A Wistful Wandering

Faces (Some people read palms and some read the tarot cards. But this guy was different. He had a way with reading faces. And this is what he said of them…) ‘The world is full of faces. Some people have very calm and quiet faces, just like a placid lake without as much a ripple. Whereas, some have faces like on ocean-storm. Some have faces like the clear blue skies; you can not only look at them but through them and see the reflection of their soul… Butterflies (Today he was a grown up man (into his late forties to be exact). As he sat in the garden this evening, sipping tea and looking at the young nasturtiums and hollyhocks, old memories blossomed and he shared one such thought (more of a self confession) with his little boy…) ‘I have seen some of the most amazing and colourful butterflies as a kid, when we stayed for a short while in Arunachal. But it was only much later that I understood their true worth. I learnt from friends that the average life span of a butterfly is just about eight to ten days; and when I heard that, a grave sense of guilt came over me as I recollected all those butterflies that I had caught as a kid and pressed so mercilessly between the pages of my Phantom and Mandrake comics... A Plea (From the recollections of a man, who had a habit of walking alone in the gardens…) ‘It was a rather short apple tree, heavily laden with large red apples but what caught my eye were not the apples but a dove lying under the tree. The dove was one of those common brown ones you generally see sitting on telephone lines. It was now dead. The sight made me feel sad. Within my chest I felt as if I was in some way responsible for the death of this dove, let us call him John. As a kid whenever I saw beautiful birds in the sky I would wonder – do they ever die? If they do, why don’t I ever see any dead birds which have just dropped out of the sky? And today in the death of John, I felt as if my old childhood curiosity was being answered… The Gulmohar Tree It was just across my window and each morning as I sat down with my cup of tea and parted the curtains; the first thing I would see was this Gulmohar tree. While I enjoyed my morning tea – I could see lots of mynahs and other birds hopping around and playing on the branches of the tree and making a volley of chirping sounds. If someday, I forgot to part the curtains – this chirping would remind me of the same. Just as one slowly gets used to a friend or a lover, I got used to seeing the Gulmohar, and a silent understanding grew between us. It was the season when the Gulmohar had lost the bulk of its canopy… The Fairer Species In general, they take your breath away. In particular, each is unique in flavor - just like the different cocktails in a bar. Some are mildly intoxicating like gin and tonic. Some are strong like vodka. Some go down smoothly like an old cognac. Some are oversweet like a new wine. While some like arrack, or raw country liquor, may burn your insides…