Cicada Singing

We all know that things don't happen the way we have planned, instead they go in the opposite direction sometimes and the future is unpredictable to say the least. We create a narrative around the current state and usually call it destiny. Life is chaotic most of the time, personal as well as in the collective. So we are compelled to go with the flow to keep up with all the changes. At some point we realize that we're just guests here for a very short period of time, when we consider this planet's lifetime as a whole. While we are already here, all things considered, it is lucky to be alive in a way and we have to be greatful for everything we already have. So, we breathe in and out with love and try to stay calm, hope not to mess it up more and also it seems like a good idea not to hurt ourselves and others.

But, in a larger context, we are already hurting this planet, aren't we? Political leaders behave like short sighted fools who light a fire within this wooden boat, in the name of 'comfort' and 'progress', while crossing the river. They all pretend like working for the common man, but we all know it is a cruel joke and in reality, they are the agents of big money. Are the corporations they are working for, stronger than this planet? May be mother earth will get rid of humans and solve this problem once in for all sooner than later. All our dystopian visions in the movies and other mediums are about a doomed future. One day it may really happen while everyone is totally lost in their blue screens! We won't even get a moment to feel it.

It seems like we have an urge to conduct self sabotage. Do we have a sub(un)conscious tendency to wish for our own destruction? Like in a self-fulfilling prophecy, it feels like we are being able to materialize it. Lately earth seems to start agreeing with us too. She responds these days faster than before. The signs are already here and by the way, this is a pretty big planet. So, even her small reactions are so powerful like that of a giant who is a little bit annoyed.

Yet I believe, we still have a chance as a 'last and final call' to be humble, stay stable, calm and to be moderately happy, along with our idiosyncrasies, dumbness, emotional dysfunctions and all the rest of the mess. Who is perfect here? We have to learn to love 'our crooked neighbor with our crooked heart' as the saying goes, and live in some form of harmony possible, and try to accept the whole package as it is. It takes all kinds. I have to do what I can, but start with myself first, by being harmonious with my own inner self. Now that in itself is a tall order.

As I see it, judging everything with a righteousness is not effective. How can I judge others while I am ignorant about myself? After all I am susceptible to my own views, and my perspective is just one frame of reference. Then who am I responsible to? Primarily I am responsible for my own thoughts. Yet I cannot change the thoughts which are already here as my mind is a thought generating machine. It's running high on auto pilot. I can only observe the thoughts and try not to get carried away, by being conscious about them and to be an observer before I start reacting.

I believe this earth is still an okay planet with its irregular heartbeats, rising fever and high blood pressure. The colors are still not completely faded everywhere, even if the polar ice is melting unusually and the polar bears are looking depressed. Though bit melancholic, an enchanted music is still playing deep down inside earth-mother's heart. We can hear it if we tune in carefully like a child at the beach, listening to the sound of the ocean inside an empty shell. We can hear the subtle whisper of earth's spinning, like the rhythm of our own heart beat, if we listen carefully with a keen ear.

I still remember being with the symphony of the cicadas, when I lived near Pookkottu Lake years ago, in the mountains of Vythiri, south of India. There the rain forest around the large lake was filled with a peculiar kind of tropical cicadas. Their stereophonic singing was soothing, especially into the calmness of the evening fog dissenting onto the dark blue face of the lake and spreading over the water plain like in a lucid dream. The ensemble would start from one side of the lake, moving slowly, resonating to the other side and the multiple layers of music would reverberate and revolve the space around the lake, echoing endlessly. It would transport one into trance state, like you are in a Tibetan monastery or being with the Dominican monks singing.

That soothing music of cicadas still resonates often in my ears when there is silence around me, after all these years. It really calms me down. Whatever works, right?

__________________________________________________________________________

Photo: Top Station near Devikulam, Kerala, India. Sebastian Varghese © 2015.

This is the part of Western Ghat, one of the surviving rare tropical rain forests of south India. These mountain ranges come under ESA rules.

"Dr. Kasturirangan's report identified approximately 37% of the Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), covering about 60,000 acres. It recommended ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining as also thermal power plants and red category industries in ESAs. Hydro power projects are allowed in ESA subject to stringent conditions." (Times of India report - Sept. 2014)

Natives and farmers living here are split in their opinion about the new rules. Many are confused as the government agencies don't sound credible about the details of upcoming regulations. Business people who want to 'develop' the area for highly commercial activities, of course hate it. Everyone seems to have a vested interest in 'exploiting' the rich resources of this area. But it is very important to protect this precious place not to be damaged further, from an ecological and environmental stand point. It is becoming more evident that human activities are playing an equal role in natural calamities like earthquakes and other dramatic changes of climate in general.