The best spent $375 ..

Sydenham River, Ontario

This year when Ontario Nature organized a campaign to raise funds to buy and create Sydenham River Nature Reserve, its 25th nature reserve, we made a small donation of $375 for the campaign.

Though the donation was nothing but a tiny drop in comparison with the $860,000 needed to acquire this property, I felt a great uplifting rush when I read the email from Caroline Schultz early this December that this dream had became a reality!! Sydenham River is now permanently etched in my heart and I cannot wait to go see her next spring.

Tagore: Day after day, you fill with love, life and song ...

Tagore

No words can capture the sublime beauty of Tagore’s songs. They must be savoured in quiet solitude. The more one listens to his songs, the feelings go deeper and deeper and eventually touches the very depth of ones being. In this simple song, the great poet meditates on that eternal power that fills us day after day with renewed life, love and songs ..

Nishidin mor parane priyotomo mamo

Kato na bedona diye barota pathale 

Bharile chitto mamo nitya tumi preme prane gane hai

Thaki arale

Meaning:  

Day after day in my life,  O beloved of mine..

You send messages in the form of pain..

and fill my mind, ever with love, vitality and song ..

Alas, you remain concealed.. 

Rupa Ganguly's rendition of this song is unparalled ..

Less of the material, more of the intangible ..

The quest for a meaningful life will inevitably lead us away from the material, drawing us more and more towards the intangible treasures of the universe. Knowledge, love, friendship, music, truth, solitude, beauty .. none of these can be touched, they can only be experienced. Hellen Keller so rightly said "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart."

To cultivate and nourish them daily makes life so much more meaningful and fulfilling, unlike material pursuits which always leaves us feeling unsatisfied and wanting for more of the next in thing.

“The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less;  - Annie Dillard

Embracing the Spirit of Sabbath ..

Burnt from too much work and too many activities over the last several months, I have come to realize the great need for quiet and rest. Too much importance is given to work and too little to rest.

I have embraced the restoring spirit of Sabbath in our lives. A day to withdraw from all outwardly activities and turn the mind and attention inwards and homewards. A day for rest, quiet reflection and for noble aspirations towards a simple, moral and intellectual life.

In his article titled Sabbath for the NY Times, Dr Oliver Sacks captures the spirit of Sabbath, its "utter peacefulness and remoteness from worldly concerns", "of a stopped world, a time outside time". Sabbath is about "achieving a sense of peace within oneself. Sabbath, the day of rest, .. when one can feel that one’s work is done, and one may, in good conscience, rest."

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop. - Ovid

Rest belongs to the work as eyelids to the eyes. - Tagore

Song is the ultimate offering ...

|| Japakoti gunam dhyanam - dhyanakoti gunolayas

   Laya koti gunam ganam - ganat parataram nahi || 

Meaning: Meditating just once is worth chanting verses a million times.

Being in the state of divine union once is worth meditating a million times.

A song sung in true harmony is worth being in the state of divine union a million times

There is nothing greater than song. 

True songs and poems originates from the bliss of the singer who is in a prolonged state of divine union. The saints and seers in the Indian sub continent sang innumerable songs of love, devotion and beauty. These songs form the basis of classical music in India. Singing is therefore considered the ultimate form of worship. 

"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy" - Ludwig van Beethoven

Three days of painting ..

The Canadian landscape and seasons have captured my heart in a warm embrace. Sometimes, I try to find ways to express this beauty in my writings, but words always fall short in expressing ones feelings. Painting is the way I choose to express my spiritual reverence for mother nature.

Plien Air painting with John Pryce

I had stopped painting since my favourite instructor John Stuart Pryce moved to the Canadian west coast. I haven't felt the desire to learn from any one else.  I know for certain that John is whom I want to learn from and it is his style that I want to emulate. What is unique about John's style, is the brilliant luminosity and the play of light that brings his paintings to life.

So this fall, I jumped at the rare opportunity to spend three glorious days painting en-plien air with John. Three paintings are what I have to show for it and the satisfaction of having quenched a deep thirst.

A Kinship with Trees ..

