During this monsoon season, when we look out into the horizon, what we see is clouds and cloudbursts. Since it has been raining incessantly for the last three days, the sky reminds me of more rain to come. This sight on the day I entered my seventy fifth year, made me wonder about the year ahead. Is it likely to be a cloudy year of not so pleasant experiences! The grey sky for a moment brought a mood of fear and anxiety!
I turned around to look for symbols of direction for the year ahead.
I spotted two Lesser whistling ducks perched on the top of a coconut palm, oblivious of the threatening cloudbursts. I watched these birds firmly positioned in the swaying palm leaves in that windy morning. They watched the sights around and felt the wind, but were firmly perched. They are water birds. Why should they fear rain and water. They thrive in such situations.
I turned to another direction to look for anything else that might be larger than the clouds in the sky. What caught my eyes was a tall teak tree with flowers adorning the skyline. I almost missed it but for the birds that were flying in that direction. Often a teak tree is a refuge for the birds in the wind and rain! What surprised me even more is that these flowers withstand strong wind and stay un battered in the rain.
While watching this majestic teak tree with its blossoms on a rainy day, my thoughts went back to a reflection in a book, the Gardener by Grian, on the Old Live Tree. The gardener while on his walk in the countryside noticed a stump of an old olive tree. Saddened by this sight he sat down beside the tree on a rock, 'Grieving over the lack of sensitivity of the tree's owner, capable of cutting off in an instant, the life of a tree many centuries older than himself ' he recollected 'the powerful aspect of the tree, swaying in the wind with its silvery leaves. Sometimes later he passed by that place and found to his delight that new shoots had appeared from the sides of the stump, growing towards the sky with arrogant vigour'. He was surprised 'over the bold defiance of life, capable of restoring itself time and again, contrary to the obstinate and malicious intentions of humans. Stroking the tender shoots of the old olive , he whispered: There exists a stronger will than that of men. Who old olive tree, can triumph over your will power and desire to live'! (page 44).
The teak tree became a symbol of hope and direction. The cloud in the sky was incidental and shall not define the future. But the flowers in the teak tree became a sign of hope, however dark the cloud might be or the situations that I am placed in.
What else did I see when I looked in another direction! A kingfisher safely perched in a tree looking out into the stream below for its feed! The wind and rain would not deny its feed. Its security is not threatened by the wind and the rain!
What a message of direction for the new year ahead- the Lesser whistling ducks, tall teak tree and a Kingfisher brought a perspective of hope beyond the initial experience of fear and anxiety while the cloud alone was in my sight!
There is always a larger truth beyond the cloud!
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