 pm, we reached the basecamp, only to realise that most of our friends had already started the descent, and another group of friends, who started the climb early morning for the basecamp, were about to reach. After having a light lunch, we started our descent.

(to be continued…)

Note: This article appeared in the December 2011 issue of Expressions eZine, published online by iCare India.

The Himalayan Expedition - Chapter 1

2011-12-22T21:41:00.002+05:30

This is the first part of a 3 part series about The Journey, Visit to an Old Friend, The Climb, Temple of the Snakes, A Folk Song, the Fire, and the Ganges.

As per our academic requirements (a 4-credit course), we were supposed to go for some kind of leadership and team building activities: essentially an excursion. So it was decided by our PGP office that we go to Mussoorie, a hill station in the state of Uttarakhand. About 100 participants from our institute were assigned to go to this place.

I was particularly excited about going to Mussoorie because until then, the farthest that I have been in the Northern part of India was till the North Campus of Delhi University, that too some 11 years ago. Having spent most of my life in the Northeast and Southern India, I was excited that I will be going farther and viewing the Himalaya, up close and personal. Also, the mountains have some magical power that be- witches me whenever I see them. I always feel the urge to climb that and take a view from the top of that mountain, maybe because I was born in the hilly state of Manipur. And the hope that I will be seeing lot of mountains and hills in Uttarakhand further increased my excitement to go there.

THE JOURNEY

So we formed a team of 10 people (all friends) and booked our ticket in the Indore-Dehradun Express, a direct train. Our team comprised Nitin (our group leader), Ashwin, Divya, George, Inaka, Kim, Pritom, Synrop, Tony and me. We were lucky to get the tickets, as it is a bi-weekly train, and rush during the peak season is relatively high. We boarded the train on the afternoon of Oct. 15, 2011 in the AC Tier-II compartment. Most of our fellow passengers were travelling till Haridwar, to take the holy dip and perform other religious activities in that city. The train pantry, for obvious reasons, served us vegetarian food during the entire course of our journey. After we settled in our berths, Tony took out the UNO cards (UNO is a coloured card game wherein the player’s objective is to lose the cards in his/her hand. The one, who loses the cards first, wins). For the most of our journey we were eating, playing UNO, chatting, sleeping and again playing UNO. It was during one such game that we realised that we’d be reaching our destination soon.

From Dehradun, Mussoorie is an hour’s drive, yet we reached the city at around 10 pm after having reached Doon at 7pm. We had our dinner of Momos and Chowmein in the town and walked towards our hotel, Mussoorie International. The hotel is located in the Mall area in Mussoorie. Our briefing for the Expedition was supposed to start after lunch the next day. So we retired to bed at around 4 am, after settling down. Since I was excited about my trip, I could hardly sleep and woke up at 7am. I thought of taking an early morning stroll near the hotel, but saw the terrace and climbed there instead. From the terrace, during the clear sky of early morn, I could see the tip of some Himalayan mountain covered in snow. This was the first snow sighting for me. I was thrilled. I started a conversation with a fellow watcher who happened to be Mr. Srinath, the consultant from India Hikes, who would be our trainer for the whole expedition. (It is worth in- forming my avid reader that India Hikes organised the expedition for our institute.) The 5 day programme (Oct. 17-21) included trekking to an altitude of ~10000 feet, team building exercise and water rafting at Rishikesh. I got to know about the details of our expedition from Mr. Srinath.

Post my conversation, I met Pritom and Alok. All three of us sat down for another game of UNO till the breakfast was served. Post breakfast and after freshening up, Synrop and I went to see the town. We went to the Aquarium in Mussoorie, which despite being small, holds some exotic varieties of marine life. There was a fish in which the name of Allah was naturally inscribed, another having the symbol Aum or Om. After that we went for shop- ping. Then we came back to the hotel for lunch. After the lunch, Ms. Sandhya, one of the Co-founder of India Hikes, along with Mr. Srinath, briefed us about the whole expedition and re-distributed all 100 of us into different teams. We were told to come up with business problems that we have identified for Mussoorie by 8pm. After the briefing I went to catch up with some sleep. Barely about an hour later, I woke up, and with some hesitation, dialled a number. The number was of someone whose name would be familiar to all, especially book lovers.

