My Tryst with Nature

Article by Shiny Rajan

NATURE IS THE BEST TEACHER. I know it’s a cliché. We often forget it or conveniently disregard it to suit our needs and selfish justifications.

I recently had the fortune of spending some time in nature. I allowed myself to be present in the moment. On reflection, the first term that came to my mind was ‘Harmony’. As I looked around, harmony was everywhere – to see, hear, smell, and feel. Nature does not create boundaries, there’s simply co-existence. Different colors – greens, yellows, whites, purple, blue, and browns, sounds of birds chirping, dogs barking, rustling of leaves as the winds blow and they gently fall to earth… the fragrance of fresh grass and flowers (Picture 1)

Different shapes and sizes are unique in color, texture, and design. Yet indifferentiable when they merge.  (Picture 2) Trees of all shapes and sizes, branches intertwining, leaves of different contours and shades coming together seamlessly to create a while. I was just imagining if it had been a human settlement there would have been so many clashes. You’d have people who were territorial, “Why did your leaf fall under me?” or “Why is your branch coming near my branch?” or perfectionists who want conformity, “Why are your branches growing downwards? All branches should grow upwards or sideways”, and so on.  And here I was standing amongst so much pandemonium but there was so much peace. No pretensions, no judgments. Just “being” there occupying the space.

As I continued my foray, soaking in as much of whatever I was seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling, I saw a leaf stuck between the bark of a tree, a strangely shaped leaf. It was different, very unique. As I walked, it suddenly slipped from my hand. And amazingly as unique as it was, I couldn’t find it amongst the numerous leaves that were lying around. Believe me, I tried hard but I just couldn’t find it. Then the thought struck me, isn’t it similar to what we all feel about ourselves? Yes, we are different, unique, and special. Yet when we become one with nature be it in soil, water, or fire we become all same, one with nature.

Slowly recovering from this realization, I stood beside a huge tree. One of its branches was cut (Picture 3). As I looked at it, I could feel all that it might have gone through. How it would have healed slowly. It was all visible in the numerous markings which it exhibited proudly. It stood tall with its other branches filled with leaves. Again, this is a powerful lesson. Life might give us sorrows and pains. However, those experiences make us stronger and make us different. Let’s be vulnerable, not shy away from showing our scars and marks. And let it not limit our zeal to live, grow, branch out, and prosper.

These are just some small learnings that I gathered from my limited venture into nature. Simple but so powerful and if we humans can learn from nature, just stop and listen, we would make this world a much better place to be in..

Thanks to my daughter Rubina Rajan and her wonderful friends Ishika Ramakrishna, Janhavi Rajan, and Tarun Menon who welcomed me and gave me the opportunity to spend some hours amongst nature and experience harmony. To make the experience surreal was the rendition of nature-inspired poems by Rochelle D’Silva. As I came back to life as usual, the trappings of daily hustle-bustle, I know might not get enough time to enjoy nature, as much as I would want to. However, I sure can continue to keep these memories and be motivated to continue to create many more such memories