A Lonelier World

  

When I was a kid this village was filled with fireflies. Now there were hardly any. Actually, there seem to be far fewer insects now than there were a few decades ago. In just half a lifetime a lot seems to have changed. Maybe it was my imagination, so in one of my foolish ventures, I decided to find out more about insects.

Insects seem to be as different from human beings as it is possible to be. To begin with, they don’t have a heart, lungs, blood as we know it, a skeleton, or much of anything else. They are clearly built very differently. They have a tough exoskeleton and six legs and these seem to be their most prominent external feature. They were the first creatures to fly. You don’t have to be an expert to realize that they took a very different evolutionary path very early on. What they are however is essential to all life on earth. They are the food for birds and fish, every terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem relies on them. Oddly out of the millions of different varieties of insects, only about a few hundred have taken to the sea. (The sea is dominated by other kinds of arthropods like crustaceans.) Even plants rely on insects for pollination. It seems that they are declining at an unprecedented rate that some scientists call the global Insect Apocalypse. But there are so many varieties of them that scientists don’t know exactly by how much. Some scientists estimate that they are disappearing at the rate of 2% per year. That is a lot in 20 years.

To begin with, bees are in peril, and so are another order of insects, butterflies and moths (order Lepidoptera), and beetles (Coleoptera), and freshwater insects like dragonflies and damselflies. Loss of habitat, insecticides, climate change, and pollution are thought to be the reasons. It is believed that if insects go so will their predators like many kinds of birds and fish and other animals further up the food chain. Many years ago a writer named George Orwell wrote, "By retaining one's childhood love of such things as trees, fishes, butterflies, and toads, one makes a peaceful and decent future a little more probable." A world without fireflies, dragonflies, butterflies, beetles and many birds, fish and toads would be a sad world indeed.

China - Short Story

 

Many people believe that the Korean conflict or the Vietnam War was the biggest war in Asia in the 20^th century, but it was the 2^nd Sino Japanese war (1937-1945) which merged with the Second World War, that was the most destructive. In a way it was the inevitable result of the 1^st Sino Japanese war (1894-1895) which resulted in China becoming a fragmented land ruled by different warlords, and although it was finally united under one leader, it meant that imperialist Japan would invade China and in collaboration with the warlords tighten its grip over the Chinese people. In the end after millions of bombs which killed tens of millions of people, just two bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the imperial ambitions of the Empire of the Sun. It is difficult to say what was achieved by this tragedy of human arrogance, pride, foolishness, greed or whatever good things you would want to call it, but the horror of those days still mingle with the unpleasant dreams of the many still in Shandong.

In August 1940 Shandong was surrounded and there followed an aerial bombardment like the world had never seen before. During a midnight bombing raid a bomb fell right in front of our house and flattened it, but incredibly we were unhurt. My father went temporarily mad but finding we were unhurt said in an excited voice, “Chang, there are too many bad people here, if we are unlucky before the sun sets on the land of the rising sun, we will all be dead, but if we are lucky we too will turn into bad men, there is an island in the west which they call “the land of the rising moon”, when I was your age I lived in that island, in it there was a mountain which they called “the Holy mountain”, with great difficulty I climbed this mountain once and it is said if a man climbs it his family will be protected three times, and I believe this mountain protected us today, there is no time to lose, we collect whatever we can and leave here within ten minutes. There was no doubt in my mind where my father wanted to go, for he used to mumble about it even in his sleep,  he wanted to go to an island in the middle of the Indian ocean which was then called Ceylon. So my parents my younger brother and little sister and I started walking in the pitch dark of the night, a night that had more stars than I had ever seen, with fires burning everywhere and people shouting and stumbling for the bombing had temporally stopped, and we went in the direction my father always wanted to go - west. Strangely it was very exciting. Confucius said “he who treads softly goes far” but my father didn't seem to know, for he hurried on in such a clumsy, crude way that the four of us who followed him felt embarrassed.

Atoms - Poem

 

I may be wrong but from what I understand no matter how hard we try to differentiate among ourselves (and look down on people who are different from us), we are all made up of the same basic kinds of atoms......and they really get recycled in every sense of the word......they are virtually indestructible and it is thought that the atoms we are made up of passed through several stars, not to mention countless people, animals and plants before miraculously combining to make each of us. We all have atoms that once belonged to kings, beggars, historical figures, holy men, ancestors of our enemies, dinosaurs and god knows what else. I wrote this poem with this in mind.