VISIT TO AN OLD FRIEND

While coming back from the morning shopping spree with Synrop, I saw a book stall, Cambridge Book Depot; that showcased the latest collections of Ruskin Bond’s book. I purchased Mr. Bond’s first and the latest book, namely The Room on the Roof and Secrets. Looking at my enthusiasm for Mr. Bond’s book, the store owner started a conversation with me. On my enquiry about getting Mr Bond’s autograph, he told me to come on a Saturday. I told him that I won’t be staying that long, but need Mr. Bond’s autograph, he gave me his residence phone number and asked me to call him in the evening. After taking my afternoon nap, I dialled his number at around 5 pm and asked for an appointment, so that I can get his autograph in my newly purchased books. Mr. Bond told me to come before 6 pm, as he will be going out for dinner after that. I hurried myself to get ready, when Ashwin came to know about my little trip to Mr. Bond’s house. Ashwin was also excited to go along with me, but due to some work, couldn’t come. Instead he went with me to the book store and purchased a copy of The Room on the Roof, and handed it over to me, to be autographed by Mr. Bond.

I took a taxi from the taxi- stand, near the market and asked the driver to take me to Ivy Cottage, the dwelling place of the author. After about a 15-minute drive, the driver stopped the car, and told me that we had reached Ivy Cottage. My heart started pounding, when I realised that I have reached my destination, and very soon I would be meeting the Sahitya Akademi and Padma Shri awardee English author. With small steps, I climbed the stairs of Ivy Cottage. Led Zeppelin’s song, Stairway to Heaven, was playing in my head, when I reached the door. Being nervous, I searched for the calling bell, only to realise that it is not there, or maybe I couldn’t see it. Then I thought for a few seconds on what to do, whether to knock the door or call out. I decided to knock the door. But then again, my mind was playing tricks on me. My mind was questioning me, how much to knock, how loud to knock, how many times to knock, etc. etc. I shut my mind out, before it could play the song Knocking on Heaven’s Door, and gently knocked thrice.

(to be continued…)

Note: This article appeared in the November 2011 issue of Expressions eZine, published online by iCare India.

Going Nuclear and sealing our fate to Doomsday!

2011-08-18T03:14:00.004+05:30

* here nuclear energy generally refers to nuclear energy derived from fission mode, unless specified.

In my last article (A Letter to my Friends, Expression - June 2011), I told you how energy is the making or breaking point of any civilisation. A civilisation’s survival key lays in the type of energy its people use in their day-to-day activities. Cleaner the energy we use, healthier our civilisation would be in the longer run.

But then, few of us presume that going nuclear to meet the energy need of a developing economy is the next best thing. But we must also realise that going nuclear is a very dangerous proposition. It’s like giving a child a grenade and telling him to play with it safely. There are good chances that the kid will blow himself up. I am not trying to be a sadist, but a realist.

The recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan is just one example of how we don’t have the power to control such events in the future. If one of the most developed nations in the world was incapable of avoiding the disaster, will we be capable of handling such things? I know there are arguments against this thought process as well. And they (the pro-nuclear think tank) ridicule it by saying that it’s just one such incident, and there was “Nature” against them (read due to Tsunami and Earthquake). My counter argument to it would be - learn from others. It’s better than learning from one’s own mistake.

Most of you might be aware about the half-life concept. Uranium’s half-life is about 6-7 human generations! That’s a long time! So if a disaster happens today (God forbid), the after-effects of it will remain for these many generations to come.

Apart from a nuclear disaster (which might be highly unlikely), other key factors need considerations. The amount of money required to set-up a nuclear reactor (fission mode) can be somewhere between $3-10 billion and might take up to 10 years to build. This makes the overnight cost of nuclear power plants to be about $4,000/kWe. This amount of tax-payer’s money will be used to make a harmful and dangerous energy creating power plant. There are other external costs too, like the cost of security of the power plant, cost of raw materials, transportation costs, etc.

