Team-work

Ants are the creatures that are pretty annoying when they march on and rummage into our personal space. Never had a creature irritated me as the ants did.  No matter how hard we try, they always find a way and a place to be in everything we have.

They follow scent or pheromone trails created by other ants from the colony to gather food efficiently. Hence they form a never ending queue in moving forth and back. Some would have their heads collided with the other, bringing them to a momentary halt.

They would have conquered the noodle packets that we have stored in the refrigerator before I could relish a bit of it. They won’t fail to occupy a cozy place in the folds of my blanket. Neither would they leave a bit of my flesh unattended as they stroll over it, giving me a midnight surprise.

At times, these creatures really do check our patience and resistance. They would attempt their tricky play with us at odd times and places where we can’t set our action as directed by our reflexes. They would let us fling a swift shift to the bathrooms but for an effortless search.

Despite the notorious action, a careful examination and observation has let me to a realization. They dwell in a complex yet a cooperative society. Gregarious creatures having the cutest world of their own are they. Never could one spot them strolling singly except for a few unfortunate ones who have lost their path somehow.

They are such a determined set of insects working in utmost harmony. Neither do they find time to quarrel nor to sleep. They would set a target, proceed with the fastest velocity until they reach their destiny.

“Hey buddy! Come along this way. Grasp his leg firmly and the rest of you climb over his body. Be careful that none of you slip away over his wings. Together we can do it and soon we will have the greatest feast ever. So hurry guys”, comes the quick instructions from the one of them. But the others’ action would have already preceded his instruction.

No sooner would they tread their way back home with the heaviest loads ever. Believe me, ants can carry loads 50 times their body weight and it is not surprising to see some of them carrying the legs, some antenna, some head and the various body parts of the giant mantis.

One of them would happily remark, “See guys, it doesn't matter how gigantic an organism is, for their gigantism is in par with foolishness. Had it not been for the coordinated and harmonious hard toil of every individual of us, and the summation of witty ideas of all of us, we would have been clamped to pieces by these very stout legs resting on our shoulders right now. Don’t you think so?”

“I bet. It’s excessively heavy though. I’m pretty sure that you guys have well noticed the beads of perspiration tickling down my forehead”, comes the response.

All would nod in due submission and contentment.

The complex and cooperative societies that the ants dwell in enables them to survive and thrive in conditions that would challenge the individual. It’s so to say that they can outwit, outlast, and outplay humans.

Women and Safety

In this present era, we live in a world where natural catastrophes aren't alone the cause to bring an end to someone’s existence. Neither does one have to have a dreadful enemy to have one torn into pieces. Indeed, the society is transforming into a mystery implacable one.

It is being woven into a subtle and complex web by the tool called violence with women as an object to be used and abused. When the cries and agonies of women were turned a deaf ear to, how are they ever going to feel secure? It was said by Gandhi, “India will get real freedom when a women can walk alone on a street.”

The Delhi gang rape of a 23 years old girl after having brutally beaten with iron rods along with her male companion in a passenger bus leaves many a women awestruck. The merciless act of plunging the iron rod inside her was nothing but an absolute act of thoughtless animals.

Yet there’s another heart throbbing incident of a 21 year old girl, who lost her mother at the age of 2, said to have and grown up with her relatives until she was forced into marriage at the age of 16. In an attempt to run away from her melancholic life, she was brutally stripped off her nose and ears by her husband and the in-laws.

No more blood please...

Not so long ago, a man had himself introduced to my villagers as Dzongkhag administrative officer. He married a girl and settled there. A few months did he stay only to be vanished out of sight. Away was he with the money the girl’s family entrusted him for their agricultural loan to be cleared. The villagers respected him for the post he had none.

 The tragic tale of a friend of mine, who was once my classmate, a roommate, still triggers my tear glands. I vividly recollect those lips that quivered in letting her agony drip out slowly.  I had a hard time in absorbing the brutal pervert facts.

She was sexually abused, to be appropriate, raped by her so called father at the age of 11. His attempts were incessant thereafter. God knows whether he is the real father or a beast that consumed her alive. His act could not be blamed for his ignorance or any mental disorder for he was a well educated, working man.

Neither her mother’s senses could detect the flesh being burnt nor was she in a position to extinguish it herself until the blazing flame engulfed her.

Once in a night journey in bus from Hyderabad to my college, a shrill chill ran through my spine when a man in front of me lowered his seat and brought his dirty, rugged fingers over my knees. I folded myself into so small a size and lowered my legs to avoid him. Within a lapse of few minutes, the terrific fingers crawled from in between the seats and made several attempts until dawn.

The society always talks about women being taught the right manners, the proper intellectual and moral values. In the same way, men should be taught as to how to treat women.

 They should be made to inculcate a slight sense of empathy. They aren't empowered with the right to toy with the innocence and fragility of women’s heart.

The rapists or the wrong doers or the criminals confess to the heinous crime and demand they be hanged or some are condemned to life imprisonment. With that, is everything going to be over?

