Back to Nature

The weather was hot and dry. Oppressive. Opened all doors and windows to coax some air circulation. But in vain. It didn't help matters that I had pizzas and garlic bread for dinner. So, I decided on a post prandial stroll inside our complex. A slow lethargic amble would be a better description. The ground below was hard and hot. After just a few minutes later, I was ready to crawl back to the air conditioned comfort of my bedroom.

On a sudden impulse, I kicked off my slippers and stepped onto a strip of lawn. The slightly moist, springy grass beaneath my feet had a miraculous reviving effect on me. Now I understand why people loll around, at all hours, oblivious to the heat.

I sat on the grass and enjoyed "connecting" with Mother Nature. It was only at 11pm I reluctantly went back but only after A came to see if I was stuck inside an elevator.

I did a quick calculation and figured out that the last time I walked barefoot on a grassy lawn was probably in Assam, which I left some 25 years ago.

I was half angry, half saddened with myself and my life. In the mad whirl of life caught between home and work, I had no time for simple pleasures of walking in the rain, smelling flowers, walking barefoot on the grass. A lot of it was not entirely my doing. Kuwait was just sand. Calcutta - mostly smog.

But what about now? I have been here for nearly a year and a half.
How could I have not made more of it?

Mother nature too must have noticed my ignoring her. She has come back with a vengeance and how. Just as I was getting over my fear of the terrible earthquake of 8th October, she gave a gentle nudge once again last Sunday. It felt like some one had gently lifted the chair I was sitting on and set it back. I did panic wildly, if only for half an hour and made a mental note to look for a house closer to the ground floor.

And then, we have been having the most awful dust storms (almost like a desert storm) and last night, there was a terrific thunderstorm at around midnight. Wild flashes of lightening, the windows all a rattle. I thought they would shatter. And water pouring in through every crack and gap. I spent better part of the storm plugging holes with whatever I could find in the laundry basket.

Nature is all around, in every nook and cranny, but not quite how I imagined it would be!