Sipping the refreshing green tea of Darjeeling surrounded by vast stretch of tea estates early in the morning and watching the sunlight filter through the trees was a hypnotic experience. The sight of the tea gardens and the distant hills created a fine ambience- a mental and sensory calmness- rarely experienced in the hustle-bustle of city life. Just a few sounds rippled through this fading silence; the sound of a waterfall nearby and the chirping of the birds! The exuberance and ecstasy was indefinable.
Just when my happiness was its peak, a small child entered my area of vision. I clearly remember the child was in a torn out red Reebok T-shirt and was sobbing badly. Holding a bucket in his left hand, he marched reluctantly towards a tea stall. Soon his cries faded and there was silence once again. The sight was very disturbing. This moment of joy and sorrow reminded of Wordsworth’s “lines written in early spring” where he describes bitter sweet moment. The pervasive silence gave me a glimpse of those elusive truths which perhaps bothered me unconsciously.
Suddenly I realized that I had lost all my interest in admiring the objects of beauty and I thought, the same “east” which had so much to offer to the tourists and visitors had become the epicenter of insurgency in India where the Maoists and the Naxals are painting the corridor red with their bloody and brutal acts of violence.
Moving anticlockwise from East towards the north, the north too is infected and infested with the horror of “honour killings”. The self-proclaimed saviors of Hindu religion and traditions are running a parallel law by giving death-sentence to those who dare to fall in love! Moving further, the West is enjoying the monsoons and the post-Mangalore air crash, south too is at peace. But the centre if at fire! Twenty six years have passed since the dark night when Death ruled Bhopal-the Heart of India. The burial of justice by Bhopal court in its recent verdict has once again put the city and its people ablaze…
I was still lost in my thoughts when the tea vendor approached me and said, “Madam, aur chai lenge? (Ma’am, will you have more tea?”)
I looked down and realized I had finished the fifth cup of tea! I refused politely. Just as I was picking up my bag, I saw a familiar face heading in my direction. Soon I found out that it was the same little boy, this time dressed in his school uniform wearing a big smile on his face. I sighed with confusion, joy and relief! I ran my fingers through my hair, wiped the sweat of my forehead and headed back to the hotel room, for another lovely day was awaiting me.
Author: Divya Malhotra, GoBangalore
Image: imporient.co.uk
