2022 – Ankahi. Unsaid.

आब-ओ-हवा ही ख़राब है मुल्क की, इस बेचारे पेड़ का क्या क़ुसूर है।

If humans take inspiration from nature why not the other way round. Art can mimic its surroundings When weird is normal. This tree, for your information, is inside a cremation ground. The creative expression you see is entirely NATURAL and devoid of any external intervention. The caretaker and attending pandit vouches for the authenticity of the tree, its talent and the artwork you see.

The Seven Year Itch as expressed by a tree. (27 January 2022. We had gone for the cremation of Nalini Taneja’s mother)

वो क्या कहा था मियां ग़ालिब नें
ज़ख्म के भरने तलक नाख़ून न बढ़ आएंगे क्या

ये सब पेड़ का अपना किया धराया है। यहाँ आकर कौन ऐसी हरकत करेगा, इस जगह ? नहीं नहीं मैं नहीं मानता और पंडत इतना ठरकी तो नहीं दिखता। यकीन मानिये ये पेड़ शमशान ग्राउंड अन्दर खड़ा है, उस जगह जहाँ लोग लाश को जलाने से पहले इकठ्ठा होते हैं।

Finally it is raining in Gurgaon. After the showers on June 30th, which I thought was the onset of monsoons and expecting that it would rain regularly, nothing like that happened. Rains ditched us. It has been hot and humid ever since. Today, 16th July at about one in the afternoon the first showers landed after a strong breeze. The morning had been sunny and clear. Look at the picture of the blue sky and the cloud just a couple of hours back, there wasn’t an iota of hint that we will get rain. It’s another thing that it has been pouring in Delhi but not in these parts.

Finally, that heady smell has hit my nostrils. Here on the terrace, when the raindrops hit the red sandstone, Petrichor is not the same as when the rains land on dry soil. Nonetheless, it is equally intoxicating and reminds me of many ghazals and popular Hindi songs.