The figure for the exhaustion of the Uranium reserves of the world is 2050. So, a nuclear reactor, built with so much of public money will run dry post 2050. Then what happens to the power plants? There will be a no-habitation zone within a radius of 30 kms of the power plant, where no human will be allowed to settle, chiefly because of pollution and possible radiation. Also, the nuclear waste cannot be disposed of properly, so either the Earth will be dug up to bury the nuclear waste containers or the waste will simply find shelter in the seas and oceans. And if these containers leak, the whole ocean will get contaminated, and pose a threat to the marine ecosystem.

That’s not all. Threat from global terrorism will cause the cost of security for these power plants to increase, and due to recent nuclear disasters, cost of construction of nuclear power plants will increase (due to newer safety norms). And a country like India cannot take its chances with nuclear energy based power plants, when half of its population is hungry.

Another argument against nuclear energy would be that it will still not solve the grid connectivity problem that Indian villages are facing. There are about 10000 villages in India which don’t have any grid connection to supply them electricity. The solution for them would be a decentralised source of energy; micro-grids, or better still, if every village or household could manufacture its own electricity. Electricity has become a commodity, as everyone requires it. The demand and supply gap for electricity is growing, and to keep up with the pace of growth that India is undergoing, it needs the energy. The world is moving towards cleaner sources of energy, and India too should do the same. Renewable energy was the “in thing” 1000 years ago, it still is, and will continue to be so even in the future.

With clean sources of energy fuelling our economic growth, the growth will be sustainable. And with a sustainable economic growth, quality of live will improve and be long term. The most important thing to do today is support, promote and use cleaner sources of energy – for us, our children and their children.

Note: Nuclear energy (fusion mode) is something to look forward to, but it will be another 15-20years before we see improvement in the technologies used to control it today.

This article was published in the July 2011 edition of Expressions, a monthly eZine published by iCare India.

Link: http://expressions.icareindia.co.in

A Letter to my Friends...

2011-07-20T13:53:00.010+05:30

I wish to share, via this article, my passion with you, a passion that got highlighted by chance while reading a course book-a book that helped shape my today. The book was on Environmental Microbiology, prescribed when I was pursuing M.Sc. in Microbiology in Bangalore.

It’s been some years now since I last read that book, but I feel that the thought process that came over me while reading the book and the subsequent teachings that came my way through hard-work and experience helped me in becoming what I am right now, and I hope that my experience helps you in working on your passion and in following your dreams, whatever they may be.

I will not disclose here the name or author of the book because of two primary reasons. One, that I have honestly forgotten the name of the book and secondly, I think I should not be specifying the importance of one book (because I am biased towards it) over many other good books that you readers like to read or will read in the near future, books that might shape you and help you become what you are capable of, that is, doing many great deeds.

While reading a topic from that book on ecology and environmental impact of projects that we humans constantly undertake, I realized that whatever we do directly or indirect-ly affects the environment in many ways. As I am from the north-eastern part of India, I have seen nature up close and in its true “painted” form. I have wonderful childhood memories of-lying under a tree, looking at the clear blue sky and the fluffy clouds passing by; Siberian cranes near my school field, parrots flying, butterflies of vivid patterns buzzing around and the beautiful stroke of greenery all around me. I remember mystic mountains and evergreen trees and places where there was no electricity, but still boasted of a beautiful and happy life. Even now as I write about it, a sense of calmness runs through me besides the nostalgia of the days gone by, of a life so close to mother Earth.

I was missing those things in Bangalore, which is on the other hand, a busy, cosmopolitan city, the perfect example of globalization and India’s supremacy in Information Technology.

