From Naisha’s Desk

He heaved a sigh of relief, having hiked all the way up to the crest. Joy dawned upon him, as he reminded himself of the fact, that he was the only person to have ever made it to the Stallrose peaks. The view filled him with serenity, calm and peace. The sight from this point was immensely breathtaking and its aura made it almost seem unreal. The peaks stood high and upright, embracing the enchanting sight, as the sky welcomed their presence with a warm and magnificent blue. Their wonderful artistry was a well-kept secret.

He stood there- all alone- admiring Nature and eyeing her magnanimous  handiwork with awe…

There was something that he had always found intriguing about the mountains. He could feel the peaks calling out to him, and finally- he knew he was Home.

“I am finally home! This is where I belong,” he exclaimed to himself.

“Yes you are, my boy,” a voice echoed.

Startled, he turned around and to his astonishment, there wasn’t a single soul around.

“Here, my boy. I am here,” the voice whispered in on him… Emanating from a tiny hill, in the midst of the lofty mountains, ever so subtle yet clear.

As a believer of infinite possibilities, he set aside his hesitation and headed towards the hill, more curious than afraid.

However, when he arrived at the tiny peak, he could make out an opening leading to two tunnels inside. Once again the voice resonated, “These tunnels shall lead you to the home you seek… It’s now up to you to choose which tunnel it’s going to be. Once you have entered a tunnel, you have to walk all the way through it, till you reach your destination. The light at the end of the tunnel will be your guide ! Best of luck, my boy.”

“Wonder why she’s addressing me as ‘my boy’ so peculiarly,” he thought aloud…. then, he choose the tunnel on the right side to lead him to the promised destination, hoping ‘right would be alright.’

Inside the tunnel it was dark, smelled of fungi & mould and it felt as cheerful as a damp squib! The path was dingy and there was an unusually cold draft whistling eerily past the narrow confines.

He trudged, trotted and walked on & on for what seemed like an endless eternity… the tunnel seemed long winding, virtually unending…

He started feeling let down and discouraged… in fact, like he had been taken on a ride… Pausing in the tracks, he impatiently blurted out,

“What’s going on !! Where do I go, Stallrose? Am I lost? Help me! I am tired…Help..Help me! Please!”

“Look beyond, my boy. Look beyond, you’re almost there,” instantly echoed the strangely enticing voice of Stallrose.

He strained his eyes to see in the dark, and started trudging the somewhat inclined path … all of a sudden, a brilliant but blinding flash of light hit his weary eyes and as he ran forward towards the exit, he stopped short …. he found himself standing at the precipice, the edge of a mighty cliff … An extremely high, sharp and jagged cliff.

Once again that voice: “Come here, my boy. Come along ! This is where you belong. You belong to the Mountains. For, you are too precious for the world. It was for a reason that you were the only person who managed to ascend it. For, this is your home. Come here, my boy.”

Nearly dazed, he approached the edge of the cliff, peering down its dangerously steep slope. The voice now was all pervasive and so close that he felt it was coming from within him only!

“Here, my boy. Jump. I am waiting for you, arms wide open… Jump!”

It was almost as if he was in a trance and though he wanted to resist, he found himself giving in without a second thought or resistance … off the cliff the jumped and plummeted down.

Gravity took over and he kept falling for what seemed like an unending eternity and all of a sudden, to his amazement, his feet touched the ground with a very light thud!

That shook him out of the stupor & daze ! It was pitch dark all around and the silence was haunting.

“Stallrose?” he shrieked, “Stallrose? Where are am I? Where are you??”

All around him was silence, mocking his frail human hopes … a question mark hung on the dark walls of the cliff for the voice that had died in the vast emptiness.

He kept repeating himself hoarse till he could no longer utter a word.

In utter shock & disbelief, he realised what had happened! He was trapped in the crevice between two gigantic cliffs.

Suddenly, the air was filled with shrill laughter and rancour…  “…am here. Here am I, my boy. Right here!”

It was then that he realised the voice was was coming from within him. Completely dumbfounded and horror struck, it dawned upon him that he had led himself into a dark spot with his reckless bravado, a perennial ‘trap’, never to be found or freed again…

That was the last they heard of ‘the only boy who had ever conquered the Stallrose peaks’ – never to return again.

If only he had looked, before he leaped…

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In this story, The Boy is lucky enough to be the only person to have climbed the Stallrose Mountain. He reaches the peaks and finds the eye-catching beauty that the mountains beheld, and has a strong desire in his heart to live there. He is driven by his wishes, (as the voice of Stallrose depicts, his inner cravings) over what he should have done. And, he carelessly falls prey to his whims. His desires control him, and lead him to an enticing & beautiful yet inescapable position…

Perhaps, that why it’s said even today in the hamlets that surround Stallrose peaks, “Look before you leap.”

