A Moment in Solitude!

When time flows in stillness,
And beauty rises from emptiness,
Love rears up on fancies,
Surging and ebbing in rhythms,
Kissing sandy, dreamy shores,
To roll back to auspiciousness.
Oh, to stand back and to watch,
Silhouettes at play in eternity.

Day before yesterday, a friend and I took a few minutes during the lunch break of a conference, to steal away to the lovely Payambalam Beach at Kannur. Usually crowded with merrymakers, it was then miraculously empty and serene.

Wild Fowl / Junglefowl (കാട്ടുകോഴി)

Chickens in our garden! They visit only in the early mornings and late evenings, generally shunning humans. Sometimes they lay eggs in the open, which resemble regular eggs. These birds are different from domestic fowl in that they are smaller and can easily fly for hundreds of feet at the first sign of danger.

They breed in thickets and we often find little chicks who venture out even in daytime, though the broods are smaller.

I wonder if these are endemic to the Western Ghats. You can see a few wild pigeons too, in one of the pictures.

Trk! Trk!

A dear feathered friend from the wild, who comes to say hai (trk! trk!) everyday. If gone unheard, it is followed by a loud hello (a thrilling series of loud, musical, metallic chimes), till we come outside to return the warm greeting!

It is called Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis Tickelliae), so named in honor of Samuel Richard Tickell, British ornithologist.

A Dream!

From the eternal satiety of wakeful slumber,
Spontaneously, arises there, a dream,
A vast varied world of beauty, limitless,
Of colors, of sounds, of lights and darknesses,
Of atoms and space, all within time!

Spun with myriads of thoughtrons,
On magic cloth of homogenous love,
Seemingly different atoms or entities,
Each feeling complete in itself,
Yet empty, wanting it knows not what!

Oh! She dreamt she were a bud on a vine,
Lo! Quickly, she transformed to a bloom,
And there she was, spreading her petals wide open,
And with her fragrance, joyfully enticing bees,
Then off dropped the petals one by one, a tiny fruit was born!

Now she dreamt of growing into juicy fruit,
She dreamt in the wondrous world around,
The magical show, how deeply engrossing,
The dream now turned so real,
While the truth retreated, forgotten!

Enjoying the playful pushes of the wind,
Drinking in the sun and the rain,
Shivering at the caterpillar a-passing,
Or smiling at the gardener in glee,
How quickly time flew on and on!

Ah, to play on, grew her desires,
To seed, set they within, and matured,
Her flesh now ripe, dream time, its wand did wave,
And she opened wide, for her time had come,
Live her progeny would, each with a dream of its own!

Now gladly, would she drop this bag of flesh,
Mission accomplished! It is high time to rest!
Every desire, every fancy has flown,
Now free of all containment, free of all bonds,
She says, “Ha Ha! It never was me!

I be unattached blissful spirit,
I am love so pure, pristine,
The silent mother of dreams,
Eternal, indescribable, infinite,
Ever content, blissful peace!”