Dr. Rajesh Bhola
India
Sep 20, 2013
India
Sep 20, 2013
A few
days back I came across a young girl, Monika, in a gathering. We did
not know each other. The moment she introduced herself, I was simply
dumbfounded to realize that she belonged to the same Rao family from
Mahendergarh with whom I had spent some very memorable moments about 40
years ago. I was silent for a few minutes. My mind started recollecting
the days spent with this joint family at Dulana, a village close to
Mahendergarh - sharing meals with the family, sitting close to Amma’s
‘chulla’ waiting for the 'bajra roti' topped with pure home made 'ghee'
and brown ‘boora’; gazing at the sand dunes on the pleasant starry
nights; scaring away the blue bull Asian antelope called nilgai, at
midnight, by fixing a long torch on top of an air gun; and indulging
ourselves in a variety of such memorable adventures. Those were amazing
days. I found myself looking more closely at Monika. She so resembled
her father, Bhai Sujan – the same thin body structure, sparkling bony
chin, grey eyes and light and shiny hair. I instantly recalled Alfred
Lord Tennyson’s unforgettable lines: “Old order changeth, yielding place
to new.” How things change so swiftly; how the elders grow feeble and
finally wither away and how the young ones take charge.
I
often share this thought with my buddy (who happens to be a top officer
with the Haryana Police at Gurgaon), that for over four decades we have
seen friends and peers preparing themselves for ‘living’ – and how they
have kept on deferring that date. Probably we just move with the flow
- when there are happy times we wish those to continue, but when there
is suffering we long for things to be otherwise. We unrealistically long
for a trouble- and suffering-free existence. In the moment of
experiencing pain, we also experience an urge to remake our life for the
better. We wish that we should not get old and should always remain in
control of things. Unfortunately, we have to face grief and suffering.
All the manifestations of Nature - plants, trees, sun, moon, mountains,
glaciers, flora and fauna - undergo change. In the cosmic world, the
heavenly bodies appear to us to be permanent and unchangeable - but even
they are changeable.
We
need to grow, change and evolve just like Nature. If we do not resist
change, we will get more energy for life. It is said, and with a fair
degree of truth, that change is always for the better. A new teacher in
the class brings new ideas; a new player in the team brings his own
style, strategy and fervour; and a new singer adds freshness to the
world of music.
Life is a changing reality. Human life depends on alternate periods of light and darkness. That
is why life is a conditioned experience, depending on a change that is
supported by unchanging nature. Things in Nature change and yet Nature
remains unchanged. The cyclical flow of time brings changes called
life and death - and life after death/extinction. The blood in our
bodies keeps circulating, and we die when it stops. This circulation
also sets the rhythm of natural life - its balance and harmony.
Moreover, the Earth’s metabolism is similar to ours - the Sun rises and
goes down at the end of the day, following the rotation of the Earth on itself.
Nature endlessly fascinates me because it is the living book on the evolution of Life.
I still dream of dry cold sand touching my feet (from nights at
Mahendergarh), white sandy beaches under palm trees (from sojourns to
Goa and Kovalam) or white hill slopes in winter (from treks in the
Shivalik Mountains). But it is unfortunate that, in the present
atmosphere, I cannot find enough time to experience a direct contact
with our natural environment. We all very easily forget that Homo
sapiens have evolved from living – for a considerable time - in
savannahs, in the initial days of evolution. In other words, we deal
with our fast and furious world with a brain that has been fitted for
the much slower pace of a hunter-gatherer’s life - best suited for
savouring ‘bajra roti’ in the slow and sleepy town of Mahendergarh! The
result is often stress and lost happiness. The challenge today is to
find the time to escape our strait-jacketed schedule and to truly
reconnect with our natural environment - our original source. We do need
Nature, to thrive. I still spend some time on my own, hidden
somewhere underneath a tree, close to flowers and creepers, especially
when I feel sad. I can feel the gentle soothing from Nature around me,
and the tree seems to hug me. After a while I feel better and happy,
ready to carry on life with a fresh perspective. We may not see the
healing power of Nature, but we certainly can feel it. Nature can soothe
our anxieties, because it encompasses the environment that we come from
and the cyclic flow into which we all are bound to merge.υ
Dr. Rajesh Bhola is President of Spastic Society of Gurgaon and is working for the cause of children with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disabilities for more than 20 years
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