It’s almost ridiculous, if not disdainful, how most humans think their lives are constantly checkered with difficulties, hardships and uphill trudges vis-à-vis the sad state of existence and conveniently ignored struggles of the animals they are surrounded by.

“Everything is dispensable at the cost of human lives” has given way to “everything is dispensable at cold human will.” Perhaps, a rare few care about the living conditions and well being of this unfortunate lot.

Animals are slaughtered in schematic abundance especially for satisfying taste buds & appeasing palates in addition to so many other practices that can be easily done away with; but who cares two hoots?

The human race thrives in glee and luxurious abandon minus an iota of regret or a conscience to answer to. The same people who are taught to ‘love all’ love putting up acts of great moral value in public but in reality are hardened to overlook acts of selfishness & cruelty towards the underprivileged and helpless.

That juicy steak on the plate was once a hapless & clueless living being which breathed & felt pain but could neither speak for nor defend itself … did the thought cross any human’s mind to be a little humane and considerate ? To be a little sensitive and forego a twang on the tongue so that the industry which slaughters and dices up living beings loses one drop of water from its ocean of sustenance ?

 

If this is ‘HUMANity’, I’d rather be INhuman.

Time, an ever eluding paradox… A bemusing friend, an unlikely foe. Crying in the cradle, one moment and dwelling in regrets the next, we are. Time – simple, yet complex. The present becomes the past in the moment that follows. …and, “the future depends on the present.”

In other words, the present; making way continuously for the past, is also the womb to the future.

Sometimes, the thought of the ‘future’ in waiting makes me shudder. For, it is aptly said, the consequences of the past shall haunt us till eternity.

I look around to see a world, so noisily delightful, bubbling with life & vibrance, and yet, as catatonic as a task to figure the depth of a muddled pond.

It’s both an astonishing and a worrying fact that despite the warning bells nature has been tossing at us in the form of unrelenting heat-waves, unpredictable earthquakes, unseasonal deluges, uncontrolled weather extremes and now, an unfathomable pandemic; we continue to move ahead with our mundane lives, barely batting an eyelid and largely unperturbed, taking ‘tomorrow’ for granted without working for it today.

Our planet continues to gasp for breath due to our perpetually invasive concrete jungles while our forest covers are being depleted by mindless plundering. Nothing could be sadder, than the most intelligent race, humans, belittling the blue planet for greed, not need.

So many of us prioritise momentary luxuries over the quality of lives we lead. Ironically, the situation resembles a hapless mouse sleeping with abandon within a mouse trap due to its inability to find a safer place. This inexcusable foolishness and ignorance is both frightening & amusing.

On an average, 75,000 trees are felled each day for purposes ranging from valid to mindless…the need for paper is acceptable to some extent, while the unending constructions of buildings, skyscrapers, roads and concrete structures is often baffling.

In the midst of it all, one of the contributing reasons of global climate imbalance remains largely unspoken of and conveniently overlooked…

The human diet.

According to an increasing number of findings corroborated by research, the non-vegetarian diet causes a lot more danger to the earth than conceivable on the face of it. It’s a different matter that only a rare few possess the appetite to gulp the bare reality.

A research, led by scientists, found that simply cutting down meat consumption would make a large dent in the emissions of greenhouse gases. Feeding massive amounts of grain & water to farmed animals and then slaughtering them for storing their flesh for commercial consumption is an extremely energy-intensive process.

Forests-which absorb greenhouse gases, are cut down in order to supply pastureland and grow crops for farmed animals. Finally, the animals themselves, and all the manure that they produce release even more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, according to data released by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Group.

Researchers found that the diets of people who eat more than 3.5 ounces of meat, in a day generate 15.8 pounds of carbon dioxide, whereas, a vegetarian generates 8.4 pounds CO₂, and a vegan (that is; a person, who takes in no animal based produce), 6.4 pounds CO₂.

Consider this: The poultry farming industry has resulted in an exponential rise in the population of chickens. Each chicken thus bred is fed about 1.5 pounds of feed-grain in the course of its life to make it succulent enough for slaughter. A conservative estimate reveals that 137 million chickens are consumed worldwide each day. Reverse calculating the feed trail, this equals cutting down of roughly 200 million pounds of greenery for a day’s feed. Just a day’s feed.

The poultry farming industry is just an example. The entire meat production industry adds to the monumental depletion of green cover without adequate compensatory afforestation.

However, are these industries to blame? Or are those, whose consumption needs such industries are servicing? No such industry would have ever seen the light of day or continued to thrive without the pattern of consumption in the first place.

Just like tiny drops of water make the ocean, altering consumption habits that are seemingly inconsequential, but are either directly or indirectly depleting our planet of its green cover, will add to protecting Mother Earth.

It’s not just food for thought but a call for action clearly on our platter. Make no mistake, time’s running out and if we still continue running around in the same mindless ways we have been so far, what lies in store for us as a race is epically evident.

 ‘The future depends on the present. The present: On ourselves.’