Paani Paani re !

Two of my FB friends posted photos of monkeys drinking water. Sharvari Paranjape posted a photograph of a vanar monkey drinking water with his hands, while Indrani Ghose posted a picture of a monkey imbibing from a glass.

Once upon a time,
rivers flowed
without human interference
and belonged to all,
and
you partook
and quenched your thirst
in nature's glass,
at leisure..

Now with
dirty water coming
in pipes,
at a great cost
in money,plastics
and environment,
and always in short supply, you must grab what you get
and gulp it down,
even
it is in
a half empty glass.

As one simian said to another,
"These bipeds
say they have evolved ?"

Zen and the Art of Nishkaam cleansing

Each group pursuing their own . Karma.

Some, on a DashaVinayaka Yatra on their motorcycles, visiting the various Ganpati temples of Maharashtra , celebrating the Ganesh festival, revving up the coastal and backroads of Maharashtra, to worship the Lord and learn about the people.

And some, more colorful,  on a permanent cleansing Yatra,  letting the rivers carry away the exhaust from their lives, unchanged, day after day, season after season. 

Both worship.  But  fruits of some labour are more tangible than the others ....

(All photos by members of the DashaVinayaka Yatra )

 

Some,
with thudding innards,
creating power
with dedicated systems
sparking in Bhakti
amidst an attar
of
petrol and air,
pushing up the
Mountains of Dedication,
and cruising by Rivers of Prayer,
appealing to the Lord,
to keep
those Wheels of Life
turning smoothly,
as the Sins,
smashed and stirred to smithereens,
exit angrily,
exhausted,
behind them all.

And some,
by Holy Rivers,
energised biceps,
triceps
and quadriceps,
giving the dirty
world a good dunking,
followed by a
Villany on the Stone,
as they wash away
the Sins,
of those too busy ,
and allow them to
exit with the soap suds,
meekly dripping ,
in tears.

Both
worship.

One sips from a green fruit
of their labour.

The other expects none.

The Sanctuary remembers....

My friend Sylvia is 77 years young, and she enjoys driving her possibly more-than-10-year-old car to the Nature Sanctuary to take interesting photos which she posts on her blog...

Her car kind of expired at the Sanctuary on the visit when she clicked this reflection in the water......

Don't know how she got back home, but here's an ode to the faithful car.....

(photo by Sylvia Kirkwood)
An exponential stoppage
of pistons
in a frenzy
inside geriatric cylinders,
a rotating stop
of the gearbox
and wheels,
she takes
a deep breath,
as she steps out,
wearily,
patting a tired car....




A whisper,
like a message,
and the GPS
voice
intrigues her....
"Hi ! Sanctuary here !
.....
I've watched you
so many days,
its like,
I know your car;
so do the turtles,
and the ducks,
and some very curious trees,
bending to see you
through the water.....

As
for the pollen
and milkweed seeds,
do these young folks
ever listen....
they're all over the place !

All for water ?

Three quarters swishing blue,
we crowd the fourth,
stuffing with concrete,
suffocating the green,
till the clouds
and the winds,
conspire to stop
crying
over the fields.




The farmer
weeps wordlessly
in his
lifeless land,
head in his hand,
waiting for the truant rain...

No groundwater,
Dry borewells,
A famine of power
within and without.

And so they
bore
the biggest hole
in a land where nothing grows;
desperate problems
desperate measures
and yet
they bomb the moon,
instead of
digging the earth.

...And
the waves
of the
three quarters swishing blue
tsunamically rise
and give up,
washing out tears
over the
parched land.