The Nature and The Human Mind (Article)

The term 'Nature' is well acquainted to all of us. But we have distinct notions about it. I am not saying that we have no proper idea about nature, but the idea is abstract one. So we understand separate meanings of this term as per our thought which varies culture to culture or man to man.

We often say 'Mother Nature' when we perceive one side of it. Everything in this world have born into the lap of nature including us -- I mean the Human being. each and every species of animated world as well as the  material things of inanimate world begin their journey and reach at their final destination inside the nature. Nature gives birth to us, gives us food to survive, and at the end of a certain period ends us to create a new space for newcomers. That is why generally we think nature as 'mother'.

But when we face the natural evils like disasters, plagues etc. we don't consider it as 'mother' anymore. We then use a term 'Evil Nature' instead of it.

Sometimes we consider mountains, rivers, oceans, forests, birds, beasts, insects, reptiles etc. as nature. When we become pleased after enjoying a pleasant view, we say it 'beauty of the nature'. But when we perceive a bare truth of food-chain, we may not think in same way.

In some cultures people think nature as God, while others think it as creation of God. According to theist interpretation, God has created nature to nurture the animal kingdom and He maintains the balance of it. But atheists are not eager to accept this view. They deny the existence of God and admit the rules of nature which  work by themselves.

Some people think that, man is the best creation of nature and nature is the reign of Great Human Race. No need to mention that this point of view is called as 'anthropocentric ecology' or 'shallow ecology'. On the other hand, the view point of 'non-anthropocentric ecology' or 'deep ecology' is quite opposite.

From prehistoric period men have started to think about nature. Obviously not to satisfy their 'thirst for knowledge'. When wildfires used to burn their habitation, when the storm or the rain ailed them, when dreadful thunders terrorized them, they worshipped those horrible powers of the nature. Because they were helpless like other animals. But human being is not just like other species. We have not any natural weapons like sharp horns or claws or canines or physical strength or velocity or so on, to protect ourselves in the food-chain. We don't need those. Because we have 'human brain', nature's most valuable gift to us. Though it was not much evaluated in prehistoric period, it was even so, the 'human brain'. They did not escape the problems, instead became curious about those and tried to understand them in their own way. As the consequence of that curiosity the Great Human Race became superior in this planet. Along with the evolution of human mind, this curiosity towards the nature has increased and 'most probably' we have solved a few mysteries of this mysterious nature.

I think, still now we don't know the nature properly as we don't know much about the human mind. We do experience our surroundings with the help of five sense organs. But these sense organs are not helpful to attain proper knowledge about the mysterious nature. Just like, we have set out in an endless ocean which is an 'extreme jeopardy' with the help of five broken compasses. Whatever we know today as 'true' tomorrow it will be proved as 'untrue'. Nothing in nature is 'ultimate truth'.

There is an interesting illustration in Jain School of Indian Philosophy about 'truth'. According to Jain epistemology, general people (who have not achieved liberation) perceive the world partly. They never have entire knowledge or the 'truth' about world. So their knowledge is partly true. For example, when four blind men are describing an elephant after feeling it with their hands, one of them says, "The elephant is just like a pillar" ---- he only could feel just one leg of that elephant, while the another says, "The elephant is just like a radish" ---- he could feel only one tusk of that creature. They are not completely wrong but partly true. When we try to know the nature, we only can know a side of it. When we go to the another side, it appears in a different way to us.

Neither I am a scientist nor a philosopher. I don't know who is right and who is wrong. I have a notion of nature in my mind. I like to observe everything, try to understand all the events with my pure intuition. I don't accept any hypothesis until it is not clear to my reason, to my logic. I have keen interest about Nature as well as Human Mind. I think there is a connection between two.

I am going to share my thoughts with you.

If you don't like the way of my thinking, then you can scold me in comment (if I deserve your time and attention)

If you do like it, please encourage me.

Thank You.

                         

UpRooted : short story

short story

UpRooted

UpRooted : best short stories online

At the middle of the night Sunita woke up on her bed. Her eight months old daughter was sleeping just beside her. Whole village was silent except continuous barking of the village dogs. It seemed, they were alarming the villagers for something unknown. Sunita drew her sleeping daughter into her lap. She kissed her forehead. Since last month, her husband Manu went Kolkata seeking a job. So she had to live alone in her hut outside the village. Neither her family nor Manu's family accepted their inter-caste marriage. Due to this avoidance from both families, she had learned so much things at her twenty years of age. She gained much courage to live lonely outside the village.