Years came and years went

We were born again

But though many eons passed away

We couldn't comprehend

Until one day the Sun burnt out

And we became stardust

When the dust collided

Another world was born

This world formed an ocean

And the ocean formed a soup

From this primordial soup of life

Came a terrible coup

We kept on quarreling every day

Till there was little left

It never dawned on us

We were all just atoms at best

Shadow shadow darkest shadow - Poem

 

When bad times come remember even your shadow might disappear, but then the Sun will shine and........(Poem by me)

Shadow Shadow darkest shadow 
Will you too leave me
When the meaningless reeds on the other river bank move with the wind
Will you still believe me

Shadow Shadow my own shadow
Will they even sway you
If in anger they bend the truth
Will you then lie too

Shadow Shadow my best friend
If the wind blows slow
And wicked men use oars to reach me
Will you join them too

Shadow Shadow darkest shadow
If darkness helps your goals
And the Sun disappears for me
Will you help them end my Soul

Shadow Shadow my very own Shadow
If you ever lose your Soul
In the darkest hour that comes before dawn
Remember the Sun will still unite us.

Every Day - Poem

 

On the dark days of September

And other days in November

I still thought of better days soon

That will come to me in June

But when old December came

I thought I’ll go insane

For dark dreary days

Had come for me to stay

But then January first was here

I lost all fear

For I just decided to be happy

Every day of every month

The Lightning Machine - Short Story

 

I wrote the following short story some years ago.

My paternal uncle, was once a world-famous scientist and inventor, but now nobody took him seriously. For all his brilliance if two words could be used to describe him they would be Extremely Eccentric. He had the strange habit of suddenly asking a physics question in the middle of a normal conversation and you were liable to be scolded if you did not give a satisfactory answer. For this reason some people including many of his former colleagues avoided him. Some said it was old age encroaching, some said it was an illness of the mind.

But apart from this eccentricity he was a kind and friendly man and as much as I avoided him I could not help feeling guilty so one day I went and met him. "Oh there you are at last, you numbskull, you have been avoiding me for one month" said he. "I had my exams, but it was all in vain for they asked questions from just the part of the syllabus that I avoided" said I. "Serves you right, now tell me how the Universe was created" said he. "Well according to the Big Bang theory it all started as an infinitely small primeval atom, and it expanded to form the stars, planets, galaxies and everything else in the universe. But what the theory does not explain is how the primeval atom came to be in the first place and what was there before that" said I

"That’s right, it doesn't explain it, but I found the answer for that too, though it is a secret and I don't want to tell it to you right now. But I have something interesting to show you look out of the window" said he. Outside was an enormous metal tower, and a field of what looked like huge batteries. "The world is facing an energy crisis, economies have fallen because of it and it is only going to get worse, but I solved that problem through this invention. Look what happens when I press this switch" said he. As he pressed the switch there was a crackling sound and within minutes dark clouds appeared over the tower. Soon it turned into a terrible thunderstorm. "You see Thomas this tower has a charge that attracts lightning, which leads to a chain reaction that causes thunderstorms" said he. Soon lightning discharged in the tower almost continuously making an ear splitting noise. "Cant you see what's happening Thomas, I am converting the static charge in the lightning into chemical energy in the field batteries which is then used to make an electric current that could be used by people” said he.

Two weeks later I returned and to my utter dismay he asked the same question, but this time I was prepared ......Well uncle, according to scientists when matter and anti-matter collide it leads to nothingness. So somewhere in the indeterminate past this process was somehow reversed and from nothingness we had matter and anti-matter, or in other words the universe formed from nothing. At this he laughed and said......just as I always suspected you are not overly bright.....but then we all have to be the way we are made. 

But at least tell me what you know of the Theory of Relativity. 

.......Well uncle according to it time is relative and not absolute. The faster you move the slower time passes for you. As you approach the speed of light Time stops” said I. “But what has the speed of light to do with time, you pinhead” said he. “I do not know though I have often wondered” said I. “No you idiot, Light and other electromagnetic waves move at the speed of light and even in a stationery object the small particles that make it move at the speed of light. But when the whole object moves the need to move is compensated so the small particles that make up the object move correspondingly slower making it look like time moves slower for it. But when I tell this theory to other scientists they call me a nut” said he.