If that’s the case, I don’t have even a tinge of skeptic feeling that our society will continue to dwell on its ineffective path.  It’s time for us to come out of our pupating cocoons, the time to stop the blame game.  It’s a wake up call for profound social and legislative reforms, the need for appropriate parental and school education.

Tale to tell...

Everything in existence,

Form a speck of dust in the stellar

To the gigantic mother earth,

Has a tale to tell,

If we care to observe.

So does the science of horticulture

The mother of all culture,

Encompassing a dust of soil

To the diverse species of plants,

Has a narration beyond imagination.

The science of entomology,

Dealing with insect physiology and morphology

From the team-work of queue of ants

To the hovering of exquisite butterflies,

Has a purpose to be met.

From the vigorously growing plants

To the sickly appearing ones,

Has a pledge to be made

And a favor to be granted,

If the phytopathologist care to listen.

From the ushering of the radiant rays

To its immediate seizure in the western horizon,

The priceless gifts of the medicinal and aromatic plants

Do bind our everyday existence with fragrances,

If we care to open our olfactory senses.

Everything that swirls or descends from the firmament,

From the thunderous growl with the cyclonic catastrophe

To the frosty calm morning that greets us,

Has a warning to be foretold,

If the meteorologist care to be vigilant.

Love Unrequited

The world that you ushered me in,

Is impeccably amazing,

Yet I could not show you.

The love that you shower upon me

Is literally dimensionless

Yet I could feel it.

The light that you illuminate on my mundane life,

Is visibly unflinching,

Yet I could not reflect it.

The lens with which you showed me the world,

Is feasibly clear,

Yet I could not magnify for you.

The legs that would swagger for miles,

Is physically feeble,

Yet I could not provide a settee for it.

The hands that worked for decades,

Is structurally emaciated,

Yet I could not provide a lap for it to rest upon.

The life that you endure with the pain inflicted,

Is morally unthinkable,

Yet I could not relieve you of it.

The merits of endurance that you have accumulated,

Is numerically countless,

Yet the rewards were of absolute contradiction.

The seldom uttered words of yours,

Is nothing but soothing,

Yet responses were snarls of rage.

Nevertheless, my beloved mother, you are audacious enough

To stroll on the path of thorns,

And patient enough to wait for my arrival,

Who would eradicate the agony of your unrequited love.

Invincible Love

When the first thing that knocks me into consciousness

And along with the morning’s rays greet me,

Is your sweet name

How can you be out of my mind?

When among millions twinkling in the firmament above

Have I spotted only one

Whose iridescent beams had my reflexes set,

How can I let your glimmer dwindle?

When the E-mail address that I daily use

And the signature that I scribble on innumerable pages

Has your name incorporated in it,

How can I ever forget you?

When your name has rented

A permanent shelter in my heart

With its imprint so vivid,

How can I let it fade?

When the very thought of you

Or the mere utter of your name

Showers me with unprecedented happiness,

How can I not endure it?

When the incessant chant of your name

Deep within my heart

Is the only lullaby to help me shut my eyes,

How can I avoid you?

When I have you held hostage

In the prison of my heart

And have sealed all means of escape,

How can I let you go?

When engrossed am I with your thoughts

From dawn till twilight and long into the night

And from cradle of the infant to the silence of the grave,

How can I not remember you?

When all that I long for

Is to have you tethered forever

Under the tree of my love,

How can I let you leave?

When lest you slither into the deep abyss

Should I provide the necessary ledge

To help you up the rocky fall,

How can I let you be in dungeon?

When I have you busted

For the malicious act of stealing my heart

And have you fixed in the dock,

How can I let you escape?

When all that I wish

Is let time doth not diminish your love

Nor stale your trust in me,

How can I ever live without you?

Destiny Unfathomable

“The most beautiful and considerate woman she is”, would remark everyone. Tall and blond with her exquisite eyes placed perfectly in place on her flawless face, wearing the intricately woven and immaculately sewn dress, would she look extraordinarily heart thrilling to every eye that caught a glimpse of her at the tshechu. Her movement as swift as a gentle breeze would bring every spectator to a halt. People couldn't resist but avert their heads towards her direction rather than the blessing mask dances, and so unflinching would their gaze be at her mesmerizing eyes.

The faintest of her voice would melt others heart.  The very first sight of her would set into motion a queer sensation in every man. Something in her instilled in them that she was the one that they wanted to be with for their lifetime. How notorious a man may be, he would behave himself in quest of her love. They would chase her like a hound in search of meat.  Yet none of their chase was worth it. She was audacious enough to utter, “I’m sorry, I am not destined to be one”.

The proposals were incessant, the pleadings were non-stop and the chases for fragrance were innumerable as the bud stretched its petals under the radiance of the sun. Yet she was as firm her roots held her. Neither did she swing in the direction of the wind nor did she fall for the glistening moonlight.

