1 - Sunrise

I am a native of this village. I visit this place throughout the year a number of times. I like to visit some places in the village. This hillock is one such place. I come here mostly in the early morning. Sometimes I come here with my friends. We sit here on the ground and talk on various topics. The hill top gives a top of the world feeling.

Right now I am standing on the hillock. This is a gently sloping hillock. The villagers refer to it as a flat hillock. I feel it has a shape like a rain drop. My friends do not agree with me. They say, “It has a shape like a pea.” We argue over this topic often. I like the rain drop shape so much that I often visualise myself standing on a huge raindrop. ‘I jump a little in the air on my toes. As I land, the drop surface takes the impact and vibrates. The drop bounces me off in the air. I jump up and down like a ping-pong ball.’ I dream of this possibility quite often.

I walk along the path starting from the school ground to reach the top. The hilltop offers clear view of everything till your eyes meet the horizon. In fact you don’t need a path. The slope is very gentle. You can walk from any point you wish. The forest cover is not so dense. You just have to avoid those thorny bushes. It is fun to walk among the bamboo bushes. If you are lucky, then you may spot a rabbit family playing under the bushes. As you climb you come across many white lumps. You always find monkeys sitting on these lumps. These are the white feldspar mineral rocks. They look like hardened salt lumps. Due to the constant exposure to Sun, rain and the weather they break down very easily. You always find pebbles around the rock stumps. Many a times I gather large white pebbles. I throw them one after the other along the slopes. These pebbles role down the slope at a great speed. It takes more than an hour to reach the top. I start my walk in the dawn when the entire village is fast asleep. Another structure you are sure to come across, are the tall anthills. Watch them from a distance and you are sure to spot army of ants marching in rows. They are busy carrying grains. Occasionally a slithering snake may come out from one hole and enter the other hole. This is their natural habitat.

The time is early morning. The Sun is rising in the east. The horizon is slowly lighting up. The nature is emerging out of the dark blanket. The rising Sun looks like a soft Crimson Red ball. Shafts of rays are spreading out towards the sky. The shafts are colouring the eastern sky. The puffy clouds at the horizon are the first to slowly absorb bright colours. There are countless shades in the shafts of the Sunrays. The colours are changing every moment as the Sun rises. As my searching eyes meet the clouds at the horizon, they smile back and say, “You have to climb higher than us to see beyond.” A little higher the clouds are still wearing the darkness reluctantly. A few stars are lingering in the sky. I feel they are lingering to welcome the Sun. As the daylight spreads the lingering stars loose their shine and fade away. The ground is becoming visible. A few red and yellow treetops are visible. These are the trees in bloom. The birds in the trees are awake. They are busy preparing for the day. Some are preening the feathers. Others are chirping merrily. They are eagerly waiting for the day to break.

A few of them are already flying in the sky. A few birds are sitting on the electric lines hanging over the valley. These early flying birds are calling other birds. A few birds fly past my position and remind me, “Keep moving. The world never waits for anyone.”

Flock of parrots is flying out of the hollow trunks. Occasionally you see the young ones peering out of the nest. Thin white strands of moisture are lingering over the river. From the hill top everything appears small. There are many large black rocks in the riverbed. There are few trees among the rocks in the riverbed. Large white storks and bats prefer these trees. The storks are getting ready for the day. Some storks are flapping their wing as a warm up. There is very little water in the river. The storks hunt for the insects staying in the rock-cracks. Occasionally they swoop down the river water to catch a fish. The bats are returning to the trees. Their working night is over and they are returning to the trees for a day of rest.

There are a few small huts among these rocks in the river bed. A man is driving the cattle herd up the river bank. A few people are walking about the rocks. These are the people who break the rocks and collect sand from the river in the summer. Few places along the river the smoke is rising lazily in the sky. These are brick kilns. These brick kilns provide employment to the villagers for six months. A little farther down the brick kilns a few donkeys are waiting for their masters to command them. A few sadhus in a group are walking along the river. A villager is guiding them. They are looking for good spot to bathe in the river. There are a few flags fluttering atop some bushes. These are the spots where the villagers sacrifice goats or hens after the harvest to express their gratitude to the God. Occasionally youngsters come to the hillock to enjoy serene atmosphere. Shepherds feel it safe to graze their herds on the gentle slope. School children come here when they bunk the school.

There is a cluster of tall trees with big leaves to my left. In summer many leaves dry up and fall to the ground. The dry leaves drift for some distance around the trees. The leaves finally fall to the ground. Such dry leaves accumulate under the tree and form a layer. This is a loose layer with ample space in between the layers. The dry leaves are crisp. Many insects and ants build colonies in this layer. The insects use the hollow space. The layer protects them from the scorching sun and other enemies. Many insects feed on the decaying leaves. This is an underground world in itself. A few black birds are searching through the layers of dry leaves. They walk in circles to cover the entire layer. These birds are looking for insects below the leaves. A few birds put their long beaks under the dry layer and quietly shake it. The insects are disturbed and they run out. They quickly grab as much insects as possible. They call out to other birds when they see a colony of insects. The other birds flock there and join the search.

As the day rises more and more birds join the hunt. The competition increases and birds scramble for the insects. Sometimes fights break out among the groups. The stronger group drives away the weaker group. This is the law of the nature. I like walking under such trees. As I march on, with my every step I crush a few dry leaves. The dry leaves produce a crackling sound as they crumble. This mild sound alerts many birds. A few of them fly out and hover over you. Squirrels peer at you as you crush the dry leaves. Sometimes you come across a colony of land flowers. The flowers stand erect in the grass. There are certain creepers that run across the ground.

These creepers bear flowers round the year. Watch carefully, you are sure to spot chameleons and the garden lizards basking in the Sun. To my right little down the hillock a small group of monkeys is sitting on the rocks. One of the monkeys is facing the rising sun. The other monkeys are searching something in the grass. They walk a few steps into the grass and comb the grass and look carefully. There is very little light there and hardly anything is visible. It is a mystery as to what the monkeys are searching.

It is the harvest season. The standing crops look golden yellow. The rest of the field is chocolate brown. The farmers burn the stumps of the crop. The remaining ash produces gray patches in the fields. To my right there is a field with a different patch. It is a patch of off-white colour with black spots. Occasionally there is some mild movement in the patch. The colour patches seem to stir for a moment. This is a sheep herd sitting in the field. The farmers herd them to the fields at night. The sheep dung serves as good manure. In addition to this the sheep eat away the remnant stubs of crops, wild growth etc and clear the field of all unwanted growth.

The daylight is advancing further and the darkness fading away. The early rays are reaching the hilltops. It is still dark in the valleys. In the village a few people are awake. Some of them have already set out for work. Few bullocks and cows are going out to the fields. I see few bullock carts in the tracks through the hills. They are carrying the harvest to the markets. The river divides the village in two parts. The village is a cluster of small houses and big houses. The courtyards are littered with round hay stacks. Some roofs are dull and some are shining. There is a cluster of mango trees by the side of the road. A small crowd has gathered there under these trees. This is our village bus stand. This is the only transport link to the world outside. The people are waiting for the morning buses to arrive. A few students are walking towards the school. Three people are waiting with their bicycles. They are the local newspaper vendors. They are waiting for the newspaper van. They ride the bicycle to the nearby villages and sell the newspapers. It is broad daylight now. It is time for me to climb down before it gets warm. This is like watching a natural cinema. Watching Sunrise from the hilltop gives me immense pleasure.