...... Lives Slipping Away
As a child I attended a wedding in the village - a three day affair.
I remember most the sight of the glow worms at night. You could see them flitting around totally without fear. Holding them gently within a closed fist I could see the twinkling lights through the gaps between my fingers whenever their glow came on.
Even as a child or perhaps as one, it was pure joy to slowly open the fist and see them fly away.
I haven't seen glow worms now for a very long time....
Of Glow Worms and Fireflies
It came
An unexpected call from the wild
Carrying
An urge to share
Brimming with a sense of awe and wonder.
Sitting on the
verandah
Swathed
in the soft drape of half light
He
had watched the water droplets twinkling
On
the shadowy branches across the road.
-
As if myriads of light-bulbs
-
Were dancing in the air.
The
trees and the shrubs
Half
seen in the shadowy darkness
Swayed
in the gentle wind and the rain
To
disappear into a black blanket
Of
the jungle beyond.
And then a sparkle
From a bubble in his glass
Floated across the road and flew around
The dancing lights.
Then it become two and then
Many…..
The rain and the darkness had reached
Into glories past
To birth
A million glow worms…
He had watched the black mantle
With its dancing jeweled lights wafted by the wind.
He had clutched at the moment in a vain attempt
To
hold it
But
it slipped away.
And then
Born of the instinctive desire to keep it alive
He shared it.
And when he did so that one moment became two
And then many...
Till it became the black mantle
With its dancing jeweled lights
Being wafted in the jungle wind.
for Karan who shared;
Arun who suggested I get back to what I like doing best;
and to all those who love the forest and all that it nurtures - in the hope they would be able to keep this heritage alive for the coming generations.
