Touch of the Tundra ..

Most of us feel with Thoreau that "the wilderness is near as well as dear to every man." We come to Denali to watch; to catch a glimpse of the primeval. We come close to the tundra flowers, the lichens, and the animal life. Each of us will take some inspiration home; a touch of the tundra will enter our lives--and, deep inside, make of us all poets and kindred spirits. - Adolph Murie, biologist

Religion, a personal communion

A personal communion with the universe in solitude is the only religion one needs. No middlemen, no preset place or time, no mindless rituals or elaborate accessories.

Just a humbling feeling of awe and an intense feeling of oneness with the universe ..

As if honey could taste itself and all its drops together and all its drops could taste each other and each the whole honeycomb as itself, so should the end be with God and the soul of man and the universe. - Sri Aurobindo

Composter and a lesson on Maya ..

For over a year, I have been dumping all kinds of kitchen and yard waste into my backyard composter. Some time goes by and they are all transformed into the same black organic matter we call compost. From this matter arises all things and everything dissolves into it.

Now just imagine how dull the earth would be if all the land was simply covered with this inert black matter and nothing else. Gladly that is not to be! Nature loves infinite variety which she forms and transforms from this very same matter. The earth is her eternal playground where new art is created endlessly. This is Maya according to Hinduism, the grand illusion!!

All the myriad objects that form the universe are the external reality that we perceive. The true reality is the hidden principle of nature, of matter and energy that transforms and animates everything. 

Hope always ..

This picture gives me great hope. No matter how much concrete we dump, life will still find an opening. The elements of nature are constantly at work trying to restore the natural order of things. Anything going against nature will eventually decay and crumble. So long as we are aligned with nature, there is always hope and healing!

The natural healing force within each of us is the greatest force in getting well. Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease. - Hippocrates (ancient Greek physician) 

Creation is sacrosanct ...

Sringeri - a snake protects a pregnant frog

Hinduism reveres creation and birth as holiest of holies! The womb or garbha is considered the most sacred place as it houses and nourishes the new life. Where ever new life is ushered, that land is sacred and by that analogy, the entire earth is sacred. The highest duty of man is to protect creation and allow the work of mother nature to flow uninterrupted. 

The legend of Sringeri exemplifies this spirit. Legend has it that when a great sage came to Sringeri, nestled in Sahyadri mountain ranges, he saw an extraordinary sight on the banks of the Tunga river. A cobra with a raised hood was providing shelter to a frog that was about to give birth, providing the mother some shade from the scorching afternoon sun. The sage was struck by this sight where an adverse enemy goes beyond its natural instinct to protect the birth of new life. Here the sage established his first monastery!

The act of procreation is the holy work of nature and not something to be ashamed of. The human body is not considered as vulgar ..instead it is glorified in all its beauty and life giving capability. This spirit is visible in all Hindu temples where sculptures of virile and full-figured humans, pregnant women and all forms of life are equally revered. 

What is man without the beast?

After the long, cold, dark and quiet winter months, what a delight it is to hear the first honking of the Canadian geese way up in the sky announcing their arrival.

Newer sounds start to fill the air as the birds come home . The gulls, ravens, starlings and doves follow the geese. Though the weather is still cold, the squealing, cawing sounds warms the heart and awakens in us a wonderful anticipation of spring. We share the land with these birds and beasts. They  reveal to us the ways of nature and its eternal cycles. How desolate our lives would  be without them!

"What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected" - Chief Seattle

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." 

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

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

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

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 ..

Canada in my blood..

Red maple

Despite having lived in Canada for over a decade and being a citizen of this country, I always considered myself an Indian. I was born in India, my skin is brown and I consume predominantly Indian food. But somewhere along the way, the blood in my veins was gradually turning a different shade of red...

Was it the air that I breathed? or the water from the Great Lakes that quenched my thirst? was it the sweet smell of the soil and the pines? was it the kindness of the people who gave me a helping hand when I desperately needed it? was it because I birthed my children on this land?

Unbeknown to me, I had fallen deeply in love with this vast land called Canada. While I will remain an Indian, I will be a Canadian to the very end of my days. 

An infinity of dandelions mock human folly..

Dandelion seeds ready to takeoff

Summer is coming to an end and in every bit of free earth along the road sides and open lands one can see an infinity of dandelions standing ready to ensure its race continues to eternity. The open spaces look like endless fields of fluffy puff balls. Every seed is perfectly crafted with its very own parachute to be carried as far away as the wind will take it.

Yet, next spring and summer humans in all neighborhoods will toil in vain as they wage a war against the dandelions trying to rid their lawns and backyards of them. If we have witnessed even once this field of dandelion puff balls and have an inkling of the might of the wind, we would stop this foolish activity once and for all!!

Probably we are so closed within our narrow walls that we haven't stepped outside and looked around to see the things happening around us. When will we learn that.. "Mother nature always has the last laugh.."?

