Paths of Bandhavgad....

A friend , Prasad Paranjape, travels into many National Parks frequently, and does some wonderful photography. You can see some of it here. This was a jungle path in the Bandhavgarh National Forest Park. Usually frequented by tigers.....

Without the tigers, and resplendent in the green, it sends a message....

(The original poem was written in Marathi, (my mother tongue). The English version follows, possibly, with a slight loss of flavor.

(photograph by Prasad Paranjape)
आयुष्यात प्रत्येकांनी
आपली आपली वाट
शोधायची असते.
आरण्य खूप अवघड दिसतं,
अनेकदा फिरून फिरून
गर्द झाडीतून वाट काढत
आपण होतो तिथेच
परत पोचतो ...
पण कधी कधी
आजू बाजूला
ताठ कण्याची
पद्धतशीरपणे आयुष्य
घालवणारी
सरळ मनाची ,
भारदस्त मंडळी
रात्रीच्या अंधारातल्या दिव्या सारखी
स्वतःला जाळत उभी असतात
आणि अचानक
आपल्याला रस्ता दिसतो .....

Each one
must seek one,
special path of their own
in life.....

The woods are often
so dense,
that one wanders
with great
effort and hope,
only to reach
back
where one started.

But, sometimes,
one looks around,
and sees
the old,
tough,
hardy,
upright,
beacons,
standing up
in the green
lining and showing
a path,
lighting it up
pointing the way,
and you
suddenly
see the light!