Let’s get back to the book now. As I was reading it, I realised that the progression of mankind started after the creation of fire. The early cavemen sealed the very fate of humanity by learning the ability to control it and use it wilfully. Fire is nothing but a form of energy. During that age, fire made nomadic cavemen live together and protected them from wild animals. It taught them as to how they could overcome their fears (due to darkness). They could cook their food for the first time, enabling better digestion and healthier food (as the heat destroyed several microorganisms). Later, thermal energy (obtained by burning coal) was the chief sustainer of the industrial revolution. In short, Energy has been the making or breaking point of human civilisations, after water and food. Inside the human body, energy plays a vital role in our day to day activities. Energy also creates balance in the environment, as is evident from the study of food chains and food webs. All energy that is taken from the environment must be given back to it. Consumption should equal replenishment.

Today, most of the world’s energy needs are met by coal and oil. These sources of energy are nothing but small packets of carbon-based resources, buried under-ground for millions of years, extracted today by man to fuel his activities. These resources that exist naturally are being burnt to produce carbon molecules in the air instead. So, a form of energy given to us by nature is being instead replenished with a nature-killer, nicknamed carbon dioxide. Consequence: climatic change.

Climatic change is a natural process; it has been taking place since even before man walked the Earth and will continue even after we become extinct from this planet. But what we humans are presently doing is speeding up the process by burning fossil fuels (like coal and oil) and damaging the natural ecosystem. By polluting the environment we tend to believe that as a civilisation we have modernised and advanced, but the fact remains that every civilisation that exploited its naturally occurring re-sources in the name of development has perished. So if we also do not consider environment-friendly sources of energy to be the stepping stones for our advancement and development, we too might perish, not only as a civilisation, but as a living being.

There is nothing civil about a civilisation that runs by polluting its environment.

This article was published in the June 2011 edition of Expressions, a monthly eZine published by iCare India.

Link: http://expressions.icareindia.co.in/

Senses

2011-02-11T22:42:00.003+05:30

Wherever I see thou, my eyes adore thy beauty,

When thou art’ away, my heart longs for thy sight;

Thy look, thy face, thy eyes, thy charm,

O darling, come to me, melt in my arm...

When you move thy lips to speak,

I feel enchanted to give them a kiss.

Thy voice, thy words, thy whispers, everyday,

Thy moaning during the games we play...

I still remember our first kiss,

And then up on, we improved on this.

Be with me, least I feel incomplete,

Thy taste, salty sweet...

The fragrance of thy love,

Milky white, you smell like The Dove.

Sweet-scented, I crave to belong to you,

Without thee, my life is in blue...

The softness of thy skin,

The silkiness of thy hair.

Thy curl, thy lips, thy neck, thy waist;

Racing heartbeat when I kiss thy breast...

Thy passion that ran deep,

The first night, when thou weep.

My unspoken words, that you knew;

Like a bird, you came, loved me, and flew...

Started: 31/03/2010

End: 11/02/2011

Dawn of a New Day

2010-01-29T20:30:00.003+05:30

At the dawn of a new day, Lord Shiva comes back from his penance of 1000 years and asks Parvati. “Oh dear! Why art’ thou so happy?”

Parvati: Oh Lord! I am happy for thee. I am happy for the world, the people of earth that worships Thee!

Lord Shiva: Oh! So what happened to Earth and my dear humans while I was away from them and from Thee?

Parvati: Oh Lord! Earth has become a place where every creature now lives with love and harmony.

Lord Shiva: Oh! And how did it happen?

------

2208 AD.

Hara lost his legs in an accident that happened two weeks ago, and now he is admitted in the Venter Hospital for Grafting. His will and confidence was shattered by the near-death experience that he had during the accident.

It took another two weeks for his new genetically engineered legs to function properly. Mostly it was his own will to live and partly by the help and motivation by Dr. Smith, who helped him overcome his fears and who gave Hara the needed confidence on the Grafting technology that created his new legs.

Two weeks of regular exercise will make Hara available to the busy world that he lives in.

