The cool dark forest that I could see from my kitchen window
has vanished!
How green was this valley a few years back.
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| A view from the top of the hill after the monsoon showers used to bring out the loveliest flowers |
But the tentacles of the incessant march of ‘Mankind in progress’ had to reach here …..was it not inevitable?
The first sign of this progress was when a bridge got built
over the ‘Holle’ which used to cut off
our road access during the monsoon. With
only one other home on this side of the holle, it did seem strange that the
local powers-that-be, took the trouble
to build a bridge and then a concrete road that ended exactly a hundred meters
away from my gate….Strange.
Well the reasons for the bridge followed soon enough –the
huge earth-movers trundled in, the chain saws, the Stone cutting machine and
the trucks followed. Soon the little
hillock which used to be a favorite place to walk got reduced bit by bit as the
trucks loaded with laterite bricks cut out of the mountain, the mud, the
chopped off trees whizzed past raising dust on a pristine forest and farm
land. The path to reach the top of the
hill actually was on the dividing line between my part of the land and the
other’s (apparently people who lived in the village but owned this part since
ages). So it was ‘Malki’ (owned) land
and so there was no stopping them from doing as they pleased.
For several months the peace and silence of this area was
destroyed by the sounds of the men and machines at work.
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| Some unusual blooms in the forest |
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| Some vile thorns! |
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| The path up the hill interspersed with rocks |
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| Beautiful blooms seen in abundance in the forest |
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| This thorny tree bears the coveted spice called 'Teppal' |
Zuki and Perl my Mudhol Hounds, missed their run in the forest.
Zuki used to perk up only when I took her out of the gate for a walk. If I put on my shoes and say ‘Let’s go for a walk’ Zuki would run straight towards the gate – a walk for her only meant one outside the farm –If I turned in the direction of the farm, she would just go back and sit on the porch with her mournful expression. So with all the trucks going past the gate I just could not take them out for a ‘walk’.
A few months back, the work came to a standstill. The number
of trucks dwindled down. One day the
huge stone cutting machine was carried off on a loud groaning noisy vehicle
which seemed to move at a snail’s pace.
Then the last of the JCB’s moved out.
I started taking the dogs out of the gate. The land opposite my part of the forest was completely flattened…. Zuki seemed to delight in the new look of the land – did it remind her of her walks at Shivaji Park?
And yes the brilliant sunshine on this brown land encircled by the remnant of the forest seemed to cheer up both Zuki and Perl.
I started enjoying regular short
walks on this dusty ground ignoring the
couple of mounds of remnants of the dead trees.
And this morning I spotted it - a tiny plant growing on this barren ground
–
there has been no sign of rain that could awaken any fallen seeds, so I have no
idea how this resilient little plant has come up.
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| Resilience! |
The land has been flattened several feet below its original level, and there is only dry hard land covered by dust, yet this plant has started growing here.
Nature has its own way of teaching us the meaning of
Resilience!