A Dirge For Mother Earth

The great Malayalam poet ONV Kurup mourns deeply for the impending death of our beloved mother earth in his poem Bhoomikkoru Charamageetham. He pens this funeral song for her in advance as no one is going to remain to tend to her in her last hours. The poet paints an unforgettable image of what the human race has done to mother earth and the shame that we all have to live with. This is a haunting dirge that will stay with me forever!

ഇനിയും മരിക്കാത്ത ഭൂമി! നിന്നാസന്ന-
മൃതിയില്‍ നിനക്കാത്മശാന്തി!
ഇത് നിന്റെ (എന്റെയും) ചരമശുശ്രൂഷയ്ക്ക്
ഹൃദയത്തിലിന്നേ കുറിച്ച ഗീതം.
Still not dead Mother Earth! In your impending death, peace to your soul .This song is for your (and mine too) funeral, penned straight from my heart. 

മൃതിയുടെ കറുത്ത വിഷപുഷ്പം വിടര്‍ന്നതിന്‍-
നിഴലില്‍ നീ നാളെ മരവിക്കേ,
ഉയിരറ്റനിന്‍മുഖത്തശ്രു ബിന്ദുക്കളാല്‍
ഉദകം പകര്‍ന്നു വിലപിക്കാന്‍
ഇവിടെയവശേഷിക്കയില്ലാരു, മീ ഞാനും!
ഇതു നിനക്കായ് ഞാന്‍ കുറിച്ചീടുന്നു ;
ഇനിയും മരിക്കാത്ത ഭൂമി ! നിന്നാസന്ന-
മൃതിയില്‍ നിനക്കാത്മശാന്തി!
Under the dark shadow of deaths black poisonous flowers, when you die tomorrow, no one remains , including me to wipe the tears off your lifeless face, or to give you a few sips of water and cry. For you I write this song now.  Still not dead Mother Earth! In your impending death, peace to your soul.

പന്തിരുകുലം പെറ്റ പറയിക്കുമമ്മ നീ
എണ്ണിയാല് തീരാത്ത,
തങ്ങളിലിണങ്ങാത്ത
സന്തതികളെ നൊന്തു പെറ്റു!
ഒന്നു മറ്റൊന്നിനെ കൊന്നു തിന്നുന്നത്
കണ്ണാലെ കണ്ടിട്ടുമൊരുവരും കാണാതെ
കണ്ണീരൊഴുക്കി നീ നിന്നൂ!
പിന്നെ, നിന്നെത്തന്നെയല്പാല്പമായ്ത്തിന്നുഃ
തിന്നവര് തിമിര്ക്കവേ ഏതും വിലക്കാതെ
നിന്നു നീ സര്വംസഹയായ്!
You are the mother to the outcast who delivered 12 children. Enduring a lot of pain, you delivered countess children who have no love among themselves. You have seen with your own eyes as one kills and eats the other and you stood there crying hiding your tears so no one sees. Then little by little they even started eating you. Those who ate rejoiced, but you did not stop them. You stood there helplessly bearing all the pain.
 

 More to come.. 

Nesting Goose: Love is at the heart of creation

The same goose making her nest this year

Every April through September we get the great opportunity of watching the Canadian Geese go through another cycle of birthing and rearing the little ones. It seems like I will never ever tire of watching them. Last year, I found four nesting areas alongside the wetlands and the marshes. So this year it was easy to look for them as the goose will choose the very same spot again. Everyday after I pick my children from school, we walk over and check on the nesting goose.

Its been a few days now since I saw her preparing the nest. The mother goose plucks soft down from her own breast to line the nest for the delicate eggs. The last two days were harsh with the relentless rain pouring throughout the day. The mother goose was still there with her head tucked low. She still had a long way to go..almost a month. She will not eat, drink, or bathe while incubating. The father goose is constantly on guard standing nearby so she accomplish the immense job that nature has bestowed on her.

This is the time when extraordinary effort, dedication, selfless love, sacrifice .. all come together to continue the song of creation. From now until October, the couple have only one goal and that is to ensure that their little goslings survive. Do we need any other examples of a great mother, a great husband and a great father? If this is not love, what else is??

Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation - Rabindranath Tagore

Still bleeding ..

Spring is slowing getting here and the earth is warming up under the bright sun. I was walking along the nature trail lined with trees. Some of the branches were chopped last fall because they arched into the walking path.

Every cut is still bleeding..

I noticed that the chopped ends were very wet and the tree had stains all around the cut. I looked closer and saw that tree sap was gushing out from every single cut. I realized that the tree had not yet recovered from last years cuts. The wounds are still raw and bleeding profusely ..

The last mango tree, the last solace ..

On my recent trip, the mango tree still stood, laden with small green mangoes from every single stem. I didn't expect to see it this time. This tree which once stood in a lush orchard of mango and coconut trees is the last one still standing. As the city grows eating up every bit of free earth, the concrete jungle is closing in fast on this tree.