The trees .. I have gotten to know them well over the last few years ... the ashes, aspens, birches, beeches, oaks, maples, walnut, hemlocks, pines, firs and spruces. From far, I recognize the white pine from their weather beaten forlorn silhouettes, the quaking aspen from its chandelier like fluttering leaves, the birches stand out with the pure white of their bark and I feel a strong kinship with these trees, a feeling so hard to verbalize.

Trees are sanctuaries that preach the ancient law of life .. 

Hermann Hesse's profoundly beautiful words captures what trees mean to us and to life!! 
"For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. . . . Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one’s suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness." 

Indian pilgrim sites vs American national parks

What happened to the natural beauty of India ..? 

In India, every place of natural beauty, from the grandest mountain to an insignificant hill or stream has a temple because the hill and the smallest stream were once seen with deep reverence. Some ancient man saw the work of god in this pristine setting as he bowed in reverence and admiration. (Gandhi echoes this in his autobiography after seeing the natural beauty of Hrishikesh .."I bow my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in Nature, and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifestations of nature with a religious significance")

Soon the masses throng the site to find God ...  completely oblivious of the beautiful surroundings that inspired the first man. Very soon a huge temple is built and the natural area is completely destroyed to accommodate hordes of pilgrims. 

Compare this with what happened in America. John Muir, a nature lover walked the length and breadth of the country and falls in love with every mountain, river, tree and even the lowly moss. His writings inspired a generation of people who strive to preserve the pristine forests, mighty rivers, lakes and the grand old trees of America. President Roosevelt created over a hundred wildlife refuges, national forests, parks spanning over 150 million acres.

To this day and into the far future, the natural wonders of Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park will continue to inspire people as they still reveal the magnificent glory of the creator!!  I can't say the same with Indian pilgrim sites like Badrinath, Kedarnath, Ganges, Sabarimala or the Pamba river.. all of which have been reduced from their former glory to mere concrete and filth. 

Real and Fake: Even the plants can tell ..

Creepers won't grow on nylon ropes .. 

The creepers of my cucumber and beans plants were getting hopelessly entangled. My father, resourceful as he is, started a project of building a stand of nets for the creepers to grow. I gave him all the ropes I found at home. He picked out only the jute ropes and left out all the synthetic ones.

He told me that the creepers won't grow and wind on to the synthetic ropes. The jute ropes were ok but not ideal. The best ones for the creepers are the "coir" ropes made from coconut fibre.

I learnt something today, that even the plants can tell the real from the fake!! 

Peace,Salam,Shalom,Shanti

The Jewish greet each other with Shalom (peace) and the Moslem with Salam (peace) and the Christians with "peace be upon you" and the Hindus chant "Om shanti shanti shanti-hi" or "peace peace peace". Despite the difference all the religions of the world understand that "peace" in every man is of utmost importance over everything else. Not happiness, health or wealth but simple "peace of mind"! Without this inner peace, man is violent and destroys the peace around him.

Black Elk

Black Elk, a medicine man of the Lakota tribe once said ..
"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realise their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers ... This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men" 

Bon Echo: Give me solitude-give me Nature ..

Mazinaw Rock at Bon Echo

A year or two ago, I overheard one of the painters in my class talking about painting at Bon Echo. I learnt after that several famous Canadian artists were inspired to paint the breathtaking scenes of the Mazinaw Rock and lake. Ever since I've been drawn to this place.

The beauty and serenity of this place has attracted nature lovers, poets, artists and philosophers for eons. To the aboriginal people, the Mazinaw rock holds deep spiritual significance. For me the place is special because of its long history, its connection to poet Walt Whitman and the high ideals of the people who sought and found inspiration here. This year we camped here in the midst of nature .. to renew our souls and as Whitman said... "to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth" .

Give me solitude—give me Nature—give me again, O Nature, your primal sanities!  - poet Walt Whitman

The desert we call 'graveyard'

Graveyards, the man made deserts

Imagine the world if we continue building tombstones for every person that ever lived! The earth will soon turn into a barren desert of tombstones. Can we permanently mourn every wave that rises and falls or every passing sunset?

Just like the autumn leaves fall to the ground and enrich the earth for new life, so too our dead bodies must become compost for new life. Some cultures and native people understood the natural cycle of birth and death. The ashes of their dead are scattered in the rivers to be carried with it far and wide to nourish and mix with the dust of the earth. The dead leave without a trace and every bit of earth is treated as sacred ground.

