A RURAL SOJOURN
From Sampath's Desk:
A
RURAL SOJOURN!
Born in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, and brought up in Madras (now Chennai), I had my education in the
metropolis and till it was over, I never had a peek into or a connection with the rural life. With no
vestiges of kinship or linkage or other vested interests left behind in our
native place, I had no chance of a sojourn there. And, with all my close
relatives living in Chennai only, there was no scope for me to visit places
outside.
Life in Chennai, a
metropolis with more than one crore population now in and around, is
machine-like, stressful and tension-ridden, thanks to industrialization,
population explosion and mushrooming of satellite towns and suburban areas day after day.
Days change and so are the scenes. The monotonous city life was so vexatious
that I started yearning for a holiday in a verdant, pleasant and pollution-free
rural setting. When I was in my 20’s, there came an opportunity through a close
friend of mine who offered a month’s holiday at his native village down south
on the shoreline. Who could let the opportunity go? I readily grabbed it!
My experiences of rural life were exciting. I knew not, so many delightful
motley and mélange scenic beauties were waiting for me under the azure sky with
charming and enlivening events unfolding. The whole stay was a real fiesta with
everything offering a visual feast and music to ears. It was a different matter
that I had subsequently visited many places across the country including many
exhilarating rural hamlets!
Unpolluted fresh cool
breeze of the early morning - twilight of the dawn - warmth of sun-rays slowly
and steadily permeating all over - bubbly sea-waves fondling and cleansing the
shore with its richness of lather - frothy spray greeting shore walkers with
towering hillocks standing guard adding to the serene rural ambience - improvised
gravel roads, streets, lanes and by-lanes abound with ups and downs and
pitfalls with vehicles plying
rarely - sluggish movement of cows and calves in
juxtaposition, and other livestock strolling along unfazed by anything
happening around – cluttering noise of carts, intermittent whispers
of humans and other living beings, chatting and altercations here and there
and now and then – splashing and gushing sounds from water-courses greeting us every now and then including pump-sets with gurgling and mesmerizing noises amid lush fields with
‘scarecrows’ on guard - fluttering, chirping and trills of different
birds, glitzy butterflies, slow/fast-crawling reptiles making their short/long unique sounds and noises, melting dew, twittering
swallows, buzzing bees, quacking ducks, mewing cats, barking dogs, clattering
monkeys, sweet-singing cuckoos doing ‘brood parasitism’ - screeching of
frogs, small plants and variety of flowers in mind-blowing colours gently
dancing in the air-waves to tunes of different flies hovering around and
dispensing their fragrance to waft through - squealing rodents playing ‘hide
and seek’ - tree leaves caressingly clash with each other and rustle up amid
soughing of the wind in the canopy of tree branches - small places of worship
here and there symbolizing devout life of our pluralistic society - highways
flanked on both sides with shadow/shelter giving trees arrayed in rows and/or
haphazardly - groves offering safe hide-outs for solitude seeking persons
and assignation for the needy - people bathing in river-banks and ponds
with swimmers diving into water with thudding noises generated at times - bells
of passing bicycles chiming and yelling - urchins indulging in naughty yet innocuous
mischief acts - occasional hooting of two-wheelers, shepherds goading flocks of
timid bleating sheep to destination and farmers mildly prodding the bull and
oxen in yokes to plough through paddy fields ululating ‘hi-hi’ - noises of
agri-vehicles trekking across - and with the dusk approaching the Sun bidding
adieu for the day by painting the horizon with ‘sun-set-yellow’ and quietly
disappearing on the West only to reappear the next morning on the East. Niftily
crafted homes here and there with all the plush facilities decorating the rural
landscape offered a visual feast to the eyes - and as the darkness of night descended, the village closeted itself into an almost pin-drop silent reclusive setting!
I had 30 such wonderful
days to enjoy.
Rural life was thus a
robust, vibrant and vivacious élan constituting a haven of countless bounties
of a tranquil life in communion with the Mother Nature. Wasn’t it?
On the 30th day
I had to return home, though somewhat displeased, as, after all, the city was
my ordained destination where I had to eke out my livelihood. Can I have such a
rural luxury in my city? Well nigh impossible! Isn’t?
R.SAMPATH
This article was published in the 'Mindspace' column of THE INDIAN EXPRESS dated 26.9.2018 with a caption 'TAKING A LUXURY VACATION IN A VILLAGE'.
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