“But uncle don’t worry about it, for your lightning machine will make you famous, nobody ever figured out the way to make electricity from lightning,” said I. My uncle’s face darkened as I said this and he said “That’s where the problem is Thomas, I can’t present my invention to the world for it would be misused. Imagine what a superpower could do if it got its hand on my invention. It could even be used as a weapon. I don't want my invention to be used to kill people, So I decided to destroy it, in fact I already have” said he. My uncle died two months later, I think of a broken heart because he had to destroy his precious invention. I do not know if his theory of the universe was correct but I know that he was the greatest scientist nobody ever talked about.

Paddy Fields Forever - Poem

Merry shall be the fields of Lanka
Worked once by ancient hands
Cows and buffaloes still tell stories
Their ancestors ploughed for the motherland 

A richer soil has never been worked on
To plant even richer seeds
Ancient farmers still tell stories
Though dead for centuries

In its mountains in its valleys
Once grew many valiant trees
But nothing could ever try to conquer 
The calm but majestic paddy fields 

A great king once told the people
Not a drop will flow to the sea
Without first being used to water
The motherlands green paddy fields 

Ancient Kings still shout out loudly
Louder than some want to hear
The happiest people in the world were and are
Those who work in paddy fields.

The Other Side of Science - Poem

 

Science that filled the moon with men

Built planes rockets and flaming jets

Split the atom to countless shreds

Put empty dreams on bad men's heads

Could not duplicate a simple leaf

Or solace a man filled with grief

Clouds that filled the earth with rain

Filled wells rivers and mighty lakes

Was it the work of earthly heads

Or God's hand overhead

Science may harness a million powers

Make greedy men its earnest lovers

Make a few to rule many

Desperate people without any money

But can they bend the hands of Time

That neither you, I nor them can bind

No my friends they just can’t

All of us have to reach the Past

Once the Ocean Told Me - Poem

 

Once the ocean told me

One of its secrets

Of a moon that shone full

And old idiots awoken

Out of the darkness

Of a black ship that sailed

Of shrieking old men

Who came from a grave

A celestial bird beckoned me

To a land of gold

But the ocean echoed

It was a land of unattained hopes

The lure of money

The threat of force

But all I want is

My conscience and soul

But more wonderful than

The gold of crumbling old men

Or the words of decaying law books

Are the secret laws of the ocean

The un-written laws of good and evil

The un-written laws of right and wrong

Adrian Hill

 

The best Art book I have ever read, was a relatively small book as art books go by British artist, Adrian Hill. How so many good ideas could be packed into such a small book is amazing. This book doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, but the drawings, in particular, are so “clever”, that it inspires you to take up drawing.

Adrian Keith Graham Hill (1895-1977), enlisted in the Army at the start of World War One, where due to his artistic abilities he was assigned to the Scouting and Sniping section. He had to sketch the enemy in front of allied trenches, in no man's land. Later Hill recalled such a typical patrol as follows:

“I advanced in short rushes, mostly on my hands and knees, with a sketching kit dangling around my neck. As I slowly approached, the wood gradually took a more definite shape, and as I crept nearer I saw that what was hidden from my own line, now revealed itself as a cunningly contrived observation post in one of the battered trees.”

In 1938 while recovering from tuberculosis at a sanatorium, he found that drawing nearby objects from his hospital bed greatly aided in his recovery. This led to Occupational Therapy being introduced in Hospitals, and Hill was invited to teach drawing and painting to injured soldiers and later civilian patients. Hill believed that Art helped divert patients and relieved their mental distress. He also believed that Art appreciation aided recovery and this led to a picture lending scheme (of famous artists' work). Hill himself along with other artists talked to patients about artworks. Hill coined the term (Art Therapy), and published his work in his 1942 book, Art Versus Illness. Hill published many books about drawing and painting and was the first artist commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in 1917.

In his art book: "THE BEGINNER'S BOOK OF OIL PAINTING" he had drawn a black and white drawing, of a 1950's English landscape I think. These drawings inspired me to such an extent that I turned it into a watercolor painting: Both the original drawing and my painting are given below. I only wish I had used more green for the trees and foliage.

Watercolour painting by me