..the very dust upon which you now stand ... is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.  - Chief Seattle 

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die. - Mary Elizabeth Frye

Blessed will be the earth when every graveyard is turned into a lush forest from the desert of tombstones it is now.

Fearless Red-winged blackbird ..

The small red-winged Blackbird attacking a hawk - pic (Louis Ruth)

I know not how many times I have stood transfixed by this drama unfolding in the clear blue summer sky. The thrilling fight of David and Goliath is replayed over and over as the red-winged blackbird takes on yet another bully several times bigger than himself.

The blackbird fiercely defends its nesting area attacking a raven or a red-tailed hawk that steers close, pecking at it relentlessly and chasing the predatory far and away into the horizon as if to once-and-for-all teach it a lesson of a lifetime so it never dares to come back again! No matter who the bully is and in what size or shape he comes .. be it a heron, raven, eagle or a hawk, the blackbird never gives up without a fight.

To me the red-winged blackbird symbolises 'great courage' and the fight against might! A lesson for us to never put up with bullies and to stand up and fight to the end for what is rightfully ours!! 

The Essence of Dance ..

My niece and all the little dancers were dressed up beyond recognition for a bharatanatyam performance. Face plastered with thick paint, the children struggled with the costume, heavy jewellery and head pieces. It all seemed like an extraordinary torture for a performance lasting a few minutes.  

Something surely was amiss in how this great art form has evolved!! The costume and accessories cannot be so cumbersome as to hinder the dancer's ability to dance!

Balasaraswati, the last authentic stalwart of this dance form thrilled the audience with her enormous talent, energy and great skill for abhinaya.  Her costumes were extremely simple. For her, dance was not just stage trappings, dance was an offering of the best in human endeavour of strength and agility of the body in a pure rhythmic flow. Dance was not just a show but worship in its purest form!

The legendary dancer Chandralekha also rejected the elaborate show that bharatanatyam had become. "I moved away not from dance but from the false values in dance today which has made it almost a spectacle. I seek to restore the vital link between body and nature, body and work, body and ritual. Life and art have to mix." - Chandralekha

In the shadow of tumultous work

This summer the days are passing by under the weight of tumultuous work. The thoughts of work follows me everywhere like a dark shadow creeping into every waking hour and into the nights.  "My life is spent almost altogether outward, all shell and no tender kernel" Thoreau once said and that's precisely how I feel. Too much of the outward life and poverty of the inner life.

I long for lighter days and some refreshing solitude and contemplation to fill my inner life!

Poem: The Elders are watching ..

Painting by Roy Henry Vickers

The wisdom of the Canadian aboriginal elders is poignantly captured in this poem by David Bouchard. It reminds us what it means to be a human being and the gravity of our responsibility as humans to preserve the beauty and harmony of this earth.

They told me to tell you they believed you
When you said you would take a stand.
They thought that you knew the ways of nature.
They though you respected the land.

They want you to know that they trusted you
With the earth, the water, the air,
With the eagle, the hawk, and the raven,
The salmon, the whale and the bear.

You promised you’d care for the cedar and fir,
The mountains, the sea and the sky.
To the Elders these things are the essence of life.
Without them a people will die.

They told me to tell you the time has come.
They want you to know how they feel.
So listen carefully carefully, look toward the sun.
The Elder’s are watching.

They wonder about risking the salted waters,
The ebb and flow of running tide.
You seem to be making mistakes almost daily.
They’re angry, they’re hurting, they cry.

The only foe the huge forest fears
Is man, not fire, nor pest.
There are but a few who’ve come to know
To appreciate nature’s best.

They watch as you dig the ore from the ground.
You’ve gone much too deep in the earth.
The pits and scars are not part of the dream
For their home, for the place of their birth.

They say you hunt for the thrill of the kill.
First the buffalo, now the bear.
And that you know just how few there are left, 
And yet you don’t seem to care.

They have no problem fishing for sport.
There are lots of fish in the sea.
It is for the few who will waste the catch.
For you, they are speaking through me.

You said you needed the tree for its pulp,
You’d take but a few, you’re aware
Of the home of the deer, the wolf, the fox,
Yet so much of their land now stands bare.

