Siya and Dhruv explored the Manali hillside. The air was clear and clean.
"Our city is so polluted!" moaned Dhruv.
They puffed their way up the steep slope, saw a large rock at the top, and sat down.
"Look at that ugly hillside," said Siya, pointing at the hill slope opposite, covered in red mud. Not6 a tree or a blade of grass. Remnants of slate roofed hovels were visible at the bottom of the slope.
A lone figure climbed slowly up towards them.
They noticed her weather beaten face....an old woman, with large earrings, swaying wildly.
"Namaste" she greeted them. "Where're you from?"
They told her. "And you?" the children asked her.
"That little house down there," she said, pointing to a dot in the valley. She described her home and family. She told them she climbed the hill each day to cut fodder for the cow. The children wondered how she managed that - she was atleast sixtyfive years old!
"This hill is gold for me," she told them cheerily."I get all that I need from here....grass, twigs for fuel, young fern heads for us to eat, once a week, wild flowers for puja, fresh water from the spring."
The children gave her an apple, chatting as she ate it. She told them the year before a businessman had come from the city. "He bought the entire slope," she said, pointing at the muddy hill opposite. "They cleared the hillside of all its trees and planned to start a ski resort."
"We hill people watched them and told each other "tch, tch, tch, they will have trouble, these people from the plains. They do not understand the ways of the hills....."
"Ah, they had great plans. The workers said visitors would come, there would be jobs for all... ..but the old people from our village watched and said, "What will happen in the rains...?"
The old woman shook her head, her earrinhgs dangling.
"Hill people do not meddle with Nature's ways," she told them. "A ski slope has tobe very smooth. Soon the hotel on the hilltop was ready. The first winter was perfect....." The woman looked morose.
"Last week we had five days of heavy rain. On the fifth night, we were all asleep when we heard this horrible rumble...oh! it was scary....then, so-o-o- quiet. We rushed out and looked across the valley....no lights, no voices...no people...The hillside just simply got washed away down that mud slope onto the houses in the valley. It covered everyone's home....Pukar Singh, his wife and child, my brother's entire family, even the cows and the horse...no one was left alive. It was very sad...." she said under her breath. A glint of tears, then she picked up her basket and sickle.
They said goodbye, and headed down the hill towards their parents rented cottage.
"I think we 'educated' people know so little compared to those who live with Nature," said Siya.
Dhruv nodded.
"Perhaps we need to make rules about leaving Nature's places alone," he said with a new understanding in his eyes.
* Illustration - Leela Gour Broome
"Our city is so polluted!" moaned Dhruv.
They puffed their way up the steep slope, saw a large rock at the top, and sat down.
"Look at that ugly hillside," said Siya, pointing at the hill slope opposite, covered in red mud. Not6 a tree or a blade of grass. Remnants of slate roofed hovels were visible at the bottom of the slope.
A lone figure climbed slowly up towards them.
They noticed her weather beaten face....an old woman, with large earrings, swaying wildly.
"Namaste" she greeted them. "Where're you from?"
They told her. "And you?" the children asked her.
"That little house down there," she said, pointing to a dot in the valley. She described her home and family. She told them she climbed the hill each day to cut fodder for the cow. The children wondered how she managed that - she was atleast sixtyfive years old!
"This hill is gold for me," she told them cheerily."I get all that I need from here....grass, twigs for fuel, young fern heads for us to eat, once a week, wild flowers for puja, fresh water from the spring."
The children gave her an apple, chatting as she ate it. She told them the year before a businessman had come from the city. "He bought the entire slope," she said, pointing at the muddy hill opposite. "They cleared the hillside of all its trees and planned to start a ski resort."
"We hill people watched them and told each other "tch, tch, tch, they will have trouble, these people from the plains. They do not understand the ways of the hills....."
"Ah, they had great plans. The workers said visitors would come, there would be jobs for all... ..but the old people from our village watched and said, "What will happen in the rains...?"
The old woman shook her head, her earrinhgs dangling.
"Hill people do not meddle with Nature's ways," she told them. "A ski slope has tobe very smooth. Soon the hotel on the hilltop was ready. The first winter was perfect....." The woman looked morose.
"Last week we had five days of heavy rain. On the fifth night, we were all asleep when we heard this horrible rumble...oh! it was scary....then, so-o-o- quiet. We rushed out and looked across the valley....no lights, no voices...no people...The hillside just simply got washed away down that mud slope onto the houses in the valley. It covered everyone's home....Pukar Singh, his wife and child, my brother's entire family, even the cows and the horse...no one was left alive. It was very sad...." she said under her breath. A glint of tears, then she picked up her basket and sickle.
They said goodbye, and headed down the hill towards their parents rented cottage.
"I think we 'educated' people know so little compared to those who live with Nature," said Siya.
Dhruv nodded.
"Perhaps we need to make rules about leaving Nature's places alone," he said with a new understanding in his eyes.
* Illustration - Leela Gour Broome
1 comment:
hi ..its me again....
i like the way this communicates but i like the subtle msg of the first one better!!!!!
but beautiful again...though i felt that the childrens realisation was too grown up!!!!
way to go!!!!
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