Her father was a rich farmer in their village. She was only girl child among three siblings. She had two brothers, one older and the other younger. She grew up with caress of her family.

She met Manu when she was in school. Manu used to wait for her on the way after his school. He lived in neighbour village. They were almost same aged.

After finishing school Manu's father wanted him to join into their family business of carpentry. But Manu wanted to study more. His father was not agreed with him. Because he thought that higher study is nothing but wastage of money. Manu became stubborn and the relation became worse with his father. At last his father gave up and agreed with his son. But he clearly told that, he could not carry the expenses for his higher study.

Sunita took a hand fan and fanned her daughter. The weather was dull. After continuous heavy raining since eight days, the rain had stopped that night. The prosy sound of rainfall had been over. Instead of that, the sound of crickets and frogs filled the environment around the hut. An unknown blurred sound was also coming from a distance. The dogs were howling like wolves. Sunita felt, there was something wrong. She wanted to enquire what was going on. But she did not dare to leave her child lonely at the hut, or take her along into the darkness of outside. She could not decide what to do at that time. She hoped Manu was with her. So she was seated upon the bed steadily. Her memories of those days were making an uninvited crowd into her consciousness.

When her father pointed out her love affaire with a boy from separate caste, he stopped her going outside the home. But she became disobedient to her family for the first time. Her father and elder brother tried to restrict her but she never heard to them. The home environment was changed entirely. She knew about the rage of her father as well as her brother. She started to meet Manu secretly.

One day her brother caught them and the consequence was worst. The family of Manu was threatened by her father, and Manu's father did not tolerate that. He became very strict towards Manu and stopped his study to engage him in a job and started to find out a girl who belonged their own caste, for him to marry. Sunita's father seized her in her room. One night Manu knocked on her back window and they escaped from their. They married in a temple that night and started to live outside the village in a hut which was belonged to Manu's father's property.

Since then, both of the families declined any relation with them. At first Manu started to work hard in the village farms as a helper. But it was not sufficient. When their daughter born, insufficiency increased. So Manu had to go to Kolkata to find out a job.

Sunita enhanced the flame of the lantern. She never put it off at the night since Manu was out of home. But the bright light of the lantern failed to encourage her any more. She felt uneasy with the situation. When the dogs stopped their noise, the world became silent at once. Not entirely silent. The strange blurred sound was quite clear then. It was overflowing the sound of crickets and frogs. That sound was well known to her. It was the sound of water. It was the sound of river Ajay, which was far away from their village ; but not so far at that moment. Sunita felt helpless. She needed help, but Manu was not with her at that time. She could not expect help from the other villagers, because they were also in danger.

As time passed, the sound of water became more clear. Sunita heard previously from her grand father about fierce hunger of Ajay. Last time when it became a demon, she was not born. But she heard so many times about it that she clearly understood what was happening.

Quickly she made a decision. She had to leave home. She had to escape from Ajay. She gathered all the necessary things for her child which she could carry with her. Tied them with a cloth. Then tied her baby with her body tightly by another cloth. In the meantime she heard shouting of people coming from the village. When she completed her arrangement, she saw Ajay at her doorstep. She looked around the hut for the last time and prayed to God. Then she came outside into the water holding the lantern in her hand.

At first she thought to go to her home. There were her parents, brothers, old grandma. But initially she changed her mind. There was water all around the village just like liquid death spread it's trap everywhere. In that darkness of night she might fall into the pond. She could swim, but it would be dangerous for her child. The water level was increasing in every minute. The current of water flow was pushing her at the other direction of the village. There were paddy fields of the village farmers. The high road at the end of that field was a high land than the level of the village. Some people also coming from the village at that direction. With quick steps she started to go to the high road. The water was at her knees.

When she was half of the way, the water reached at her waist. She was lucky that the flow of water was at the direction of high road. She threw the lantern into the water, held her belongings on her head. Her child was safely tied with her body. Hurriedly she crossed the rest half way to the high road.
When she reached there, it was dawn. The sky was dull though the light of dawn appeared splitting that dullness. The people there who also came from the village, told that, they were not safe even in that high road. They needed to go to the school building a mile away from there. Those people were experienced in this matter by previous disasters caused by Ajay. They knew very well what was going to happen after one hour or two. The school building was probably a safe shelter for them at that time.

