Some frost-bitten happy times

 

A rainy sunless January forces the plants, animals and humans to crouch down in defense. The cold is both spectacular and spellbinding in its grip on our fates. The fog, smog and mists seem to be sharing an intriguing chemistry with some invisible opponent. We hardly stand any chance without Father Sun. He is the primal cause of the melodious colors of the springs that bring joy and freshness in our lives. But mother nature has profound ways of expressing her belief in life and living even among the most adverse circumstances.

As the frost-bitten leaves get withered, turn pale and tumble down, and the trees stand with bent head, and the humans stay on a low profile, one little plant has added to its fresh and greeny verve that we usually see in the monsoons. Common mallow (also called cheese mallow, cheese weed or dwarf mallow) has come of leafy youth in the depressive weather. There are lush green clumps of them by the side of countryside paths. They make the most of the wet, sunless January days. It seems they hold aloft the signature emblem of spring with their aesthetically designed leaves—palmately veined fingers branching out from the palm, circular in shape and crinkled in appearance. I expect flowers, in whitish lavender, during the spring, with purple veins.

The cold season at its peak is a testing time for the honeybees. It means survival against all odds. There are a few dozen bees that are seen sitting on the ground. They don’t seem to have either energy or the spirit to fly. Why aren’t they in the hive? There can be many reasons. They may be the ones that are no longer useful to the colony and thus have been expelled. It means if you aren’t useful anymore, you crawl, you hardly fly anymore. These may even be the drones who just suck nectar and pollen and don’t collect it. So during the winters, when there is a scarcity of resources, they get expelled from the hive. As the rest of them snug together to keep the queen alive, the idlers get paid for their uselessness. The stored honey is the lifeline through the lean season. All activity is suspended till warm spring days when the bees will set out with an exalting, energetic and enterprising spirit. In the meantime, the redundant drones are left free to devise their own ways to see through the cold. Sometimes kwing virus afflicts some of them. It deforms the wings. A bee afflicted with this malady may not have enough strength to fly back home if it commits the mistake of setting out on a cold day.

Slow ways of rapidly killing time

 

Those were the easy-going slow-paced days. Elegant and alluring with their nostalgic strains, still affable with their withering charm, those moments behold the enduring symbolism of goodness that shone always brighter in the past. Bathing on the well-curbs was a particularly socializing act during those times. Beyond the modern-day clanking and urging sounds, there was silence and power in those laidback moments. Time moved with a very slow, holistic elegance. It wasn’t slipping away. It was in fact so plentiful that one could kill it to one’s satiation. And if the bucket fell into the well, it would offer a still bigger opportunity to slaughter time en masse. A hook would be lowered at the end of a rope and many faces would calmly stare into the muddled water as the harpoon was dragged around the invisible muddy bottom. There would be just a few phrases of success in the incomprehensible paperwork of the entire set of probabilities. The rope would change many hands and it would continue for hours. A basket retrieved after dredging by many hands amounted to a very successful day in the life of all those involved including the onlookers.

The pandemic of hate

 If you breed hate and anger, among larger groups through narratives or build a cult of hate centred around a few leaders and ideological posturing, the result would be social conflicts. The Britishers groomed communal hate among Hindus and Muslims by pampering the vanity of their respective leaders. The partition-time mayhem followed. Two million people got killed and millions were uprooted from their birth soil. The deep state in Pakistan nurtured a cult of hate for India and see where Pakistan stands today, its society ruptured by violence, conflicts and poverty. There are so many other examples of hate that turned entire nations into rogue states. Entire nations have failed just because their societies buckled under the bug of hate. On the other hand, cities have acquired the status of big nations--Dubai and Singapore, for example. Do you believe Dubai and Singapore would be what they are if the rulers allow this type of virus of hate in their social innards? 

There are so many other examples such as Punjab and Srilanka where facilitating with dangerous elements proved so disastrous for the Congress leadership. And now Manipur and Gurgaon. And many episodes in between including Sikh riots of 1984 and then Gujarat. Spreading hate in the society is the hashish of politics. It gives instant high of political power. But it wrecks the system. The body realises a few years down the line how much cost it has to pay now for those momentary highs. The same with building social hate to kick-start social conflicts. It gives instant highs of power and perks. But the society feels the damage it has caused to the social anatomy with the passage of time. So as the agents of hate spin narratives to stroke the fires of division and conflicts in society, just like the Britishers did before independence, the brown rulers in the same seat do exactly the same by holding the nation-making wand of nationalism, beholding the pride of religion, racial excellence and what not. It's just the same. The only consolation is that we can try to convince ourselves that at least our very own people are doing it. In practice, freedom is the ability to do what others had been doing earlier. Right or wrong isn't part of the picture.

Anything for the country

 And finally I see a nationalist-brand rastrabhakt sacrificing for the cause of the nation. Communal violence has hit Gurgaon and the surrounding areas. Migrant workers from the minority community, poor people who work in households, restaurants, construction sites and factories, have run away to save their lives. The rastrabhakt was vocal in shouting and flying saffron flag to protect the country in a procession in the safety of police protection. But he loves mutton more than anything else on earth, be it wine, woman, country or the entire humanity. But now the mutton sellers are gone. He misses mutton. 'But anything for the nation's cause,' he helplessly says, with a faraway look as if trying to imagine a rotund Muslim skinning a fat bakra and rows of choicest raw mutton hanging from hooks. Well, who says, the paper patriots don't sacrifice for the country? They do, I bear witness to it.

GREATNESS IN PRACTICE

 

The honorable Chief Justice of India with his wife and adopted daughters.  These are the real heroes of India. The Honorable Chief Justice of India is like a lotus smiling in muddy waters. He is known for the honesty and integrity becoming of the beholder of the Supreme Seat of Justice in India. People like him are the true bullworks of democracy and humanity. As we pay salutes to him let's forget about the traders of hate who serve opium of darkness and illusions to blindfold the masses and then rule over them. 

Two daughters Mahi and Priyanka want to visit their father's place of work. To fulfill the wishes of his daughters, the loving father takes them to his place of work, the Supreme Court of India. The two daughters visit their father's workplace and are overwhelmed with joy. Their happiness is boundless today. One can see the glint of pride in their eyes for being the daughters of such a great couple, a combination of power and compassion. Father is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - Hon'ble D Y Chandrachur. Mother is Mrs. Kalpana Chandrachur. And two beautiful smiling angels under their parents' care and love. The picture is taken at the Supreme Court complex. 'GREATNESS IN PRACTICE, NOT IN THEORY'.