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July 30, 2007 This is more introspection than an attempt to share a perspective. It's been almost three weeks since I joined my new job. I took a cab to work and back to my new apartment over the first few days; a mere ten minute ride through the busy streets. The visibly tiny hills brought some solace to me, realizing that they were somewhere close. Same old however, get inside the cab, pull the windows up and have the air conditioner blow at full throttle. How sad, I was another of those fuel burners, paying to dirty the earth further and how easily was I getting off with it. When I asked myself "What else can I do, I don't have a choice?" I did feel helpless. I became the regular guy, appreciating nature from my porch in my fifth floor apartment, and the window in the cabs, on my way to work. How close was I to nature? Thankfully within a week a cab driver took me through a paved trail, hilly terrain, with bushes and trees on either side, laden with rocky landscape. Not only was that a nature trail, it was a shortcut, too. I immediately cut my travel to work time from ten minutes to an hour, the next day morning. I decided to walk to work. It takes me about fifteen minutes to walk to the point where the trail starts. I spent a good half hour in the rocky pocket of wilderness, or what I would love to classify as wilderness, because it's aloof from human structures. I thank the almighty that the floor there is too hard and rocky and perhaps expensive for the authorities to work on and pull it flat for construction work. Nevertheless, it is a delight for me every day. On my way I spot peacocks, quails, migratory birds, kinds of insects. All of them seem to be so shy of my presence. Today however a cricket chose not to hide out of my vision. I sat on a rock for about fifteen minutes watching it rattle its legs. Every time it rattled, it lowered its body close to the ground, raising its hind legs a little into the air, and the knee sections brushed against each other to emanate that strange noise, which is so universal, through the world. Be it the Amazon forest, or the Kalahari or even the South Asian forests where great predators tread, crickets rule. That specific cricket had a yellow bottom, definitely fits some purpose. It kept crying it's mating call, fully aware of my presence. I was surprised when I realized that while watching it, I had entirely forgotten that I was on my way to my office. I shook the dream off myself and walked on towards my office. How I love being there, anywhere, somewhere where I find more lives of the natural world.  The other day a peahen crossed my path, barely a few feet from me. I followed it, with light feet. I saw it dive into very thick bushes; I barely noticed its purple neck, through the green. The biggest leaf had a caterpillar crawling on it. Both I and the peacock noticed it. It pecked its beak right away and made a meal out of it. I just sat there again, to let it make its first move. It must have felt comfortable in a while. It came out of its hiding and slowly walked away; mind you it did not run. Every body was busy; feeding, looking for the natural things they are meant for and I was the only one doing nothing. I was simply watching. Is it not a privilege to actually be just a spectator, without any opinion? Life indeed is beautiful. ------------ About the author: Shubham is a globe-trotter who has lived in lots of places. He graduated from Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, TN, and worked on Wall Street, in NYC. Now he is into the outdoors as a profession, truly crazy about nature, wilderness and the mountains. His upcoming book Glian, the Son of Nature will be seen in stores soon. He can be checked out here. He is very fond of classic literature, the likes of Charles Dickens, Ruskin Bond, John Steinbeck, and Jack Kerouac. He bears a special regard for simplicity, nevertheless, he equally adores the works of James Joyce. Email: basushubham@gmail.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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