Raining Thoughts

 A fond farewell to the old, as a bold 2022 unfolds. Power naps are super productive! It’s after one such snooze that I woke up to the impulsive, yet intense resolve to publish my first book. I don’t think I ever foresaw myself accomplishing the mission until that moment, when the thought almost exploded in my head like a supernova.  If 2020 was about surviving the colossal disorientation, 2021 was all about re-building the bridges & re-connecting with the self (that seemingly had been paused), as well as, with others. It was also about giving in to the now unpaused otherworldly biddings of the brain – in my case, resulting in Earth Sky – my first book of poems. The burning desire within, finally transformed into reality.  2021 made us work hard, & hope harder! The Cabin fever state-of-mind apprehensively gave way to a sneak peek of the mountains, the rivers and the back waters too - perks of working remote from God’s own country for a whole year! The post-pandemi...

Alleppey had us at ‘hello’. The pristine morning sunshine rippling upon her backwaters and the most delectable breakfast on her platter…steaming hot idi appams & what I would forever call the yummiest, tangiest & spiciest fish curry on earth had us excitedly looking forward to the longest backwater cruise in Kerala.  The boat-ride from Allepey to Quilon (Alappuzha to Kollam, for us Malayalis) was packed with 8 hours of soul-melting rendezvous with nature. The ride took us through 3 of the major backwater lagoons in Kerala, the Vembanad, Kayamkulam & Ashtamudi lakes intertwined with scores of water channel systems to form the most beautiful water world of God’s own country. With an array of passengers from different geographies across the world on board, our boat was no less than a microcosm of diverse senses and perceptions that collectively lapped up the sinuous sounds and verdant visions that enveloped us from all around. Rest of the tale…in pictures. ...

As I walked among the rows and rows of memory stones, reading the engravings upon each, an agonizing comprehension dawned that almost all the war heroes whose souls have been interred here were just teenagers or slightly older soldiers, nipped from the stalk of life in the prime of their youth, by the wars, the first and the second world wars. The Kirkee War Cemetery in Pune, maintained to this day by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, remains a tribute to the valiant lives of thousands of service personnel, lost as part of both the world wars, while living & serving in India during the colonial era. It was not a planned visit, but one that abruptly materialized during our drive through the military cantonment area across the Mula road along which the cemetery rests serenely wrapped in green. The drive itself was a beautiful experience with the summer blooms sheltering the smooth roads and occasional sightings of old stone buildings and grassy expanses of land. We ...

The thick white mist grew whiter by the second and spiraled all around us, immersing us in a tangible heaven that had charmingly descended upon the mortal world.  As soon as we set foot upon her fairyland, the dame de mystique , Kodaikanal lost no time at all in casting her magic spell upon us, captivating our minds, unleashing upon us her umpteen shades of green and white, exalting the mountains. Time has not withered her magnificence. Surpassing her own beauty time after time, each time, this ‘princess’ among hills has remained forever young, forever beautiful & ever so pristine. There was rain. There was mist. There was never a dull moment, never a halt to beauty as we journeyed on and on, spell-bound through her green winding roads, hoping the trail would never end. 

Of all my text books from primary school, the one closest to my heart was the colorful science text book full of vivid color pictures and fancily boxed fun facts. In comparison to the monochrome social studies and language books, the science book stood out like a beautiful rainbow full of promises… a beacon of hope in a color-deprived universe.  And of all the chapters in there, the very very multicolored seed dispersal chapter always looked best to me with its seeds of all hues, shapes and sizes, illustrated in different acts of getting dispersed. Seed dispersal was (and is) a gargantuan affair. It could alter geographies, flora, fauna, perhaps…the course of life itself. And all those fine techniques nature chose to employ. How strangely impressive! Flying seeds, floating seeds, hooked seeds, sticky seeds, clingy seeds, chewy seeds, shitty seeds…  Ah well…that brings me to the crux of the matter. About time I began my post. So… It’s one of those lull train journeys tha...