At first Sunita was out of breath. When she got normal, became upset for her family. An aged woman among those people told her to hurry up and go with them. No time to waste.

Sunita followed them and took a shelter into that school building. Many other people from other villages came there and when the ground floor and the first floor of the building filled with water they came to the roof of the building. From there they saw most horrible scene. It started raining again. There were water everywhere. Only tree tops were visible here and there. Dead bodies of men and cattle were floating on the water. Smell from the rotten dead bodies filled the air.

After two days of starvation, they saw some boats were coming. The rescuers came to them and gave them some packets of dry foods, some bottles of water and a large canvas to built a shelter on the open roof. They had rescued those people who had not a shelter like them. Condition of those people were very bad. Sunita was not feeling well. She was feeling like vomiting. Her daughter was crying continuously. Condition of others on the roof was not better than her. But they survived there with help of the rescue teams.

At last the water level decreased and Ajay returned back to it's own track. Sunita went back with other fellow people to the village which was totally vanished from there. No sign of any hut or the crop field there. Half-liquid mud had covered the land. Only the big trees were standing steadily. The rescuers prepared for them a temporary shelter near railway station. Gradually those people who had survived, came there. Sunita was waiting for her family. But neither her parents nor her siblings came there. She grabbed her daughter tightly and wished Manu would come from Kolkata shortly.

That night an older man in the camp started vomiting vigorously. The health care provider of the camp declared it as cholera. At the next morning several other people were discovered being prey of that plague. An old lady from their village told Sunita, "What are you waiting for girl? Grab your child and go from here. Hurry on before it's too late."

Sunita found that the old lady was right. It was totally foolish to wait there for Manu in that situation. She took her child and her belongings and escaped the cursed place and went to the railway platform. She waited there. A passenger train came which was going to Kolkata. She did not hesitate to buy a ticket and get into the train.

When the train reached Kolkata, she got down and found that, it was another world. Rush of people was just like the water of Ajay. While into the train, she thought that she would find out Manu. But when she found herself among the rush of people, she lost all her courage.

At first she thought to stay into the station premises. But the rail police drove her away from there along some beggars. Then she came to the busy footpaths of Kolkata. At first she was puzzled by huge market place, different types of cars, buses, trams on the roads, ever rushing uncountable people, the noise of the city. But as time passed, she became habituated with all of these. Thus she spent two years.

Now she lives underneath a fly-over in Kolkata Metropolitan. She met there other refugees like her who came from different places and live in same condition.

At the morning, she feeds her daughter who has grown up into three years old now. Then goes to work in a factory. she is sweeper there. She takes her daughter along with her. Then she goes to the market place to collect wastage of the vegetables and foods from the trash. Then comes to the shelter and cooks. At afternoon she goes to work as house-maid. When her daughter will be grown-up enough to stay alone into the shelter, she would find out a better job. She will admit her into a school. She is well determined to struggle.

Still now her memories retraces her into the village, at her childhood days when she was a princess to her father and elder brother. Her brother did not want her to do any hard work at home. He even used to fulfil all her wishes as far as he could. When she collects wastages from the market trash, when hunger creates trouble in her intestine, when her daughter plays in the garbage of the city and tells slang languages learned from other children there, she wants to cry. When monsoon comes and waterlogs the city, the memory of Ajay shivers her entirely.

Still now she hopes, one day Manu will come to her and rescue her from this hell.
May be he is searching her too.
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The Tigress of Sundarban : short story

 Short Story

The Tigress Of Sundarban

The Tigress of Sundarban : best short story online

When she born, her mother died at her seventeenth for some complex physical problems. The old woman who was an experienced 'dhai'(in rural areas who helps women to give birth of child) handed her over to her father. In the interior rural areas, a girl child was not welcomed in the same way as a boy. But her father accepted her with his heart and soul. He named his beloved child as Reba.

They lived in a village at Sundarban Wild Life Sanctuary. The village was situated nearby the core area of Royal Bengal Tiger reserved forest. Her father was a fisherman. He had not much time to accompany her whole day long. He worked very hard from sunrise to sunset for earning their livelihood. Her grandma looked after Reba at the day time. She had to obey all the hard rules of that old woman. She was not permitted to go and play outside as her will except the afternoon. But whenever she got a chance she utilized that very well and ended with verbal and physical abusing. But when her father returned home at evening, she got her freedom. Though tired, he accompanied his 'princess' as best as he could. He even refused to marry second time. He was afraid that his new bride would not tolerate Reba.

