Nature and I probably go a long way. Something that I didn’t realize until much later or I can say it dawned on me…out of the blue…actually out of the dark sky full of stars. 

So there I was lying under the stars on a charpoy gazing at the magical Geminids meteor showers in pitch darkness. The waxing crescent moon already set behind the hills early in the evening. There was a faint tinge of dark brownish hue over the horizon lined by majestic Western Ghats. Barring the occasional sound of crickets buzzing in the darkness of night or the animal calls…it was silent. Initial excitement of the folks in the group with me had waned and almost all kids and few adults also had fallen asleep. 

There was a strange magic in that silence, the darkness and meteors piercing the sky filled with the stars above. It was the most beautiful celestial sight I had ever seen in my life. The winter chill, the cool wind filling the nooks and corners of my lungs. I could feel it with every breath I took from the tips of my fingers to my toes. I could feel my body relaxing. Wind gently soothing and caressing my face, but I was feeling this inexplicable euphoria and exhilaration. Everything else ceased to exist beyond that point. 

For those few hours my mind numbed, thoughts and stress and worldly stuff seemed flushed out from my mind. My mind went blank. Was not thinking about anything else in this world. Was away from blaring horns of the cars, the traffic, the voices, the crowd, the people, the lights, the pollution, mad rush to get somewhere to get something done….the everything that swarms our very being. It was feeling mixed emotions…of excitement and peaceful calm…of overwhelming emotion ready to gush out in form of tears and coupled with the numbness of mind…a feeling of finding myself only to be lost far away from this mad world. 

I was on a high…on a dose of nature. I was intoxicated. The exact feeling I always feel whenever I come face to face to nature’s magnanimity be it in the form of magnificent mountains, Vast ocean or sea, raging rivers, dense forests, soothing green carpet of country side or magical monsoons. The realization of our minuscule being in front of infinity of universe. Humbling. Detoxifying. Back to the roots feeling. The wilderness seemed welcoming as though gently cradling me in the lap of Mother Nature. 

I couldn’t sleep, even when I was back to my tent and cozied up in my sleeping bag. My eyes failed to close. That euphoria refused to ebb down. A deep desire keeping me awake to savor each minute each second. 

The early morning wait to catch a glimpse of the rising sun was equally stunning. The sky bathed in a kaleidoscope of colors changing by the minute with the golden orb rising slowly from behind the hills. Somewhere in the valley peacock’s mewing sound “pihu pihu” piercing the silence of the night and announcing the onset of a beautiful morning. Then the golden rays of the sun transforming the clouds into molten gold…that moment was like a crescendo bringing that wonderful night to an end and beginning of a glorious morning. The imperial triangular Tikona fort standing tall overlooking Pavana Lake and dam in Kamshet near Lonavla looked beautiful and reminiscent of battles it withstood over the centuries. The fiery rays of sun blended with the ripples on the lake’s surface giving it a lustrous glow. A little far ahead clouds played hide and seek with sun with beams of light cheekily sneaking out of breaches of the cloud. It was breath taking. 

Isn’t it so ironical that each day we wish to buy the best gadgets that have enslaved us and kept us glued to our chairs even after work, each day we buy the best electronics to fill our homes with lights and sounds, we buy the most comfortable furniture to snuggle in, each day we download apps to shop stuff online to avoid travelling out and save time BUT on that day I yearned to get away from all this… praying to find a place to camp away from the lights, away from the sounds and traffic of the city, away from the concrete jungle to experience that magical moment. While we have improved our standards of living compared to our ancestors, we have truly been robbed of the solace we get in the lap of Mother Nature. 

That day I renewed my vows to myself to keep going for these sojourns to the wilderness in the lap of nature…to feel these magical moments and get intoxicated in its beauty and find myself all over again. Again and again. 

P.S. There was no alcohol or tobacco consumed on this trip. The intoxication mentioned is the state of mind I felt at that moment. 

More Info about Geminid Meteor shower: Every year, in December, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of asteroid 3200 Phaethon, a mysterious body that is sometimes referred to as a rock comet. In periods of 1.43 years, this small 5-kilometer (3-mile) wide asteroid-type object swings extremely close to the sun (to within one-third of Mercury’s distance), at which juncture intense thermal fracturing causes this rocky body to crack and crumble, and to shed rubble into its orbital stream. Annually, at this time of year, the debris from 3200 Phaethon crashes into Earth’s upper atmosphere at some 130,000 kilometers (80,000 miles) per hour, to vaporize as colorful Geminid meteors.

Vibhavari