Junipers in the sun

Let this being made of Panchatatwa (the five elements)—a little bit of light, the ether, water, air and the earth—begin with a frank admission.

This sapien has a hunch that those
precious, born-in-a-gym type made of Panchadhatu (five metals)—gold, iron (for a strong body), silver (for a sharp mind), copper (ductile and malleable) and zinc—and other rare earths are fuming at the very first line from a lesser mortal. 

Well, they have every right to explode, even. 

They are free to seethe with rage, for this being has realized over the years how futile it is to try to wow all and sundry with your thoughts. It has dawned on him that table sugar (C12H22O11) gives a bitter taste whereas bitter gourd tastes sweet in the long run. 

Ain’t it a great finding? Naturally, this sapien has a thing for science. What say you, guys?

Let's leave the sciences behind and go a bit metaphysical.  

With its price heading northwards amid the festivities, sugar has become ever more harmful for the health—financial or otherwise–of the laity. 

Now, who cares about the health of the public even in a republic, whether it's mental, physical or even spiritual?

The benevolent government of ours, of course. That’s why it's been operating dozens of fair-price shops across the country to enhance the taste of sugar and other food commodities during a rather long festive season. 

This sweet move is expected to remove the bitterness that comes with sugar.    

 

Don’t beat about the bush, will ya? Already out of patience, you guys may want to scream while reading this piece and want nothing else but that darn, frank admission part. 

Now, the admission: This guy is a selfish guy, through and through. 

Well, who isn’t, save our politicians and Rashtrasewaks?  

Dunno, can’t say, for this Panchatatwa guy is on no one’s payroll as a spokesperson. 

This realization of selfishness within dawned on this guy while basking in the winter sun outside his bedroom sometime back. 

There, two junipers stood apart on either end of a sliver on plastic flower pots. That afternoon, they remained equally parched on a patch that does not get much wind, ether, rainwater and a footing to stand tall and proud like in the Himalayan region, which is their ancestral land.

The sight bore a hole in the heart of this sapien.

Now a bit about the saplings.

This guy has a firm belief that he can set the Thames on fire if he can overcome his nightmares. Apparently, he is always looking for ways to get a sound sleep so that he can head for the Thames after a good night’s sleep, which is hard to come by. Add to those ‘mares’ a bizarre owl—considered the vehicle of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth with which this guy never had a good relation—never gets tired of making bizarre sounds (at night, of course) apart from its keeper, whose high-decibel conversation with her many progenies over the phone—the granny apparently thinks that you need to speak on top of your lungs to be heard across the seven seas—and occasional bursts of laughter. 

Add to it a world in turmoil from Gaza to our very own Kalapani-Lipulek-Limpiadhura.  

As things stand, the world seems conspiring together with the forces of darkness to deny this guy a good night's sleep.   

Text and pictures: Devendra Gautam

To be continued........