------

3008 AD

Hara, alive and kicking and almost 800 years old! He managed to survive the long hard life thanks to his mental will. But now he is planning to visit Earth. It has been a long time, about 200 years since he visited the planet. Life has been good but very lonely in Mars. Breathing harvested oxygen, living on few doses of the Magic Life potion everyday and communicating through the lazer-odes connected to his mental processor (the Brain), that’s all he has been since he came to Mars.

He is part of the Mental Energy harvesting team for Mars, a team of 30 humans with higher mental capacity. The Council wants the team to harvest their mental energy to stimulate the generation of other forms of energy.

Hara recalls his days in the Grad School for Space Science, where his cosmology professor once told him, “Hara. Cosmic energy binds the universe, the same way how life binds this Earth.” Long term exposure to Grafting technology pioneered in the last millennium, has made his organs and limbs ineffective due to lack of activity. Now he only cares about his mental processor, which is the only key to his survival is this planet. By trapping more cosmic energy, he can survive longer.

The Council installed a VE (Virtual Emotion) stimulation, which helps the ME harvesting team to control and survive the emotional hardship.

All has been good for some time but now all effort for survival seems useless.

(Hara communicated to his ME team head through the VE stimulation.)

Hara: “Hello Tejaswani!”

Tejaswani (ME Team Head): “Hello Hara. So all is fine?”

Hara: “No Tejaswani. Of late, I have been thinking what am I doing out here? 200 hundred years have past, and I am still here?”

Tejaswani: “Hara. We were the fortunate few who made it to this planet. And our mission and objective is to look after the whole installation that human race has created in this planet. We need to understand our purpose. We need to understand what are we doing and why it is important! But you need to decide on whether you want to carry on with the mission and its purpose or to move ahead.”

Hara: “We are connected. We are connected through this VE stimulation. So you know what is going inside my mental processor. But does constant mental connection works in the long run?”

Tejaswani: “It works in most situations.”

Hara: “Right”

------

Epilogue: Everyone is connected with each other through some kind of invisible chord and our every action affects not only us, but others too. The only way to have good things happening in our lives is by doing good things to others. God it seems is pleased when we do good deeds to others.

L.P.M.

2008-09-12T13:58:00.001+05:30

An illusive Dream,
Transcendental state;
The pleasure of Pain,
Dopamined brain.

The calm breeze,
Tranquility;
Immortality,
And Death.

Pink Floyd,
Adam's steroid;
Devil's win,
Sin?

Human Might

2008-08-26T13:58:00.002+05:30

The wind blowing at my face,
And I want to see, yet I can't;

Beautiful flowers, colourful birds,
Beauty of the woods, lush green trees.
Yellow sun, clear blue sky,
Bardwisikhla marching in March.

Calmness of the breeze,
The sound of pouring rain;
An old house beside the tree,
Butterflies in the garden.

The wind blowing at my face,
And I don't want; but see

Concrete jungle, dark clouds,
Smog on the roads, dust in the trees;
Murder in the skies,
Open dustbin and flies.

Clear day, rainy night,
Hunger and food fight;
Jam-packed roads, beggars on the street,
Use and abuse of Human Might!

Hello World!

2008-08-19T16:47:00.001+05:30

I am one among you all! One among the billions of people that lives in this planet.

And. I have a dream! A dream that we all shall live in PEACE. And that we all shall have enough to EAT. And that no one dies of hunger, disease, conflict or war. And that we all live in peace and in harmony with NATURE.

Harmony with nature? How could we? When we are cutting down trees; choking our lungs [by burning fossil fuels] in the race against time. Wasting and polluting the water; since it comes for free! Manipulating the soil with chemicals to produce more food. Increasing noise; thereby losing our PEACE of MIND.

Is this the WORLD that we want to live in? Is this the world we are creating for our children?

Or am I too stupid to not notice that you are happy with the life that you are living. That the thought of doing something to change all this did crossed your mind; and that same thought died a slow death long time back!

A slow death; that we all are dying! That we are looking at it; but we are not seeing. Not seeing the reality that is in front of our eyes. Or that we can all see; but still, we are all blind.

