Vo jo uski umr bhar ka haasil tha: Remember to be grateful

 

I came across an interesting piece of information that pertains to the tiny creature- the Honeybee. (see the photo below). It turns out that the little teaspoon of honey which a person consumes is in fact a sum total of so much hard work and encompasses the lifetime struggles and journeys of several honeybees...

How often have we taken a moment to reflect that the honey we consume so quickly (which is also called as the nectar of life, holding a myriad of scientific benefits for the human body) was not given so easily to us, but was someone's else's life's treasure (almost like mata-e-jaan) or almost umr bhar ka haasil...

Have we ever paused, and expressed gratitude at this spoonful of bounty which was coming from a majestic creature designed perfectly by God?

For some reason, I was reminded of the following poetry which is a part of a bigger poem. These particular lines somehow resonated deeply with me as I heard it from some speech of some pious scholar...However, for some reason the connection between the fact of honey and a bee's journey seemed to strike a chord in my heart as if the bee is not visible to speak for itself but is trying to tell the human to be grateful and mindful....

...Truly, we as humans are so caught up that we have forgotten to give thanks or express gratitude...

Here is the poetry:

"वो  जो  गीत  तुम  ने  सुना  नहीं 

 मेरी  उम्र  भर  का  रियाज़ था

 मेरे दर्द  की  थी दास्ताँ

 जिसे  तुम  हंसी  में  उड़ा  गए "

-Amjad Islam Amjad

I, for one do consume a tiny teaspoon of honey in morning and felt in awe and wonder after knowing I was consuming someone's else's such immense lifelong journey, without paying attention.

I now try to remember the bee and its struggles and thus remember the One who created it for his makhlooq (creation).

Let us be grateful for the tiny bounties of life...

Let us be grateful for all creatures, big and small....

Let us remember the Al-Shakur.....

The whales who struggle with sounds

Hi,

If you read my previous blogpost, I talked about the idea of freezing sound as it may help to prevent harm to those who find it disturbing or deadening- equivalent to a noise.

Recently, I have been battling lot of noise concerns in my own residential apartment complex on campus.
And I realized that the walls of the building seem to lack reasonable sound proofing. I read that there are decibel meters which measure STC (Sound Transmission Class) ratings and most buildings only have a minimum STC rating of somewhere around 50dB.  So, there are many people who jostle with this problem in highly populated big cities where space is a problem and one finds apartments next to each other or sometimes, not having a good sound proofing. And the problem worsens, if you are on campus. The residential rooms will not assist in improving the construction or help with reinforcing sound proofing on any walls- and to add to the distress, one cannot by his own, modify or add any furniture in the room.

Since I totally love my current room except the noise sources which come up, I began to explore ways to block noise or reduce it. Getting noise-cancelling headphones, ear plugs, etc. Changing room was not an option I wanted to do as there was more risk associated with that too.

But then I realized that what I am going through is nothing compared to the daily disturbance which becomes deadening and even lethal to the marine creatures- particularly the WHALES.
I came across this news of many whales who rely on hearing underwater, have been found deaf and dead as part of ongoing naval efforts of sonar use and explosives for military training. It is predicted almost 1000 whales may die during the 5-year marine navy testing planned.




Read the article for the details:

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp


I wondered how those creatures of the universe, majestic and gigantic as they are, are left at mercy of the navy and its ongoing efforts of military training.
I was so moved that I signed up a petition for this and made small donation.

Somewhere, in my heart I felt, perhaps I may in some small way contribute to prevent the sound (noise and disruption for whale- endangering their safety) of deadly sonars to reach their highly evolved ears,
because sadly, I cannot freeze sound and it has not been attempted too....

I thought what if the whales could be relocated or moved to another ocean! But that's something one can suggest but I don't know how practically possible it is. I remember having watched a movie (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) where salmon fishes were relocated from Scotland to Yemen coast, but then salmon fish and whale size are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

This post is dedicated to the highly sensitive people who value the meaning of quietness and how crucial it is to have your own space and silence amidst the noisy industrialized world of today...

Silk (2007) - movie and the legendary story

I had watched a very subtle, artistic movie called "Silk"(2007).  The movie definitely had great cinematography and style. I want to write about few things from that movie which are still reverberating in my heart, something which I have observed and interpreted.

Such as the hatching of the silkworms from the tiny eggs, that hatching, which is a success sometimes, and unsuccessful the other times, and the metamorphosis into the cocoon and then production of the amazingly shiny and soft material called "silk" are all hidden themes in the movie, or should I put it this way, those numerous thousands of tiny eggs are a silent protagonist of the movie perhaps.  Probably the presence of "silk" as a fabric was related to that of "love" which is as soft and subtle as the silk itself, and when held in hand, it actually tends to slip away, and that was what Hervé, the actor represented too in this deeply artistic movie.  He developed a love desire for the enigmatic Japanese woman Sei in the movie, but the eggs of that desire remain unhatched or were spoilt, even if they did try to hatch.

In any sense, we know that even if the worms had spun the cocoon which would become silk later, it would have slipped away, just in case of Hervé, symbolizing the mysterious nature of unrequited love or love that never reaches a destination.