But what could have stopped her when the right hand picked her up from the garden to be preserved for the rest of her life. She couldn't help but let him hold her close to his heart, embrace and plant a gentle kiss on her showy petals. Her fragrance healed the slightest of his injuries and her beauty mesmerized him. At the same time, she couldn't resist but enjoyed the reverie of caressing and loving nature.

No sooner did they open the first page of their romance than a grim raided her. She was at her village to witness the consecration ceremony of her family house. It was one of those rare moments to be cherished with all the family members gathered under the same roof. To her utter astonishment, she felt her nerves weaken and her legs giving up. She would coil herself beneath her blanket in sheer pain that radiated all over her body.

The unusual and incessant blood loss couldn't be mistaken for the monthly menstrual cycle. Yet her family suspected of her having aborted her child and was less considerate. She wept and agonized in the seclusion of her own heart in her little isolated room. Some men still visited her though only at the cost of their embarrassment.

An old woman asked candidly, “People say that your sister was infected with HIV/AIDS after having slept with a minister. They say that the minister was however able to afford treatment but she became the victim. Is that so?” Such words could the savage people utter.

All the skeptics were overruled only when she was diagnosed with ‘Leukemia’, the dreadful blood cancer. She was rushed for treatment in Bangalore. The effect of chemotherapy has rendered her so feeble and emaciated and bald was she from the excessive hair loss.

The hand that picked the scented flower from its exquisite garden failed to foresee the unfathomable destiny awaiting them. A sudden gust of gale blew from nowhere and he lost hold of the precious possession in his hand. It disappeared amid the ghastly turbulence, never to be found again. All that remained was her epitaph.

Food Safety & Security

 As the indiscriminate use of synthetic chemicals is at the rage of augmentation, the concern of food security and ecological balance has become a major issue. Besides sustainable production, it is equally important to maintain food hygiene and safety both at the time of consumption as well as production.

Pesticides are not only the solution to pest problems but often they are the causes of the problems themselves. The incessant use of chemicals would not only lead to chemical residue problems in soils and deteriorate soil health, but also lead to the development of resistant strains of pests.

Not only that, insect resurgence, the sudden or abnormal increase in pest population is a common phenomenon often following a pesticide application.  Secondary pest outbreak is also a notable ill-effect. More than anything, it kills the natural enemies and thereby disrupts the ecological balance.

In addition to that, certain chemicals being highly liposoluble can accumulate in the adipose tissues of animals. Human beings are not an exception as there are several incidences of casualties. The Minimata disease of Mercuric poisoning in Japan, the hydrogen cyanide poisoning in Bihar case, the Arsenical poisonings are so evidential. The biomaccumulation and biomagnification of toxic chemical residues would prove highly lethal to living organisms.

The book entitled, “Silent Spring”, by Rachel Carson depicts the extent of harm the use of pesticides have inflicted. The lethal effect of the large scale application of DDT pesticide in pest control has deprived the valley of its usual cacophony and the blissful tunes of the spring birds and has made it as silent as a dead valley.

Nevertheless, nature has in store its own set of natural enemies of every pest or pathogen. It is equipped with its self- regulatory or its own balance mechanism to maintain the natural ecosystem. The so called predators and parasitoids has been identified, mass multiplied, and released on inoculative or inundative basis. This is a recent development in the field of horticulture.

For example, the beautiful ladybird beetles that we often spot strolling up and down the leaves are nothing but in keen search of their prey. They are predaceous on almost all Lepidpteran insects, the most destructive order infesting a number of horticultural crops. Befriend them, carry them to the laboratory, mass multiply and release them into the infested field or gift them to farmers in need for they are none but farmer’s friends.

They would be more than happy to carry out the task entrusted to them. I can assure you that they will perform their task so efficiently and host specifically without demanding for wages in return. In fact, the expenses incurred on the purchase of pesticides and labor charges can also be curtailed.

Another set of organisms called parasitoids can also be employed for the same task. They depend on their hosts for completing only a certain stages of their life cycle. For instance, Trichogramma brasiliensis, an egg parasitoid, deposits its eggs on the host and its progeny emerge from the host egg. A larval parasitoid, Bracon hebator, deposits eggs on host larva and its later instars emerge from host larva.  Pupal parasitoid, Brachymeria nosotoi, is yet another such example.

In addition to that, entomopathogenic fungi, Trichoderma viride, can be formulated with talc powder and carboxy methyl. The formulation can be dried in the sun, grinded and the resultant powder is packed and supplied to farmers. This affords effective biological control against a number of fungal pathogens.

All these are a few classical examples of biological control amongst the existing innumerable list. The potentiality of these could be exploited by the horticulturists and agriculturists and subsequently employed in biocontrol. Indeed, they have a role to bridge the gap between research findings and the practical utility in the field for farmers. If this is done, our sole objective of ensuring a safer and healthier food, and the globe in which we dwell a happier and a better place to live in is achieved.