Saturday, March 7, 2009

Stop.

The Discovery channel was airing a man who was annoying a poor snake. There was a group of people around the man who was enjoying every bit of what the man was demonstrating. I wondered how they would have felt if the same man was poking at them or holding their neck with the same instrument in the name of studying.

The old house had the most beautiful scenic surroundings. It was surrounded by a hedge with beautiful flowers. Within the boundaries of the fence we had planted a variety of vegetables and flowers. A narrow pathway made from mud ran in the front of the house. Towards the right it coiled in between tall trees bearing fruits and flowers. Fruits like mangoes, guavas, chikoos (sapodilla), jackfruits, cashews, tamarind, jambool (java plum). Flowers like Parijat and Gulmohar. Walking a little further in the same direction was a well where we would quench our thirst after playing. Further ahead was a beautiful lush green play ground. On the other side of the play ground stood the kokum trees. Further away there were beautiful hillocks with thick plantation. We would venture there once in a while for the purpose of hiking and eating wild fruits.

Standing in front of the house you could see people working in fields and pastures where animals would graze. Wild animals too were seen once in a while. A leopard had once entered a house a few kilometers away. Snakes were a pretty common site. A majestic monitor lizard roamed around the house. Woodpeckers, kingfishers and parrots could also be seen. The beautiful sound of the cuckoo and other birds refreshed your mind instantly.

Towards the left of the house the pathway merged into a road. The road ran perpendicular to the pathway. Towards its left was the same range of hillocks you could see from the playground. The road then made a hair pin turn and was not visible until it made another one. Looking further ahead beyond the fields you could see the road again. Towards the left of the road was a beautiful island. On the island you could see a hillock on top of which was an ancient fort. You could reach the island by rowing a small boat. The road now ran straight until it disappeared.

It was late night when we were returning home. It was a full moon day. We were looking at the island and the fort on our right. Then we were looking at the image of the moon in the water. Towards our left the plants in the field stood still. Looking further we could see our house in the moonlight.

The morning bustle had turned into silence. The silence being disturbed only by the sound of our car and chirping of the crickets. And then it happened. The car had come to a sudden halt. I had almost hit my head on the windshield when I saw one of the most beautiful sites. We had turned off the headlights immediately. In the bright moon light we could see a big python slowly crossing the road. We waited there for a while until it had finally disappeared.

Why can't you live them alone was the question I had as I switched off the television.

3 comments:

Kaushik said...

you have one more regular reader for your blog, and what i look forward to is the imagery that you are able to create from your writings. really takes me to a different place :-)

Vishal Pai Vernekar said...

Thanks a lot for the comment Kaushik. Do continue reading.

Saket Saurav said...

Agree,

They should be admired from a distance and better be left alone unless it is for awareness or for scientific reasons..

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