Sitting in the balcony of my parents apartment in the high rise building opposite this plot of land, I have watched all those who have sought the solace of this tree.

An old man who slept on the bench in the afternoon, poor mothers from the area who tied their saree to a low branch of the tree and rocked thier babies to sleep, the stray dogs that curled up under the bench, the construction workers who gathered there for a brief respite from the toil. The young school boys who plucked and ate the tart mangoes. The squirrels that ran up and down the tree and the pigeons and crows who called the tree home. 

This tree will be sorely missed! Nobody can save it from its doomed fate.....it is only a matter of time ..

Pristine to polluted: Our daily choices matter ..

My father was digging up a new larger patch for a vegetable garden in our backyard in my native village Mundur, Kerala. We dug a few feet below the soil and to my utter dismay, we unearthed several plastic items, plastic bag, bottles, lids and toys. We looked for a new spot and the same story there too. The plastic was choking the earth everywhere!

 

Straw broom or plastic broom

We were digging up what my relatives have been burying for the last several decades. Most of the state of Kerala is densely populated. Every house hold is responsible for disposing off their own garbage as there are no dumping grounds or landfills unless you dumped in someone else's backyard. Each house had a septic tank that took care of toilet wastes. All other household items like wooden furniture, steel/iron or aluminum utensils were buried in the backyard and it slowly decomposed over time. Garbage disposal was a non-issue until the introduction of plastics in rural India a few decades ago.

Garbage disposal is now a nightmare in rural areas. People are left with only two choices, to bury them or burn them. In Kerala, we have run out of space for burying and people have started burning plastic in their backyard. We all know the great dangers of burning plastic which includes cancer and several respiratory diseases. The once pristine air is now polluted with dangerous chemicals created when plastic burns. 

We have to wake up and evaluate our everyday choices. We have to return to the "old" ways of living or the day is not too far before we choke in our own filth! 

Lula : A majestic new mom

It was exciting times when I was in my ancestral village Mundur. Lula, a stray dog from the area had chosen a big mound in front of our house as the safe haven to birth her pups.

My aunt told me that Kanni maasam ( Malayalam month Kanni – zodiac sign Virgo ) is the mating season for the dogs. It was early December and almost a month had passed since Lula delivered. My paternal aunts and uncle hadn't seen the pups yet. They were waiting anxiously everyday. The day, I arrived from the city with my two kids was the day the pups chose to see daylight for the first time. We were all very excited and counted a total of five adorable pups.

Lula was an amazing mom. She caressed them so lovingly and licked them all over before letting them suckle. It was a beautiful sight to watch. Over the next few days I watched Lula closely and saw how she tended to her pups all alone relying only on her instinctive knowledge.

She would sleep only when the pups returned to the safety of their hole after every feed. The only time she was away was to get her own food. No other dogs were allowed anywhere in the vicinity of her mound. She was very aggressive if she sensed one nearby and barked fiercely. She was fine with us humans close by as she figured we meant no harm.

She was wild and free and yet domesticated in many ways by the close proximity of humans. She lived life on her terms, roamed free, socialized with the other stray dogs, she mated and birthed every year following the rhythms of nature. It was a joy watching her live her life in complete freedom!

Nature's nurturing ways and infinite love bestowed on every mother continues to amaze me day after day!"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." - Rudyard Kipling

Medicines from the Wilderness

A few minutes walk from my ancestral home in Mundur, Palakkad is the "Ayurveda Raw Drugs Collection Centre". It has been here for decades and I have walked past it many many times without casting a glance in that direction. On my recent trip back home, I was curious to go in and take a look.

 

 

I walked in with my father. The warehouse had heaps and heaps of dry leaves, stems, barks, roots stacked up to the ceiling. These raw materials are dried, powdered and sent to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy in Coimbatore where they are mixed and processed to make Ayurvedic medicines to treat all kinds of ailments. The staff at the center revealed to us the potency of these wild medicines when compared to their farmed local varieties. All local, insipid varieties are rejected. Wild black peppers and gooseberries I learnt are very high in medicinal value. 

A native community of medicine men leave early in the morning in small groups to collect these materials. They climb up the mountains and walk all over the wild forested areas and return late afternoon carrying large bundles on their head. These men are experts in identifying medicinal herbs and they know the landscape like the palm of their hands. 

Later in the evening, as I was talking to my paternal aunt about my visit and she told me about the extraordinary health of these men. The daily physical labor and the scent of the medicinal herbs in the pure mountain air was enough to keep them in the peak of health upto a ripe old age.

We are steadily losing these wild areas to cultivation and massive clearing for so called rural development. The key to our health lies deep inside the untouched wilderness. When the wilderness is lost, the ancient medicines and cures will be lost forever. We must preserve and protect the wilderness. The destiny of the wilderness is the destiny of mankind!

"In wilderness is the preservation of the world" - Henry David Thoreau 

"In God's wildness lies the hope of the world - the great fresh unblighted, unredeemed wilderness" - John Muir