The Hardworking Honeybees

Many a health dieticians recommend honey for general weakness or as an ailment in many cases.  And so do many relish the healthy and sweet taste that it offers.  But have anyone given a thought as to how strained the worker honeybees were in the process?

 Except for being a gluttonous consumer, we fail to realize the fact and appreciate the tremendous efforts put therein by the honeybees. And so negligent are we to the extent of harming the creature that actually nurtured us. Neither do we apprehend the need to maintain a balance in the ecosystem.  Maliciously we succumb them to the fiery attack or extract honey by unfair means.  

Honeybees are social insects with caste distinction and vivid division of labor, namely; the queen (fertile female), drones (fertile males) and workers (sterile females). Each caste has its own specific place in the colony and role too.

The queen, worker and the drone bee.

Well, the worker honeybees spends its arduous early 3 weeks life doing the indoor chores like constructing honey comb, cleaning, feeding the queen as well as the drones. It’s so to say that 3-4 worker bees are required to feed the languid drones.

The remaining 3 weeks do they lead a life of uphill struggle in their voyage round the earth in an endeavor to collect pollens, nectar, water, propolis and etcetera.  The worker honeybees fly 90,000 miles, the distance equal to 3 orbits round the earth to produce a kilogram of honey. An approximate of 2 million flowers do they have to visit to make 0.5kg of honey.

The sluggish drones do nothing except mating with the queen. They die immediately after mating, referred to as sexual suicide or are  driven out of the colony by the workers. They are stout in their physique and lead an indolent life, an utter contradiction to that of the worker or nurse bees.

The queen leads the bee colony and as such only a single queen is allowed per colony. Around 6 days after its emergence, it undertakes a nuptial flight during which thousands of drones tag along. The queen mates with a dozen or more drones During this, the queen stores millions of spermatozoa in her spermatheca.For this reason, the queen may be ascribed as a perfect egg laying machine on account of its ability to fertilize and lay eggs at her own will.

It’s so believed that life on earth will sustain only for 4 years if honeybees cease to exist. This is factual due to the immense role played by them in pollination of various crops which is a prerequisite to a bumper yield. How tedious and long-winded procedure would it be if we have to it all by ourselves?

Furthermore, the delectable honey which most of us relish; the bee wax molded into products like the cosmetics, shoe polishes, adhesives; and the bee venom used in the treatment of rheumatism, termed as Apitherapy are some of the notable outcomes of the hard toil of honeybees.

A rough sketch...

On account of the aforesaid benefits, I would suggest that Apiculture, the art and science of raising honeybees would be remunerative as well as a gratifying and heart-thrilling experience. And let’s submit our salute to this group of hardworking and dedicated creatures.

The Ephemeral Being

 If the glimmering morning’s dew,

That lodges on the grassy stand,

Dwells, but for so short a moment to be cherished…

If the exquisite flower,

That blooms with its unblemished hue,

Mesmerizes, but so swiftly does it wither…

If the alluring beams,

That dawns on the beings beneath,

Comforts, but it to be obscured by the thunderous growl…

If a millipede on its expedite adventure,

Has to face the end of its guts,

When so witty and gregarious ants ambush its stroll…

If one who carols with merriment today,

Has to wail with excruciating agony tomorrow,

Who can evade the ultimate destiny?

If the nuptial knot that has been fastened,

Persists, but for it to be slackened off gradually,

What enthrall is there in the invincible love?

What rivet is there in the flawless beauty?

What meaning is there in sumptuous and fussy life?

For everything is adjoined by transiency.

Waiting List!

Clinging to the edge of the seat,

 With only half of her butt resting on it.

Sliding would it go, so frequently, so easily;

With each rhythmic jerk the train made.

The tin containers, the bottles, the cartoon boxes,

And the skinny knees that collided with hers,

Were innumerable yet inevitable,

The cumulous effect of which a throbbing would pain would it instigate.

Ticking were the minute and second hands of her watch,

But at the pace of a snail’s glide.

Her dripping eyelids couldn't rally round,

But let her swing like a swaying flag in the breeze.

The sweet, sour, bitter smells that greeted her nostrils;

Was nothing but nauseating.

The incessant sounds of various indentations & purposes,

Plunged her into the awe hypnotism.

Having paid the same as others sitting gleefully on seats,

Yet given no seat of one’s own;

That’s how travelling in train is with your ticket in waiting lists;

When five have had to squeeze in two seats!

Transitory Home

The three doors were decorated with bunch of dried mango leaves. God only knew what that actually signifies. Neither did I make an effort to frame a query regarding the same. 8 lean pillars, wrapped with long stripes of leaves supported the thatched dry leaves of roof that led to the entrance door.

The two side doors with bright blue hue with a bronze orange main door in the middle presented an enchanting outlook. Inside laid the dark red cemented floor, as gloomy as its color. The rooms that lay awaiting us wove a sinister design.

