How does it happen? We have concrete streets. Where does this 'open' soil come from? There are patches of green in the vicinity; a few trees. They must quench their thirst and let out this earthy breath.
I was overwhelmed and just stood there 'drinking' in the scent. Nature, as always, silenced me.
It is a few days on and now it's a downpour. It brings us news of water logging, disrupted public transport, structures falling down. The lakes need water, drought-prone areas have been parched, grains need to grow and reach our tables, even as there are mandatory pictures of urchin kids bathing in the showers near the gutters whose smell I am put off by from my high floor and insulated life. They sleep on drenched slabs of public space. The monsoons have overdone it.
Nature overwhelms in different ways.
This afternoon, as the sky darkened, I shut out all thought and listened to some elevating music. Ustad Rashid Khan's voice is the most soothing thunder one could possibly listen to. This one is in Bengali, a language I barely understand. But, then, did I know how the rains would turn out to be?
---
Last year I had captured 'Rains from my window': http://youtu.be/uztqiwldRyQ
Updated
The video link to 'my rains' (re-posted the link) is particularly poignant now, for last night one of the trees 'fell' — "what if the tree falls?" I ask in the voiceover. But it hasn't really fallen. The root is adamant. It is the branches that could not withstand the lashes of rain and the gusts of wind.
FV. Thank you for the music. Nice song..was surprised at mix of the old and the new, was not what I expected when I clicked the link. Searched for a translation of the lyrics on the web and couldn't find one, but from the smattering of words that made sense, not to mention the video, this is a sad song about lost love, if I were to guess.
ReplyDelete-Al
FV, Just noting that the link at bottom of your post does not work.
ReplyDelete-Al
FV, haha "solitude is a luxury" :) the price is high and not affordable or craved by many. Familiar with a similar world without all the incessant honking!!!
ReplyDeleteWas thinking as I saw this video:
"If a tree falls in front of a house and on a busy street and no one is around to watch it, did it really fall?"
and then came the crushing repartee:
"yes, check the photo, dummy..also, that doesn't sound as impressive as tree falling the forest in solitude."
-Al
Al:
ReplyDeleteI saw it less of lost love than as pining...wish I could get hold of the lyrics. Anyone has leads here?
I was surprised, too, at how the old and new meshed.
I fixed the link to 'my rains'...
Now that you know about the honking I deal with everyday, I suppose you will appreciate how I, a seeker of solitude, manage to retain creativity!
Oh, I do love luxuries...
And as for the sound of tree falling, I often even hear the leaves falling.
FV:" I suppose you will appreciate how I, a seeker of solitude, manage to retain creativity! "
ReplyDeleteAnd that too without earplugs from what I gather...a pointer intense internal focus, if nothing else...your ears stop listening and eyes stop seeing.
"Oh, I do love luxuries..."
so do I, though I worry about the luxurious life blocking out things that shouldn't be, and you can't really tell...maybe ignorance is bliss in such cases.
"And as for the sound of tree falling, I often even hear the leaves falling."
You must have really sharp ears. My fake superpower is seeing falling trees in nonexistent forests.
-Al
I wonder what a failed gourmand doing in a kitchen, but thanks for the lovely song by Ustad Rashid Khan' after so many years listening to a Bengali song was kind of nostalgia like rain
ReplyDeleteFV, hope you know a bunch of bengalis in bombay, shouldn't be hard to find them :)
ReplyDeleteMegh jome ache mono-kone
Tumi elena bole bristi o pore ni
Bishad hase anmone
Ami bose vabi, jonaki r sathe
Tara jole majhraate
Smriti gulo haase, sorot er kaash e
Elomelo nishwas e
kara jano ase, proti majhraate
Ochena laage mukh gulo
Ghum venge uthhe, mrittu ke bujhe
Ei jibon thomkalo
Tumi elena bole bristi o poreni
Bishad hase anmone
Megh jome ache mono-kone..."