In the beginning of her adolescence she was fallen badly for a boy Lokhai, who belonged in a woodcutter family in their village. She was unable to hide her feelings for Lokhai from her father's eyes. When Reba was sixteen, her father talked with Lokhai's father and arranged their marriage. Then Reba's father tried hard to collect more money to pay high amount of dowry to Lokhai's father. He started to go to fishing even overnight in the back water of Bay of Bengal. Everything was going smoothly. But, before the marriage, he died. A fierce cyclone took him away while he was fishing in the Bay at midnight. Lokhai's father arranged another bride for his son from the neighbour village.

Reba's grandma could not bear the agony of her son's death and she passed away just after a week of that incident. Reba's maternal uncle took her with him. He arranged marriage of Reba with a man who was a honey collector and wood cutter, lived in that village. The man was 20 years older than Reba. But he loved her very much. He was a nice person. He was honest and caring to Reba. Reba was living a happy life with him, though She could not forget Lokhai.

Shortly she understood that happiness was not for her. She had only sufferings in her fate. One night Reba's husband went outdoor to response in the call of Nature, but did not return. Next day his half eaten body was found in the river bank jungle outside the village.

Now Reba left nobody except her maternal uncle. Her uncle offered her to go and live with his family. But Reba knew very well that his economical condition was not even sufficient. She would be a burden for him. So she returned to her father's property and started to work hard for living. Even she started to go to the jungle to collect honey with the group of woodcutters.

Other villagers did not take it easily. At the first place she was a woman and secondly, she was widow. An widow, going to the jungle, with a number of non-relative men, in the same boat, for a week --- these were totally unexpected in a village society. So, Reba had to digest different types of pranks from the villagers. But she had no time to listen to them. She had to survive. There were nobody to help her.

Lokhai was a member of that group. Lokhai talked to Reba only in this voyage outside the village. While in the village, they pretended as strangers. Because Lokhai had his family and his wife. Parul did not like Reba just like other villagers. But Lokhai liked Reba since his boyhood. They were good friends. Reba used to play with the group of boys. When Lokhai's father told him that he had to marry Reba, at first he felt embarrassed, how to marry a childhood friend? He could not sleep that night. Plenty of thoughts were distracting him from the sleep. As time passed, he started to feel a strong attraction towards Reba. He started to think her as his perfect soulmate.

When Lokhai came to know that Reba's father died and his father selected Parul as his bride, he became reluctant but he had to marry Parul to obey his father's decision. Parul was physically and mentally sick. Her behaviour was mean. She misdoubted that Lokhai was in extramarital, illicit relationships with a number of women in their village. Lokhai's life became a living hell. He was suffering the consequence of his father's greed.

Parul heard a rumour that Reba tried to seduce her husband in the jungle. One day she met Reba in their village 'haat'(village market for once in a week). She started shouting on Reba's face ignoring the crowd of the market. With plenty of poisonous words she attacked Reba, " You pervert! Don't even try to penetrate my husband. Otherwise I will kill you. I will cut you into pieces and feed the dogs. You shameless widow! Go and kill yourself, so that the villagers can live in peace."

Reba didn't replied. She stood there, calmly listened all the shits. When Parul paused out of breath, she smiled and silently walked away. People, who were enjoying the drama, was disheartened by this 'sudden end'. They sprayed away again in the market in their own business. But Parul stood there speechless. She failed to hurt Reba. Instead of replying her, Reba smiled on her face. This silent insult was beyond her digestion capability. She wanted to attack Reba physically. But she had not gut to do so. Because Reba's physical strength was not unknown to her. Surely she would lose the game and that would be shameful for her in the middle of the market.

That night Lokhai was lying on his boat. The moonlight changed the river into silver stream of fairy tale. The jungle of the remote island of Sundarban looked like reign of death in the darkness. The stars were twinkling on the September sky. The fireflies were busy to copy them in the riverside bushes. The fragrance of wild flowers, the chirping of crickets, occasional melody of some nocturnal birds, the rustling sound of waves, gentle cool breeze from river were easing him. Parul was worst to him that evening. Ignoring the mosquitoes Lokhai closed his eyes. Probably he was sleeping. A gentle touch on forehead woke him up. At first he could not determine who was that. After a while he felt Reba sitting on the boat. Quickly he moved in a comfortable distance and carefully looked around. Then asked in a worried voice, "Why are you here at this time? If anybody see us then?"