Blinded by our own pain and misery! Blinded, to even see that Mother EARTH needs our attention.

She doesn’t want us to abuse her; or to treat her like a whore! She is a mother! A mother that provides life and the reason to live, for thee and for me!

So come, let’s promise ourselves, that we will do whatever it takes to nurture her, the way she nurtures us throughout our lives!

To do whatever it takes, to keep her healthy. Not for our own selfish interests; but for us; for our loved ones; for our children and their children. So that they too can feel the beauty of Mother Nature. The beauty of birds singing in spring, beauty of the bright yellow sun and lush green trees; the croaking of the frogs; the beauty of the pouring rain; the smell of the soil; the beauty of the clear blue sky and starry night.

This is the only mother we have! A beautiful blue mother. Planet Earth!

Untitled

2008-04-29T14:10:00.006+05:30

The orange sun setting,
After the bright sunny day.

The birds flying to their nest,
The vivid pattern of the clouds;
The gentle breeze blowing at my face,
And the serene atmosphere!

Orange, orange, orange sun,
Growing brighter as it's setting down.
Distinct shape round and round.
As I stare too long,
The brightness burning my eyes.

The sun halved beneath the clouds,
The sky white and blue,
Sun, just a quarter left for the eyes,
Hiding behind some thick gray cloud.

Orange. Orange became the white blue sky.
Or is it gray? Grayness that hovers the sky.
Slowly and slowly the brightness taken over by darkness,
The white became gray, the gray becoming black.

The birds still flying to their nests.
Two beauties coming out from the opposite lane!
A day done for the birds that fly,
But for them, the day has just begun.

And as for me, my dear.
The days and nights are all the same.
Darkness surmises me in the day,
And lonesome are the night.

Day dreaming became a habit my dear,
And sleepless night, my companion.
The sun is no more, gray cloud no more, the orange sky no more.
The darkness of the night is coming to haunt me.

I am scared of fighting it all alone my dear,
I fought it so long, I fought it strong.
But now, my strength is all gone, my dear,
Tired of fighting it all alone!

Give me strength, give me hope,
Give me dreams, give me love.
And if I get thy love, what’s the need to fight?
Cause with love, cometh peace, and peace is what I seek.

I may live without you,
But each day I will die a new death,
And if you be with me, my dear;
Each day, I will gain a rebirth.

And if you feel my words are true and my love is pure,
Come, come be with me, give me some life.
And if you need to be away, just give me some sign,
That you love me too!

The Bonfire

2008-02-28T21:00:00.005+05:30

Sitting beside the Bonfire,
In this chilly winter night,
Looking at my funeral pyre,
Thinking! How thy sleeping in this light?

Ashes beside me all over,
Gray and black like my life.
Colours are all gone, my dear,
Like the smoke from the fire.

Still! My mind wonders, my dear,
In this chilly winter night,
Looking at my funeral pyre,
Thinking! How thy sleeping in this light?

All can be seen in this light, my dear,
But no, not my lonesome heart.
I know thou lonely too, my dear,
But thou with my pyre's light.

Awake my dear, awake from thy sleep,
Awake to love and to relive.
And have a woman's constant heart to keep,
Love that life has to give.

And if thou have reasons to sleep,
Awake my dear, awake from thy sleep.
Awake for my lonesome heart, my dear,
Or awake to light the bonfire.

Longing for You

2007-10-17T15:32:00.001+05:30

When I wake up in the morning,
You are the first to come to my mind.
Like a blooming lotus of the spring,
Thee look so beautiful and divine.

Remember the first time we met,
I was awe struck and dumb founded.
Those bewitching eyes, I will never forget,
Piercing my heart like a Cupid's arrow and rend.

Really, I had never felt like this before,
It is like a bolt from the blue.
Thousand nights come and go,
But I love you and only you.

Trust me, you are the first and the last,
That I had ever wanted to possess.
Like a Pearl in the ocean, so vast,
You are like the beautiful wood roses.

