Food for Thought

The overcast Bharatpur sky

I was in a beautiful resort in Bharatpur. The pitter patter of the rain outside was merging with the ticking of the wall clock in the room and the beating of my heart.

I peeped out of the window and saw that the drizzle had stopped. Some of the trees had clasped a few drops to their hearts and were letting them go slowly, almost reluctantly, like certain attachments you make along life’s way, but find too heavy to carry on with, and slowly let them go. With a heavy heart, I kept watching the drops falling to the ground. I felt sad, I don’t know why.

I kept sitting near the window, looking at the clouds as they floated by, bloated with their rainy wealth. Soon the sun flailed its fiery arms and pushed away the clouds, quashing their ambitions, paving the way for me to head towards the Ghana Bird Sanctuary. I love birds, and secretly think that they love me too.

The scene at the sanctuary was almost surreal. The misty morning amidst nature, away from the cacophony of an almost dystopian world. I had managed to find tiny joys in deserted tracks and forgotten by lanes, looking at the parakeets camouflaged in the verdant foliage, egrets having their happy moments, Chinese coots merrily cruising, the snake birds sunning themselves after a dive in the water, and partridges crying themselves hoarse, watched over by a royal Kingfisher.

The parakeets camouflaged in the verdant foliage

The tranquility was suddenly disrupted by the chattering of monkeys. I watched from a distance, afraid that they would attack me. But they were too busy attacking something else. Through my binoculars, I saw they were looking at bits and pieces of paper, which they were turning this way and that, curious. Soon a couple of rickshaws came their way, and they immediately dispersed, throwing away the pieces of paper.

When I last saw them , they were sitting under two trees de-lousing each other, with meticulous care. Watching monkeys in this task can be indeed an amusing past-time. Their furrowed brows, their single-minded concentration and focus is indeed commendable. One can learn a lesson or two from them.

I was curious to know what those pieces of paper were, so I headed in that direction. They were pamphlets advertising the opening of an eatery in the vicinity. Soon I saw a man on a bicycle, thrusting these pamphlets on unsuspecting tourists. I was shocked at the temerity of the man. But then, he was earning his daily bread this way, I guess! So what if disturbing the birds was not the done thing in a bird sanctuary! Hunger has its reasons.

There was some rustling in the shrubs nearby. I looked in that direction. It was a bunch of parakeets, hungrily gorging on berries. It suddenly struck me that life was after all, all about hunger. And hunger comes in different forms. Alas, not all sorts of hunger can be satiated.

Morning Meanderings is a musings column by Santosh Bakaya

But, let me confess, I have always found ways and means of satisfying my insatiable hunger for those small magical moments that life offers – a sunray, a cloud with a silver lining, a sapling, a dew drop, a Robin sitting on a skeletal branch, and that light at the end of a tunnel.

I suddenly felt pangs of hunger of a different sort. One where rats break into a maladroit dance in the stomach. This hunger was again something that could be satiated.

So, with a reluctant tread, I headed back towards the resort, wondering what was for lunch, words of Robert Browning whirring in my mind:

So munch on
Crunch on
Have your nuncheon
Breakfast, supper, dinner
Luncheon

After all, when we say, “food for thought”, we probably refer to something that satiates a hunger to think, know and realize. Oh yes, that food may still leave some rumbles in the tummy… but then, “yeh dil maange more” is a perpetual hunger situation, isn’t it?

(Pictures courtesy Santosh Bakaya)

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About the Author

Santosh Bakaya ( 175 Posts)

Dr Santosh Bakaya is the author of three mystery novels for young adults, and a book of essays titled Flights From My Terrace, which was recently published as an e-book on Smashwords. Her poetic biography of Mahatma Gandhi, Ballad Of Bapu has been published by Vitasta Publishers, Delhi, India in May 2015 and has been receiving rave reviews from everywhere. Although a Political theorist, with a doctorate in political theory, it is literature which has been her first love. She was awarded the Reuel international award for language and literature 2014 for her long poem Oh Hark!, which forms part of the Significant Anthology. Many of her poems have figured in the highly commended category in Destiny Poets, a UK based website and many are part of international anthologies. Right now, she is giving the final touches to her satirical novel, tentatively titled Sanakpur Shenanigans.
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