They told me to tell you the time has come.
They want you to know how they feel.
So listen carefully carefully, look toward the sun.
The Elders are watching

They’re starting to question the things that you said
About bringing so much to their land.
You promised you’d care for their daughters and sons,
That you’d walk with them hand in hand.

But with every new moon you seem to be
More concerned with your wealth than the few
Women and children, their bloodline, their heartbeat,
Who are now so dependent on you.
 
You are offering to give back bits and pieces
Of the land they know to be theirs.
Don’t think they’re not grateful, it’s just hard to say so
When wondering just how much you care.

Now, friend, be clear and understand
Not everything’s dark and glum.
They are seeing things that are making them smile,
And that’s part of the reason I’ve come.

They colour green has come back to the land.
It’s for people who feel like me.
For people who treasure what nature gives,
For those who help others to see.

And there are those whose actions show.
They see the way things could be.
They do what they can, give all that they have
Just to save one ancient tree.

They told me to tell you the time has come.
They want you to know how they feel.
So listen carefully carefully, look toward the sun.
The Elder’s are watching.

Of all the things that you’ve done well,
The things they are growing to love,
It’s the sight of your home, the town that you’ve built
They can see it from far up above.

Like the sun when it shines, like the full moon at night,
Like a hundred totems tall,
It has brightened their sky and that’s partially why
They’ve sent me to you with their call.

Now I’ve said all the things that I told them I would.
I hope I am doing my share.
If the beauty around us is to live through this day,
We’d better start watching - and care.

Adopting our local stream

On a glorious spring morning in April this year, we adopted our local stream in partnership with our children's school. We committed to preserve and protect this beautiful natural area in our own neighborhood.

It was heart-warming to see the children, parents, grandparents, teachers including the principal working together to cleanup the area. It is an experience I will never forget!

Jack Grunsky: Child of the Universe

My daughter's class sang this song at her primary school's Spring concert a few days back. Such an inspiring song urging children to love, care and celebrate the land that we live on.. by our very own Canadian singer Jack Grunsky!

To love the earth and all that lives and thrives on it .. 

"This song is a celebration of the beauty of the earth and its abundance and how we are all part of the cycle of life on this planet and the universe. It is about sharing the responsibility for providing our children with a better future and doing our part to leave a legacy of love and enlightenment."

I am a child of the universe
And I follow my destiny
I have come to inherit the earth
Cherishing the legacy
Caring for this gift to me
I have come to inherit …  the earth

The lakes and the land
And the soft shoreline sand
And the rocky mountains high and so steep
And the oceans so deep       ….          

The birds flying high
And the clouds in the sky
All the flowers and the forests and trees
All the fish in the seas       …. 
 
The sunlight, the air
Living things in our care 
All the precious seeds we plant and we sow
All the food that we grow 
All the rivers and streams
All your hopes, all your dreams
All the magic in the songs that you sing
All the love that you bring    

Everyone connected to the universe 
Everyone connected to each other
I walk in beauty -  I walk in harmony 
My spirit journey - Nothing but love I see  

I am a child of the universe       
And I follow my destiny
I have come to inherit the earth

She sits and I count ..

Goose nesting

To my alarm, this geese couple choose a very precarious spot to nest. The mother goose has made her nest on an empty plot very close to a busy intersection.

With a lot of their habitat flattened out for new housing developments, the geese migrate home thousands of miles only to find that all their breeding places are taken by humans. This mother goose has been sitting on her eggs since the end of April. I am counting days for her and worry endlessly as to how the parents will protect the little goslings from the speeding traffic on the busy roads either side of where she sits.

The eternal fountain of spring

It is in spring alone that the invisible universal power magnificently reveals itself in a dazzling show all around. The bulged, throbbing, moist tips of every shoot stands ready to burst out into a million flowers.

Just tuning into the sight and sounds of spring washes away any last remnants of listlessness in me. The mind and body is thrilled and spurred to inspired action casting away all pettiness. Not a day should go by, I pray, without drinking from this infinite source.

"We die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason" - Dag Hammerskjold

The lost canopy: Ash goes and Hemlocks follows ..

