The Moon In The Sea

How beautiful the moon looks up there! Radiant! Beaming! Charming! The stars around it giggle and shine. Why do they giggle? Well, wouldn't you giggle too if you knew of a secret that only a chosen few knew and you saw the people believing in the lies shown and told to them. What is that secret, you ask?

It so happens that a few years back I went to the Tumpledore Beach. It was quiet and serene. So serene that I could hear two mottlehogs talk to each other. I pretended to be asleep and then I overheard them. And when I did, I was so stunned that I really looked more dead than asleep. You see, the moon isn't up there in the sky! No sir, no ma'am! Not in the sky, it is in the sea! And what you see up there in the sky is a reflection of the moon in the sea. I'm sure you are just as stunned as I was that you look more dead than asleep, just like I did. I would have kept the pretence on but my curiosity got the better of me. I quickly grabbed both the mottlehogs. They got caught unawares, literally so as well.

“This can't be true! The moon can't be in the sea!” said I.

“This is true.” said the mottlehogs.

“Well, why does it wax and wane then?” said I.

“It's not waxing and waning at all!” said the mottlehogs.

“Please explain that.” said I, almost pleadingly.

“We can't. We are not supposed to.” said the mottlehogs.

“Why not?” said I, angrily.

“We will be punished if we tell you.” said the mottlehogs.

“I will punish you by squeezing and squishing and crushing you if you don't tell me.” said I, threateningly.

The mottlehogs sighed and said “The moon never got a chance to go up there in the sky. It was always in the sea. But humans always tried to remove it from the sea. So the fishes said that they will bite the pieces of the moon and hide them away, which they did but which you won't believe and which the humans didn't either. So they dived in the sea to check but we could not have that sort of an intrusion. Born a terrestrial, be a terrestrial. We didn't know how to stop them. So Zemphu came up with an excellent idea. He proposed flying up to the sky.”

“For what, to whom and why?” said I inquiringly.

“Don't interrupt us, woman human! The sky has always looked down at earth with love. So Zemphu flied to it for advice. The wise sky gave us a brilliant idea. It said it will reflect the moon during the night so humans think that the moon got fed up of them and went to live up in the sky. And you know what? It worked. The fishes started putting the pieces of moon back together exactly the way they had pieced it off. Yet, every now and then a stray human goes in the sea to check if the moon is there. So every month the fishes piece off the moon and piece it back together. And so the humans think that the moon waxes and wanes.” said the mottlehogs, giggling away.

“This can't be true! How come no one knows about this? No, this can't be true!” said I, unbelievingly.

“Well, whoever lets this secret out disappears.” said the mottlehogs.

“Disappears?” said I, wonderingly.

“Yes. Like this!” said the mottlehogs and poof! They disappeared! There was nothing in my hands. I looked around. They certainly had disappeared! Just because they told me the secret about the moon in the sea. Well, aren't you all glad I told you all this secret too? Oh!

The Sacrifice

Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Purple ... And many more lovely colours and hues all around us on earth. In stark comparison the monochrome night sky lays bare before us. The blackness of the sky and the whiteness of the moon and the twinkly stars. And it is to the moon that we owe our colours. Why? Well, this is of a time when humans and animals were just dropped on earth. But come let me tell you anyway.

A great many znimps ago, the moon was all colourful. Resplendent reds. Brilliant blues. Prismatic purples. Outstanding oranges. Groovy greens ... And ... What is a znimp? It is a million and one eleven times of the human year, of course. The earth was all black and white. White ground. White sands. Black animals. Black plants. Black birds ... yes, all. Black insects and grayish shade of seas. A monochrome earth. And then the humans were dropped from heaven knows where. Probably the heavens above but who cares. The humans were all black. As black as the shadows. You wouldn’t really know if the shadows followed the humans and animals or the human and the animals followed the shadows.

Every night, the moon would come out in the night and the multi-hued ball would be the centre of attention. The humans and animals looked at in awe. They kept staring at the moon for it was the only colourful object that they had seen. And it is this that led to other problems. Having stayed awake all night to watch the moon, the human and animals were far too sleepy and lethargic during daytime. The plants were untended. The grain wasn’t sown. The sun would shine, all in vain.

Seeing the disarray and mess of the intended greater plan of nature, one day the celestial bodies met to discuss the situation and to make changes. The moon sat beside the earth quietly. A beautiful child of the earth.

“This must stop”, said the Sun.

“Yes, let’s all quickly decide very quickly!” said Mercury, probably as it was feeling too hot because of its proximity to the Sun.

While other planets just rolled their heads thinking, Jupiter spoke up “The moon is undeniably beautiful. You can’t blame the humans and animals of earth to keep looking at the moon.”

