Last week, when the skies turned a frightening dark gray, lightening flashed and thunder raged, most of us in our air-conditioned offices did not realize that the much awaited monsoons had arrived. Seasons pass by, flowers bloom, and trees turn bare; we watch them go by, always thinking, ‘one day…’
A friend complained that he no longer felt happy at all the small things that once were pleasurable. The patterns of cloud on an azure blue sky, the wind in the face as he rode his bike, the green glaze of rain-drenched plants, all got shadowed in the more important job of ‘living his life.’ His sorrow was real; but I did not know how to console him.
There was a time when we all loved getting drenched; we invariably fell ill, but that was part of the deal. There was a time when we played in the mud and got dirty; the inevitable reprimand followed, but that too was part of the deal. Nature was a part of life; we did not shut it out. Today nature remains at its place, but we have moved inside; inside our concrete homes, conditioned with an artificial ambience.
Confronted with the real dangers of Global Warming, we are trying to bring our children closer to nature. We encourage them to join treks that scale Himalayan heights, follow trails through forests and raft across white foaming rivers. Why not extend this process by desiring a home that is built in the lap of nature?
Remember those Hollywood movies, when the characters throw open the lovely French windows and walk out into lush lawns? Remember that lovely villa in Come September? The living room extending out to include a green lawn! How lovely it looked, as the breeze played with the curtains and swept it off the floor, bellowing into the room. Watching the movie last weekend, I was struck with a Déjà vu. I had experienced this connect with nature. I had, then, marveled at the high-ceilinged spaciousness, the well-planned design that allowed maximum light and air for ventilation and the way one could seek out the stretch of green.
Suddenly I realized that we were losing our nature connect. We were not making the attempt to incorporate natural abundance in our lives. Since our lives run in a fast forward mode, we have to consciously bring nature back into our lives. Our homes are important to us, because at the end of the day, it is here that we return; our body and soul seeking peace and solace. Will you not like to throw that door open and seek nature?
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