Only a single window, the smallest of its kind to usher the glory of morning’s rays and fresh air was it set up with. The very room meant for luggage or kind of store room was ghostly and siren without even a bulb. The bedroom has but a dimly lit bulb. The iridescent rays that it glimmered only hypnotized its’ so called inhabitants.

The bathroom, crammed with mosquitoes, would I ascribe as over-ventilated on account of it being roofless. The rust- laden latches of the two toilets was a lurid indication of it being out of use for quite a span of time. Both were deprived of lighting facilities. This nailed into our brains to put an abrupt ban to move towards it after dusk.

Every dream of or need of water would be encountered by the fact of one having to flung the bucket deep down a well of 5 meter or so. It is rather a good exercise to pull it with all our might, but not when one drearily returns from field.

The walk to the host farmer’s field was nothing but nauseating. Won’t it be obvious when queues of human excreta welcome us on either side of the road? For a moment, I tried withholding my breath. But for how long am I going to continue?

For a day or so, I was awestruck by the conditions of my would -be house. The thought of prioritizing the problems and the consequent solutions sprang to me but at a later instant. The problems after careful scrutiny were nothing of a kind that cannot be solved. A little compromise, a bit of adjustment, a tinge of self contentment and yet a part of problem solving tactics were all that needs to be blended.

Be My Accomplice

I will be the Morning Glory to greet you.

And you be my Sweet Alyssum.

Emanate bouquet of your Rosy fragrance.

Blend me with your sweet taste of Stevia.

Propel me into the firmament above with your Daisy scent.

Don’t intercrop me with incompatible an intercrop.

Neither let me stand melancholy a monoculture crop,

Nor let me struggle in haphazard a mixed cropping,

Dive me not into the intricacy of multitier cropping,

But you be my accomplice a companion crop,

And we’ll flourish on mutual benefits,

For as long as our soil nourishes and nurtures us.

Youth Unemployment

The problems of unemployment are taking its toll more or less rapidly and soon it would plague the nation with unprecedented tension and lapses if proper measures are not initiated at this manageable stage. It has remained our government’s prime concern over the years and talks of unemployment are a major issue, especially Youth Unemployment.

A large group of youngsters are found leisurely walking or roaming along the streets, commenting and criticizing the passersby, either intoxicating themselves or involving in anti-social activities. The recent trends of a number of stab cases, incessant burglary cases and violence are nothing but the consequence of unemployment. It is indeed the machinery of unemployment that is directly or indirectly driving youth into the pool of violence and anti-social activities.

But what are the likely causes or the root cause for unemployment? Some of the likely causes may be enlisted as follows;

a)      The inefficient capacity of the Industries to generate ample employment despite its rapid rate of expansion in the recent years.

b)      Lack of adequate knowledge, skills and values in an individual which duly make them unfit for the kind of work they prefer or which they get offered.

c)       Inadequacy in the education system to provide skill oriented education or learning processes which otherwise would have equipped the students with the necessary skills suitable for any work.

d)      Prejudice or bias against blue collar jobs from the job seekers despite their educational qualification.

e)      Inability of the government to provide necessary and adequate training to the energetic youngsters who possess tremendous potentiality to perform almost all kinds of work.

f)       Employment of so many foreign workers or laborers at the construction sites and many other fields while our country possesses enough man power for the same. This accounts for the outflow of major share of our income. Had this system been ceased, simultaneously the money saved may be diverted for augmenting the pay of our workers. Then it would have provided a platform where people would readily join any work as long as they get paid, and hence eliminate the discrimination of works.

g)      Lack of work spirit in people where almost everyone in this modernized and advanced world would prefer a job involving minimal effort or a sedentary one and on the contrary expect more salary. Lapse or such mindset of people would greatly contribute to the crisis of unemployment.

h)      The incompetency of an individual candidate to work in the sector opted.

i)        Lack of financial assistance and confidence on part of youth to start their own venture and or private business or organization.

j)        Lack of innovative ideas in the amateur youth.

k)      Resistance from youth to join private organizations considering it undependable.

Nevertheless, the advent of a new era, the dawn of a new political organization and the promise of our new Prime Minister to provide 100 percent employment are reassuring. We the youth expect that the dawn of this era will duly emanate radiance on the prevailing pitfall.

Well, it’s the duty of the government to arrange for every possibility of employment generation. However, the true purpose can only be met if we the youth inculcate in us the values, skills, knowledge and innovative ideas or all the essential qualities which the employment generation sector demand.

The Plea

I stroll my path towards East,

And I tread my journey towards West,

But I have only an urge to be met;

To be hoarded in the burrows of your heart.

I encountered millions on the journey of my life,

And I slid a glance into thousands,

But so vivid a conclusion have I drawn;

None have the clandestine charm that you do in your eyes.

Now I lay here with a plea to be made,

A wish to be granted,

A dream to be fulfilled;

To be encapsulated in the warmth of your love,

To be sealed inside the boundary of your affection,

And to be trapped inside the cage of your heart for eternity.