Infected Ash tree waiting to be chopped down

Everywhere in my neighborhood, the Ash trees lie chopped down. So far over 70 million ash trees have been lost in the US and Canada due to the Asian emerald ash borer infestation and many more will go the same way. With a heavy heart, I picked up the bark of an infected Ash tree to show my children.

Just a week later, on a trip to the breathtaking Watkin's Glen in the upstate New York area, I learnt that the majestic Hemlocks ..some that are hundreds of years old, are also being fatally attacked by a pest called the woolly adelgid all the way from Georgia to Massachusetts. Can you imagine Watkin's Glen without the Hemlocks?

So much will be lost for future generations. How much more dreary the world becomes without these trees ..

The barreness of a busy life ..

Slow down, says the little turtle..

I haven't written anything in the last two months. The realization struck me hard. Usually the full comprehension of all my observations culminate in writing. I see, I feel, I think and then I write. In the last two months I have been too busy to complete this cycle. Like one feels parched from the lack of water, my soul feels parched from the lack of fulfillment.

I must walk the long pathways in solitude
I must soak in the delicate scent of blossoms
I must listen to the sweet songs of the songbirds
The little turtle urges me to slow down..
Lest spring quietly slips by me...

And life begins again ..

It was just a week ago that the snow began to thaw. The geese have been flying back and forth bidding their time to make a final landing in anticipation for the days to come. There is much work ahead ..to mate, to nest, to incubate the eggs and to rear the young ones before its time to migrate again.

The geese have come home .. 

I noticed that the geese have now paired off to start the mating season. On a quiet afternoon walk yesterday along the wetlands, I chanced on this pair ..deeply engaged in the sacred mating ritual. Shiva and Shakti (the male and female energy) unite again for the continuation of life. There will be joy, trials and tribulations in the days ahead. For that is life!  

A gladness fills my heart in anticipation of the new life that will be here very soon.   

True Freedom: Only the Baul know what it means ..

A Baul is as free as the bird, free as the wind ...

The poet-philosopher Tagore was inspired by the Bauls, a little known nomadic people of rural Bengal. The Bauls are homeless wanderers who do not conform to any accepted social norms. The Baul shun materialism entirely and expound a simple, natural life. They shun everything of the past .. religions, scriptures, rituals, customs and draw inspiration only from the timeless, ever flowing wisdom of the present.

If you would know that Man
Simple must be your endeavor
To the region of the simple must you fare
Pursuers of the path of man's own handiwork
Who follow the crowd, gleaning their false leavings,
What new can they get of the Real?  - Baul song

They sing and preach of love, as the greatest wealth in life! In all their songs they seek a union with the universal spirit. Songs that stir our soul and makes us feel our connectedness with all things in the universe. Songs that teach us about love, life and what freedom really is!

As we look on every creature, we find each to be His avatar.
What can you teach us of His ways? In ever-new play He wondrously revels. - Baul song

I am in awe of the independent minds of these poor illiterate outcasts!! The Bauls are true free spirits relying only on the capacity of an individual to think, reason, feel and love. The Baul sing and dance out of pure joy, the joy of simply being alive!

That is why, brother, I became a madcap Baul.
No master I obey, nor injunctions, canons or customs
Now no men-made distinctions have any hold on me,
And I revel only in the gladness of my own welling love.
In love there's no separation, but commingling always
So I rejoice in song and dance with each and all..- Baul song

Creation is the vision of 'The Great Spirit'

The Ojibwe people believed that creation was the vision and dream of 'The Great Spirit'. When their young ponder over life and nature and asked questions, the old people gave their answers by weaving stories, songs and prayers.

Ojibwe people on a birch bark canoe

Who gave to me
The breath of Life
My frame of flesh?
Who gave to me
The beat of heart
My vision to behold
Who?

When to Rose the gift
Of shade, of beauty
And grace of form?
When to Pine the gift
Of mystery of growth
The power to heal
When?

How to Bear the gift
Of sense of time
A place of wintering?
How to Eagle came the gift
Of glance of love
The flash of rage?
How?

Who gave to Sun
His light to burn
His path to tread?
Who gave to Earth
Her greening bounty
Cycles of her being?
Who?

Who gave to us
The gifts we do not own
But borrow and pass on?
Who made us one?
Who set the Path of Source?
Who carved the Land of Peace?
Who? 