Overall, the beautiful scenery of steaming spring waters, juxtaposed with the cold snowy weather was remarkably artistic too and symbolic.

Another beautiful symbolism was of that of the little blue flowers which were shown in the scene in which Hervé meets Madame Blanche in the brothel, so that she could translate the Japanese letter for him. I got a feeling that perhaps those blue flowers should symbolize something too, and when I did a bit of google search, I found out that indeed those flowers were extremely symbolic, they were the "forget-me-not" flowers which so fitted in that scene and its emotional hues. The poem like letter which Madam Blanche read out was also indirectly hinting to Hervé to not forget the beautiful woman who loved him and who really wrote that poetry. The beautiful poem is of that movie clip is available on this link written out: Letter poem -Silk

Well, this movie actually made me aware of many facts about silkworms and legend of silk itself. It so happened that there is a legend that a Chinese empress accidentally discovered silk, as silk cocoon fell in her tea while she was sitting under mulberry tree. The Chinese were the ones who actually discovered the secret of silk thus.

Also, I read about the method of silk production.   How sad it was to read that the pupa was killed inside the cocoon which was boiled in hot water in order for the workers to generate silk.  This process in any way was putting an end to the already short life of a moth.  In any way, the beauty of flying away and not getting held back or trapped still prevails, if the pupa would have survived in its cocoon, it would have transformed into the beautiful butterfly which flies away in wonder and never can be captured easily- the lissome being as it is.  And if the pupa is killed in cocoon, the threads of cocoon produce the shiny silk, slipping away from the hands again, the colors brought out by artificial means of dyeing silk.

I smiled at the revelation of the symbolism.

Shimmering light show - nature

Hi,
I could not stop marveling at the wondrous ways of nature. I had a chance to visit the beautiful duck pond in the Avalon Park here at Stony Brook. While I stood watching the humongous number of ducks in the pond, something else caught my eye.
It was the shimmering reflection which moved in a rhythmic pattern on the lush green leaves above. Watch the video to get what I am talking about: (Notice the leaves of the trees closely)

The reason why I write about this small thing which many would not even notice, is, partly because, it is rare to catch a sight like that, and also because I felt that was nature's way of exhibiting its customized light show, similar to the one which a specific marine species named cuttlefish also shows.
Yes, I am referring to the "king of camouflage" as it's often called, the cuttlefish, from the family of cephalopods, also does a light show as if to hypnotize its prey. Check out the following video to understand what I am relating to:

So, it turns out that, I would like to put this as the light show of flora, pitted against the light show of marine fauna, as a way to hypnotize the bystanders in a positive way. :)

Kudos to NATURE, you never stop amazing us!

The Green Deed

The Green Deed

Today, I planted a sapling for the first time in my entire life...!!
Never realized this small act could yield such pleasure, bliss and satiety. But more so, it instilled a sense of responsibility from inside - that sense which I had stopped sensing since some time. The small wooden enclosure outside my apartment with dark brown, rather blacker mud became the chosen spot for the “green deed”.
I went along with my kind roommate with a glass of water in hand and chalice of gladness in heart, and gently laid the roots of the sapling to the ground and buried them in the black mud thereafter. After resting it firmly, I poured water on it and patted the wet ground with my hands, and gave one last glance at it before making my way back to the comfort of my room in my apartment.


The sapling swayed in the gentle wind, remaining steady though. I felt my gaze locked on it for brief seconds, as I made my way away from it. I felt as if it whispered something in the winds’ ears...the words drifting towards me...the language of which was apparently undecipherable but the essence of the feelings translating into something like-

“Mama, you have rested me now
In my wet and soft black cradle,
Sung a sweet lullaby to me by your caring eyes
Your beautifully gentle hands have
Patted my forehead
You have quenched my thirst
By the water you gave me
I was abandoned
But you found me
And gave me a new life
I pray this life is nurtured by you
Every passing day.

With your daily cares
And affection-laden glances
Tokens of love
Making me feel wanted
Making me feel loved.
Just remember
To shower your pristine love on me
Tomorrow, And
Every passing day...”

As the last word reached my ears, I sensed my last tear reaching the corner of my dry lips. I took a long look at the tiny little sapling and blew a flying kiss at it and then looked towards the azure blue sky.
I prayed to the Sun God to never be too harsh on this sweet little sapling of mine, but be gentle when shining his glory upon it.
I beseeched the gay flock of birds flying above, to be caring and considerate towards my sweet little sapling.

I knew even before this sapling would grow up into an imposing tree, the sapling of care, love and responsibility grew into a full-blown tree in the wet soil of my heart, at that very instant, laden with flowers of wonder and bliss.
I went to my room
Turned off the lights
Drift to Land of Nod
Morn comes
I go along with the business of my life, walking past that sapling outside my apartment door.
Every passing day, I make it a point to remember to take care of this sweet sapling.
Every night, i pin my growing hopes and dreams to my new found little baby.

Somewhere, Mother Nature has begun her work...
On this small and naive baby, my sapling
Somewhere, Good Lord has begun His work...
On this small and naive heart, my heart.