Conversations
"Be still, my heart, these great trees are prayers."
Rabindranath Tagore
At 4 a.m. in the morning, the quality of air, sound, light, everything is more intimate. The two ashoka trees lean into each other conversing. The neem is rustling sofly, her flowers talking to her leaves perhaps. The coconut trees are voluble. It seems as if all them are chattering and they hold secrets that we are not tuned in to. Everything shivers in the subtle breeze and the birds begin to wake up! The conversations of the trees hold such excitement and mirth. Slowly the day dawns and the din of human life takes over!
Awareness
"Growing awareness is like growing a tree. It will take time for efforts to bear fruit. But if the seed itself is not planted, there will never be a tree!"
We walked along the plants and trees in the schools play area. Suddenly one of the children stopped and said, "Look at the spiky plant, it is so funny!" We all looked closely trying to understand what made it spiky. It was just a moment out of thousands of moments in a day. But it is important, that every child has a moment like that each day, so that over the years they build their conversations, understanding and curiosity about the natural world that envelops them. What constitutes growing this awareness? Where does really looking at nature start? Is it natural or must we create the environment in which 'quality seeing' can happen? We moved on to wonder at the rough barks, the strange angles, the hanging flowers, the big leaves. We sketched so we could get the details in. Will this new awareness stay?