- Ojibwe poem (from a book by Canadian Aboriginal author Basil Johnston)

Beauty, life and love are eternal - 'Snowflake' Bentley

Bentley's words contain some profound messages for all of us. He studied the science behind snowflakes and that lead him to a deeper understanding of life and a fascination for nature. Similarly in all our learnings, we must go beyond the mere facts and figures, to develop a feeling of wonder for this miracle that life is!

Bentley's labor of love ..

“The snow crystals . . . come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in Nature, but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade way. But though the beauty of the snow is evanescent, like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades but to come again.”

"One has the pleasant certainty that in her deep reservoirs Nature keeps an endless source of beauty and that, over centuries, storms will continue to flood the surface of the earth with new and beautiful jewels that will entertain and delight everyone that loves beauty."

"this exquisite beauty so lavishly scattered over the earth and yet there should be no despair for this miracle like unto the miracle of  the springs awakening will come and come again for all time..either here or somewhere in the universe. For beauty, life and love are eternal. The things that make the universe worthwhile and justify its existence."

"The deeper one enters into the study of Nature, the further one ventures into and along the by-paths that, like a mystic maze, thread Nature's realm in every direction, the broader and grander becomes the vista opened up to the view."

"There is a need of a greater love for, and appreciation of such things, of the beautiful and wonderful in nature...There are oceans of enjoyment, soul satisfying pleasure to be had in Nature's art and beauty, as shown freely to us in the common things all about us."

"I am a poor man, except in satisfaction I get out of my work. In that respect, I am one of the richest men in the world. I wouldn't change places with Henry Ford or John D. Rockefeller for all their millions! And I wouldn't change places with a king; not for all his power and glory. I have my snowflakes!

It isn't what we have, it's what we do and enjoy that makes life worth living.  - Wilson A Bentley

Infinite beauty of a snowflake

Nature's transient designs

There is not much to be excited about in the winter. I discovered by chance that that is not true at all!! The ordinary snow that falls on us by the tons carries in it the most infinitely beautiful miracle of nature hidden in every single snowflake!

I was cutting out paper snowflakes for the children when my husband casually mentioned that each snowflake is unique in its design. That to me was a mind boggling wonder!! It set off a train of events.. I read more about snowflakes, learnt about Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley, got some books and DVD's from the library. I threw out my first snowflake cuttings as they were not hexagonal in shape as snowflakes should be and cut new ones for the children.

After learning about snowflakes and looking at Bentley's pictures of them, I learn humbly over and over again, that great joy lies in appreciating the transient beauty of nature. Money can never buy this joy for nature gives it for free to all who care to stop, look and feel.

"There is a need of a greater love for, and appreciation of such things, of the beautiful and wonderful in nature...There are oceans of enjoyment, soul satisfying pleasure to be had in Nature's art and beauty, as shown freely to us in the common things all about us." - Wilson 'Snowflake' Bentley

Tagore: O enchanting mother of earth ..

Tagore loved the earth as a beloved son loves his mother. He worshiped her with tender affection all through his life.. 

Oyi Bhubano Monomohini  
Oyi bhubano monomohini ma

Oyi nirmalsurjakarojjal dharoni janakjanonijanoni

Nilsindhujaldhautocharontal, anilbikampito-shyamal anchal

Amarchumbito bhalo Himachal subratusharo kiritini

Pratham prabhate udoy tabo gagone pratham samrob tabo tapobone

Pratham pracharito tabo banobhabone gyandharmo kato kabbokahini

Chirokalyanmoyi tumi dhanno desh bidheshe bitoricho anno 

Janhobijamuna bigolito karuna punnopijusstannobahini ..

Meaning:

O my enchanting mother of earth, mother o mother ..

O mother earth, bathed in the bright, pure glow of the sun, o mother of all ..

Blue waters of the ocean washes your feet, billowing in the wind is your green protective veil

Kissing the blue sky, the snowy white peaks of the Himalayas adorns your crown  

The very first dawn arose in your skies, the very first prayer echoed in your forest

You the harbinger of knowledge, you brought enlightenment and wisdom

Forever prosperous you are my blessed mother, nourishing the world with food

Overflowing compassion of your rivers quenched thirst for eons as streams of nectar flows from your breasts

O my enchanting mother of earth ..