Landscape--- the changes we see

“A change changes the changes before

The scene is seen from unseeing eyes”

‘Every moment witnesses a change in the landscape around. Every second something new is added and something old is eliminated- a new born taking birth or a dried up leaf falling down.  Something novel occurs every minute around us- be it the wind changing its course, birds migrating to new lands or a single drop of water dropping into the parched sands. These changes are subtle but yet they are there, showing in every feature of this beautiful and unique planet- Earth. Biological and geological changes have been constantly occurring on our planet since the time of its formation. Organisms continuously evolve, taking on new forms or going extinct in response to an ever-changing planet.’

The first two lines caught my eye, sneaked into my mind and took lodgings there.  I read them while reading an article written long back by my grandmother. When she was alive, she would tell me stories about my home- my earth. Many a times she would cry for the mere fact that the earth has changed a lot since her grandmother was a small kid, and I would laugh at that thought of my great- great grandmother being a kid. I remember once, when she was explaining me about the beginning of our planet, she said --

 “Chahat, always remember, changes are the consequences of the past and the outlines of the future. ‘Change’, therefore, is a word thorough which every creation evolves.’ Always remember this.”

These were her last few words, few months back and few days before she died. Funny how some ‘few’ things change so much around you. These few things changed so much around me, and long back they had changed so much around my grandmother. And these were the few things that I had remembered long after I heard them.

The point here is, I remembered.

Though the article was written for a school competition (which she barely thought about) and in writing barely readable, yet I suppose, to my grandmother it was more than just a mere article. She wrote the words in her terrible handwriting but her words seem to arouse a feeling of grief evoked by the labour ease of loss, mixed with the thrill of encountering something novel. So, I took it upon myself to discover and comprehend her feelings by reading the smallest of her dairies, entitled—‘Landscape—the changes we see’

In the start of the dairy, was a small poem which, to my content, was the continuation of her two beautiful lines-

‘A change changes the changes before

The scene is seen from unseeing eyes

Past differs from the elapsed future

Changes perceived by obstructed eyes

                                                                    God’s school of life, alone                                                                                      

Has been reformed over times

Million years before me

And million more after

These lines are safe with sands of time.’

She has then placed a neatly cut out piece of printed paper smelling strongly of wood pulp which reads-

According to the standard believe, our universe sprang into existence as a ‘singularity’ (zones thought to exist at the core of black holes) some 15 billion years ago. After the initial appearance, it inflated, expanded and cooled, going from very, very small and very, very hot, to the size and temperature of our current universe. It continues to expand and cool to this day and we are inside of it: incredibly small creatures living on a unique planet, circling a beautiful star clustered together with several hundred billion other stars. This is the Big Bang theory. The most popular model consisting of evidences directing towards life and existence.

 I remember listening to something similar by my grandma but she made it a lot simpler than this old sheet of paper that she must have downloaded thorough the internet. The lines that have been highlighted must mean something important to her, but then she used to do this all the time. She always had a highlighter ready in her hand to apply on the sheet as soon as she got the chance; as soon as she found something that she liked to remember.

The next three pages are empty which suggest that they have left intentionally for something to be written. Seeing the yellowed and blank pages with nothing but ink spots at the start of every page, my mind is racing with suspicion about a hidden message somewhere. Then I flip the pages and notice the blackened spots suggesting some words being written on the next page. This one is in her writing which seems to have improved over time and the few blank sheets. She writes-

LOG 1

 Whoever is reading this, must know by now that this is not a personal dairy but a dairy of thoughts  and notes taken down on a specific subject—My Home, My Earth.

For a long time now, my hand and my heart have been etching to write something about Earth. So, to satisfy my need and greed of sharing my noble and not so noble thoughts with a silent friend, I have chosen this dairy. I will start off by saying that ‘change’ has been a constant from the beginning of this universe. Like it has been given in the printed passage- our universe began with a big inflation. Our earth, on the other hand, was formed long after that ‘inflation’ or most commonly said ‘the big bang’. The aftermath of this so called ‘explosion’ introduced our galaxy with our own personal sun and our delicate and private planet. This happened 4.5 billion years ago.  

 

It was signed in her name. I had to read her first log twice before anything could go to my head and after the first two unsuccessful tries, I gave up on the third one. But reading it felt refreshing; it felt like being with her, like she was again telling me one of her stories. I could feel her presence radiating through her words, now cradled in my arms just the way  she used to cradle me in hers.

