Summer vacations are going to
expire very soon. All children are busy in completing their home works before
the schools open. Of course they are not as lucky as other children of the rich
people who spend their summer holidays at mountainous terrains. Prior to this
year, I used to visit to the mountains in every summer vacations and have seen
the beauty of Greater Himalayas and have had so many unique experiences which
sometimes are still haunting me – What is Nature, Who created it, How is it
healing, what can it have its impact on one’s inner and outer life, whether god
and nature are the same and if so, who created god? All these questions coupled
with strange and unique experiences are unsolved and are still unanswered in spite
thousand and thousand years after human creation.
All of a sudden, when I was
taking a class of the children for the purpose of getting their homework
completed, I asked one question from one student, named Ravi- what is nature?
There was a pin drop silence and every child was looking at one another’s face.
Ravi who was a student in 6th standard was looking down at earth
with his face and eyes blank as if he knew nothing. After a few seconds, I took
the lead and just to ease out the atmosphere, I asked another question- what
are trees, mountains, clouds, wind, rain, stars, sun, moon etc? Still there was a silence. Though I had asked
a very basic question but these children were unable to answer. The question
was why? It appeared to me that they were so ignorant that they could not
resemble themselves with nature. Then to break the silence, I told them these
are Nature.... Nature is like our mother............... that cures our miseries
and paves the way for our growth. .... I was just talking about the goodness
and motherly traits of nature, in the mean time Rakhi, a girl child, spoke
extempore ...” Agar Prakriti hamari mata hai, toh bhookamp kyon atta hai aur hamare
ghar gir jate hain aur bahut log maare jatein hain” (If nature is our mother,
why earthquake comes and pulls down our houses and many people are killed). I
was shocked to hear such a response from such a small child. I called her near
to me and asked very politely as to why she thought so. Her mother had told her
that an earthquake had come recently in the region of Nepal and its surrounding
parts of India and many of her relatives were killed. I had no answer except hugging
that girl. In front of my eyes I had my good memories which I had lived with
nature during my several trips and on the other hand what the girl child had
spoke with such anger against nature.
Children are always true as they
do not adopt dual standard while putting forth whatever is in their inside. It
is true, Nature may be furious but the question is why? I am still haunting to
find the answer and reply to that child!
Anubhuti Jain
Ek Koshish one attempt
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