I will treasure your love, my dame,
If only, someday, thee reciprocate idem.

An Unsuccessful Love Story

2007-10-10T20:58:00.003+05:30

And this is how it started -
On my very first day to college,
I went overhead, to see my new friends.
There I saw a girl so beautiful and divine.
With the innocent heart I have in mine,
I wished to wish her, "How are you?"
She would have said, "Thank You, I am fine."

But nearing her I feel I could say not a single line.
Don't know what happened to me and why,
Maybe I was too reserved and shy.

I was awestruck by her bewitching eyes,
I went dumb, but the feeling was nice.
The Cupid's arrow struck my heart complete,
The love in my heart just got lit.

Never saw a face, so beautiful than her,
I just don't want to admire her from afar.
I want to talk to her, make her my friend,
Wish to walk with her holding hand in hand.

But I could utter not a single word, why?
Don't know! Maybe I am too shy.

But I love her love her deep.
Wish to make promises that I can keep.
Watching her from afar makes me satisfy,
The love I have for her, I can ne'er deny.

She's the moonlight, in a dark night,
Who could make my dark life bright.
She's a beautiful pearl, ya that's right.
I feel thunders at her very sight.

On her birthday, I wished to wish her,
She looked beautiful, her feeling high.
But I admired her, only from afar.
Don't know why, maybe I am too shy.

From that very day, knew not what happened to me,
I felt the world under my feet start crashing in.
Possessiveness for her, in me, was a bit high,
When I saw her going with another guy.

She knew not, what I deed for her,
Maybe I just went a bit too far.
If I had talked, it would have been fine,
I hope against hope she will be mine.

Someday she'll realize, how much I loved her,
I love her still and none other.
I'll remember her till my last breath,
Until someday, against my will, taken away by death.

Up on the Heaven of Death

2007-10-10T20:57:00.001+05:30

From the pen charmed in the tar,
That oozes out the Light of the Dead;
In the surface of the Light of the God,
Of the woes of the Light of the Red.

After seeing the God of the Dead,
In his company up on the trip of the Glad;
Writes ‘Oh Satan! Behold me, curse me not,
Cause I am going up on the Heaven of Death.

Release me not from the abode of your grace,
Least I fall along the Red-Men-Race;
Can’t battle with the Mighty Sword,
Won’t I be dead in the Hell of God?

The sword of heaven might be a mighty one,
And the entire race going in its path;
But deep down in everyone of us,
Rules thee Oh! Lord of Death.’

That is Me

2007-10-10T20:55:00.001+05:30

When you look up in the sky,
and watch a fluffy cloud go by.
Or see the sunshine bright with light,
the birds taking wing-less flight;

Or see a moon or shooting star,
the nightfall sun setting afar.
See a rainbow, or a tree,
the weeds growing free;

Or hear a child with joy and laughter,
the pouring rain, wet earth after!
See a butterfly or a bee,
a ship sailing in the sea;

Believe, someone is missing you,
and that is me…

My Confession

2007-10-10T20:54:00.002+05:30

Dear friend! Thee make me complete by being with me.
Sorry, for now I am not what I used to be.
I thought of being only a friend to you,
But you came closer, and made me think anew.

For the feelings, that I always use to keep,
Have changed silently, so now I weep.
Cause the friendship that once we had,
Is now no more and it is dead.

You are confused with the changes taking place,
And have no idea, or have them bit less.
Of the storm that is happening inside me,
Thee can feel, but thee can ne'er see!

Confused I’m too! Cause I knew not how to show it,
If only, you have understood me a bit.
You could have known the changes then,
I know you tried hard, but all in vain.

Blame me for that, as I could not tell you,
What I feel for you, no one knew.
Not even you, whom I loved so much,
Whose every feel and touch, make the blood in my vein rush.

I shouldn’t have crossed the friendship line,
‘Cause I know now, that you could be ne'er mine.
I promise myself, I won’t show my feelings again,
But until death, those feelings, hidden, in me, will remain.