Anarcho-environmentalism allegorised

The name Anaarkali in the present context has many meanings - Anaar symbolises the anarchism of the Bhils and kali which means flower bud in Hindi stands for their traditional environmentalism. Anaar in Hindi can also mean the fruit pomegranate which is said to be a panacea for many ills as in the Hindi idiom - "Ek anar sou bimar - One pomegranate for a hundred ill people"! - which describes a situation in which there is only one remedy available for giving to a hundred ill people and so the problem is who to give it to. Thus this name indicates that anarcho-environmentalism is the only cure for the many diseases of modern development! Similarly kali can also imply a budding anarcho-environmentalist movement. Finally according to a legend that is considered to be apocryphal by historians Anarkali was the lover of Prince Salim who was later to become the Mughal emperor Jehangir. Emperor Akbar did not approve of this romance of his son and ordered Anarkali to be bricked in alive into a wall in Lahore in Pakistan but she escaped. Allegorically this means that anarcho-environmentalists can succeed in bringing about the escape of humankind from the self-destructive love of modern development that it is enamoured of at the moment and they will do this by simultaneously supporting women's struggles for their rights.

Monday, April 6, 2009

The Tree of Life

The frontage of our house in Indore is dominated by a 10 meter tall drumstick tree. Our two storey house faces east and there is another tall two storey house on the south side. Apart from this there are a neem and guava tree also alongside the drumstick tree competing for sunlight. That is why the drumstick has grown so tall and dwarfed not only the other trees but also our building so as to be able to enjoy more sunlight. The result is that now the tree is both luxuriantly flowering and fruiting and we use the drumsticks in our meals regularly. What is more important is that throughout the year various fauna visit this tree to feed on its produce and use it as a resting or eating place. We were thrilled when one day we found a small kestrel sitting on its branches and devouring a field mouse that it had caught somewhere as in the picture below.

There is a family of squirrels that has built its home in the dense foliage of the three creepers that cover our house and keep it cool in summer. They consider all the flowers and fruits on the various plants and trees in our house to be their property. Consequently whenever other birds too come to feast on these luscious foodstuffs a lovely orchestra of sounds starts off. The squirrels chirp in anger at the birds for trespassing on their preserve. The birds too not to be outdone respond with their own chirping. Yesterday there was a squirrel on one of the top branches of the drumstick tree chirping away in anger continuously. There was a lovely little black and blue coloured bird with a long beak which could fit into my palm on one of the lower branches which was sipping the nectar from the flowers and in between giving a fitting reply to the squirrel.

1 comment:

Rahul Banerjee said...

whether sweet or sour, lemonades are always welcome. reminds me of trini lopez's number called lemon tree -
When I was just a lad of ten, my father said to me,
"Come here and take a lesson from the lovely lemon tree."
"Don't put your faith in love, my boy," my father said to me,
"I fear you'll find that love is like the lovely lemon tree."

Chorus:
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet,
But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat.
Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet,
But the fruit of the lemon is impossible to eat.

One day beneath the lemon tree, my love and I did lie,
A girl so sweet that when she smiled, the stars rose in the sky.
We passed that summer lost in love, beneath the lemon tree,
The music of her laughter hid my father's words from me.

Chorus

One day she left without a word, she took away the sun.
And in the dark she left behind, I knew what she had done.
She left me for another, it's a common tale but true,
A sadder man, but wiser now, I sing these words to you.