I moved on to next log…

Log 2

Earth was again a part of an explosion or rather a ‘bump’ into a rock, which caused our earth to tilt and gave us our own satellite – the moon. Later on, life began to sprang up in form of microorganisms who survived the most extreme weather conditions of those times. After 500 million years, the liquid rocks hardened and water vapor evaporated with the CO₂ and formed a huge cloud covering the whole of the earth. It rained then, for the very first time and for the next thousands of years; nonstop; making the earth cooler and striking as the time passed.

That must have been a sight to see! I sometimes think myself as a microorganism; sitting on a parched land piece and seeing the world being transformed from the muddy scenario to a scene full of green trees, green shrubs, green and colorful world. I just wish I could remember my other lifetimes in this life so that I could relive them in my memories every time I wanted to.  Hahaha……..

Her name was again signed at the end of the page; she had that habit of signing her name under everything she wrote. Her wish about being a microorganism seemed so silly and juvenile; her wishes were very childish which reminded me of her silly and melodramatic way of talking, like she was trying to pretend like a child; pretend like me, but I could bet she was very good at that pretending.  There was another printed page titled- ‘Pangaea’. It was not mere than few lines, though—

PANGAEA

Earth become a giant ocean surrounding the largest continent ever formed, "Pangaea". Pangaea is the origin of five continents which are known now. Based on "The Continental Drift Theory", the formation of five continents starts from the break of Pangaea. This break was cause by the move of tectonic plates in Earth.

Under it was a note scrawled that read, ‘Pangaea spells very magical and enchanting; maybe I could use it as a title for a poem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’  J

She literally had put those infinite (my perception) exclamation signs. And there was also a smiley drawn at the end that had faded with the passed time.

Log 3

I have read about dinosaurs a few minutes back, can you imagine that they were the first category of mammals on earth. Evidences have been found (unreliable but popular belief!!) that they inhabited the earth for thousands of years and went into extinction after a meteor shower hit earth, killing all the life forms. L

Then comes the best part of evolution, ‘Rise of the home sapiens’

Human race, my race, our race.

Then progressively, with the changing times and through the evolution already in stages, my home changed a great deal. The first traces of my ancestors are found in Africa- the mother land for humankind. During the evolution of man, the human mind evolved on its own, we learned to express our thoughts, speak languages and made separate communities. Even though we all come from Africa, we have scattered over the different continents in the wake of traveling... J

Log 4 – my last log

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything; it’s been a while since I thought about anythingL

Well, continuing my story, humans changed everything on this beautiful planet- for good or bad, I know not, but things did changed.

Through technology we have changed the earth’s surroundings time and time again. Going perfectly with the line ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ we made wheel, ran wooden carts, upgraded to animals pulling the carts and then to burning of fossils, going from land to water to air. We discovered everything that was possible to be known and still work on the few remaining mysteries that the world as offered to us. After uncovering almost every hidden physical object in the planet, we have jumped to the secrecies of the human mind. Nonetheless, we are trying to understand the skills behind the extraordinary works and thrillers of the humans, we trying to uncover the reasons behind our past and the possibilities of the future. Other than just being engrossed in ourselves we have reached out to the universe, trying to find traces of life above our own planet. We have reached our spaceships up to the planets and satellites in the effort to understand and know more and more about ourselves and the others that surround us.

These new inventions and findings have brought about changes to our mindset, humanity and the planet we survive on. Earth has given us everything it had, and we are striving to use the resources to their potential and if possible, beyond the same. We have achieved a lot throughout, right through the beginning, but we have made some mistakes too. These mistakes have caused us a lot of things specially our peace of mind and virtue of being ‘human’. We have fought with our brothers and divided the divinity and sanity of God, yet we believe that we can change for good because now we have started realizing our mistakes and started prying to be forgiven.

This was her last log as she had mentioned at starting, but still I wanted to read more. I flipped through the pages, all blank, I was getting nauseated. Her last words left a void in my mind. I wanted more. Then to my great surprise, I found her few more lines written in her illegible handwriting, her few more lines on this perfect topic. When I read it, it evoked a sense of guilt and regret mixed with her ever-green novel way of perceiving the world. 

Through the days I survived,

Nights I spend on knees

Days I squander my home

In dark all I uttered was ‘please’

Hours and hours of daylight

Turning slowly to shadows

Gawking at the changes around

I twist my feet and turn myself

Afraid now, my prayers unheard

Has left me silent and helpless.