Got it from this blog, though the blogpost about loneliness and not solitude, they are not the same....one can be in solitude without feeling lonely.
http://writerstime.blogspot.com/2010/11/lonely-moments-continue2.html
-Al
It is a rather simple matter. Falling tree leaves often lodge themselves in roof gutters where they usually rot until the rains come -- therefore the rotten smell. You should get your gutters cleaned annually before that happens.
ReplyDelete" Falling tree leaves often lodge themselves in roof gutters where they usually rot until the rains come -- therefore the rotten smell."
ReplyDeleteSounds like a uniquely western problem -- Indian houses do not have "roof gutters" given all roofs are flat and above the treeline, so rotting leaves are not a problem. Just goes to show that wisdom is contextual.
-Al
RA:
ReplyDelete{I wonder what a failed gourmand doing in a kitchen, but thanks for the lovely song...}
Always some personal comment from you that makes zilch sense. Thanks for reading my 'intro' and hanging on to every word, though.
There is a difference between failed and frustrated.
Glad you liked the song. It would be nice if you could help out with the translation.
Al:
ReplyDelete{...a pointer intense internal focus, if nothing else...your ears stop listening and eyes stop seeing}
No. I don't shut out the sounds and sights. I channelise them to sharpen the aural/visual capacity.
{I worry about the luxurious life blocking out things that shouldn't be, and you can't really tell...maybe ignorance is bliss in such cases}
Use luxuries, instead of them using you. Then you'll be the boss!
{"And as for the sound of tree falling, I often even hear the leaves falling."
You must have really sharp ears. My fake superpower is seeing falling trees in nonexistent forests.}
I do have sharp ears, indeed, but this was poetic license. Or perhaps a non-existent autumn in my part of the world where you can hear the crunching sound of dried leaves.
Nothing in non-existent if you think it exists.
---
Thanks for answering the roof gutter query. These expats!
Anon:
I used the Indian term used often for drains/sewers. There are uncaring people who throw things in it, blocking them. Sometimes, they can't withstand it and there is a horrid stink. As out watchman says, "Guttar phoot gayi...!" The gutter burst.
"No. I don't shut out the sounds and sights. I channelise them to sharpen the aural/visual capacity."
ReplyDeleteFV, interesting. Sometimes thinking really hard about something results in such temporary deafness, at least for me.
"Use luxuries, instead of them using you. Then you'll be the boss!"
I was specifically thinking of the luxury of solitude, but I guess you are doing the same. I do use it the best I can, though "use" is a strong word -- it is part of daily existence, along with the realization that even in a crowd, everyone is mostly "alone" even they think otherwise. Sometimes you feel the loneliest in some crowds more than others.
"I do have sharp ears, indeed, but this was poetic license. "
Aha! so you are either a vulcan or an elf (pointy ears are a big clue! ;-))
"Nothing in non-existent if you think it exists. "
True. Most things that are elements of absolute certainty in our minds are just mirages, but yet that does not stop us. If humans did not have the ability to fool ourselves in this manner, we would be capable of far less achievements...
-Al
Al:
ReplyDeleteI meant real luxuries, the epicurean delights!
Checked ears. Not elf. I'd take Vulcan, though not sure if you alluded to the Hollywood or mythological one. I must know where I figure. I am all ears...
{Most things that are elements of absolute certainty in our minds are just mirages, but yet that does not stop us. If humans did not have the ability to fool ourselves in this manner, we would be capable of far less achievements...}
This is such a well-rounded explanation. Hail, the Philosopher in our midst!
FV, thank you :) you are kind. (Though I view myself as more of a practitioner than a philosopher...)
ReplyDelete"Checked ears. Not elf."
ReplyDeleteFV, I could have sworn!! you have elven folk looks, like Arwen. Never judge an elf by their ears is an old saying where I come from (i.e., my apartment).
" I'd take Vulcan, though not sure if you alluded to the Hollywood or mythological one. I must know where I figure. I am all ears..."
I meant the ultra-logical Alien from Planet Hollywood who responds with "that would be unwise" when asked to speak his mind....though if you have rippling biceps, triceps, and a six pack arising from 100s of hours of crafting fine battle swords, you could also be the latter.
-Al