"Let them see!" Reba replied in a gentle and calm voice.

"Have you any idea of the consequence?"

"Yes! I have a clear idea about it. But I am not afraid."

"But I am. We have to live in society. If anybody see us here together, you will be in greater danger than me. You are woman. The villagers will point at you all the arrows they have."

In an amusing tone Reba replied, "So you want to say that, they have some arrows left to target me?" She smiled.

"Don't smile silly. Try to understand what I am saying." Lokhai was serious.

"Ok! Now take the food. I heard you left home without having meal." Reba handed him a packet of food and a bottle of water.

"Take it with you. I don't need it." He reused the packet like a stubborn teenager.

Reba didn't reply. Silently she placed the food beside him and left the place.

Gradually they started to meet outside the village in the darkness of night. Lokhai liked her company. He had to tolerate Parul for the sake of family and society. Parul was a mentally sick woman. She hated everybody except herself. Probably her complex physical sickness leaded her to cruelty. She used to satisfy her desires by abusing others verbally. Lokhai was her prime victim. So the family life was a living hell to Lokhai. He found peace with Reba.

In their next mission the woodcutter team went to the core area of the reserved forest without any permission of forest department. They were habituated in this illegal trespassing. When they reached there, it was afternoon. The lower portion of the islands were under the salt water of up tide. Only the upper portion of the mangrove forest was visible above the water level. They stopped the boats in the middle of the river between two islands. They had to spend night there. Reba took shelter in Lokhai's boat.

In that type of situations at least one person of each boat has to watch over to both side jungle and on the water. Otherwise minimum one person's death is sure.

Among eight persons in their boat, Lokhai was selected to watch over the first half of the night. He was sitting on the bow of the boat. Reba came and sat beside him. Lokhai took a deep breath and said, "Go to sleep inside. We are not alone here."

"We have not done anything wrong." Reba whispered into his ears then smiled.

"Is not our relationship wrong? You and me, both are married. I have a family still now, you ought to follow some social rules."

Reba placed her head on Lokhai's lap. Then replied in a soft tone, "Social rules? There are plenty of social rules for the widow women. But when a man loses his wife, society has no rule for him to follow. I don't care about so called society."

"I know that!" Lokhai gently touched Reba's forehead. "But you should care about God and his rules."

"God has no rule for me."

"God's rules are good for us."

"Not for me. God has arranged for me only sufferings throughout my life. I lost my mother at the time of birth. At my sixteenth my father gone. You are my first love, but you went away from me"........ Reba wept after so long time. She could no more control on her emotions which were repressed deep inside since her father died. She was a strong hearted woman. She used to hide her feelings from other person. But Lokhai was not just an 'other person'.

"But it was not my fault. I had nothing to do." Lokhai replied wiping tears from her cheeks.

"I know that. Just think about my sufferings. A man in my uncle's village married me. He had genuine love for me. I also liked him, but couldn't replace him with you in the deep of my heart. One night he was killed by tiger. Now I am widow at my 21. The villagers prank me because I go to the jungle with a group of male companions to collect honey. But what can I do? I can't fast myself to hold an image of holiness as they wish. I am not born to impress them. I have left nobody who care about me. I have to protect myself."

"But God............"

"God gave me the body and desires to stay alive. Society has created some rules to bury those desires because I am widow. Now you are suggesting me to stay alive eating those rules?"

Lokhai had no answer. In the bright moonlight the tears were glistening on Reba's cheek. He swept those with his fingers. They both were silent.

Suddenly they felt a huge jerking in the boat. They turned behind to see what was happening. Death was standing there in its wet striped body. Within a second Lokhai's neck was inside the jaws of that devil. At first Reba was spell-bounded. But when the rest six members in their boat started shouting, she saw the devil jumped into the water with Lokhai's motionless body. Reba took a cutter from the boat and jumped into the river without thinking about it. Other members of their group were shouting to stop her. She heard nothing. She was following the last shelter of her life. She will never forgive 'God'.

The team members did not dare to go to the jungle at the night to rescue them. It is the reign of death. 

Next morning they went down in the islands and searched for them. But, neither they, nor their remain was found. They were not eager to enter into the dense forest. Because it is another name of suicide. They had to live and struggle against their poverty. So they arranged a prayer for their soul and went to another island to collect honey.

It is a common incident in the life in Sundarban.
                             _______________