The moon blushed a deep crimson red. Saturn started fixing his rings and said “Beauty and aesthetics will not fill the stomachs of the humans nor sustain them. We all decided that earth should have the land and seas but if it is not going to be utilised, isn’t it just a great waste of what we all gave up? Our sacrifices?”

“What is sacrifice?” asked the moon.

Everyone looked at the cute colour ball. “Sacrifice is when you give up something you have to others who need it more than you. You do it out of the goodness of your heart without expecting anything in return, my child”, explained Venus beautifully.

And then the clever, wise, kind, affectionate, thoughtful and of course cute moon happily jumped and said “Well, the solution is really easy then. I don’t need the colours. Let earth have them.”

The earth and other celestial bodies were shocked. While the idea was practical and purposeful, to rob the moon of its colours was unthinkable! The earth stood up and said “No moon. You will do no such thing. I bar you. I forbid you. I ...” But before the earth could finish, the moon beamed and declared “Say no more! I hereby denounce the colours upon me!” and saying so, it flung the colours on the earth. The lands got mostly green and brown. The seas caught blue. And the rest of the colours were spread everywhere in varying proportions and shades.

The celestial bodies gave the moon a standing ovation and the Sun said, “You have indeed done a noble act, little child. I promise to reflect upon you my brightness and radiance as a result of your sacrifice. May you always be blessed!”

The moon smiled and a tearful earth hugged it. The meeting being fruitful, everyone left and took their positions back. Humans and animals now started working on earth. And by night they were too tired to look at the night which was just white anyway. The whole plan, as it were, was now finally in action.

The celestial beings thought that the story of the moon’s sacrifice was a well-kept secret. Little did they know that someone was watching the meeting that had taken place and had since then always looked up adoringly towards the moon. I wonder whoooooooooooo.

My Leona

A loving ball of cuteness
Radiating love ... So gentle and mild.
The apple of my eye ...
My moon, my child.

I came as the sun for you.
I gave my light to you.
You did me so proud.
I owe my pride to you.

I watched you with love
Waxing in and waning out.
I watched you with affection
As you playfully moved around.

Alas! I am only the sun.
Meant to become a star.
Much against my wishes
From you, I was sent afar.

You grieved for me.
You cried for me.
You miss me every single day,
Thinking of me, yesterday and today.

But know this my lil one
I may be far, I may be gone.
But I watch you all the same
From the darkness of the unknown.

And I shall always be beside you
Help you, care for you, guide you.
No matter what your life may hold
I promise 

I will always be there for you. 

Immune to intoxication!

“The cool breeze that touches you,

The moonlight that intoxicates you ...

Wish I was the breeze,

Wish I was the moon to you.”

Such poetry! Only a lover could utter such words ... Because only love is so far removed from reality. I shook my head at the couple sitting on the bench beside me. They were oblivious to my presence. Love does that. But moonlight that intoxicates? Seriously? I looked up at the moon and sighed. A celestial object is put on a pedestal and is almost idolised by lovers and poets of the world alike.

“A celestial object. So, that is all that I am?”

I looked around me.

“If only you would gracefully set your sight a bit higher you would know it is me, the humble moon that is talking to you.”

Suddenly the couple got up and started walking away. Maybe they wanted to act upon the ‘intoxication’ now.

“So you choose to ignore me? Amusing really!”

“I am not going to talk to an inanimate astral object. Whatever that the woolly-headed love fanatics may think of you, I am unaffected by your so called magic and beauty. Your fanciful intoxication is wasted upon me. Go find someone else.”

 “So sure you are of yourself! Immune to my charms?”

“I am immune to any charm or intoxication or concoction that is known to mankind. I am made of much practical composition.”

The moon smiled. “Proof of the pudding in the eating. See that pond close by? Go and look in the pond. You will see my reflection. My radiant reflection. Keep looking at it and then prove your non-intemperance.”

I stared at the moon. I guess the only way to prove it wrong was by proving it wrong. So I walked to the pond and saw the reflection of the moon. The cool calm water held the reflection of the moon in its lap, very tenderly. The breeze sent gentle ripples on the water and it looked as if the moon’s reflection was smiling, almost like a small child that is being carried by its mom. I looked up at the moon and said “Better luck next time. I am still thinking coherently and thet itself pruvs thet yur charm and byutee hazant workd on me. I am imyun!”

“But of course! So you are!” sed the mun, gladlee aksepting difeet.

And with dhis, let it be nown to the wurld thet I em imyun to the charms of the mun. And yu all bear vitnes to dhis as yu too prifer to reed dhis radher dhan luk up at the silli mun. Charm and intoksikeshan? Yeah rait!

Sighhhh!

The Caring Moon

Yes ... Lovely little lamps lit across the rows of houses, temples and streets. As if the starlit sky has descended upon the earth. Not everywhere though. Just a particular place in the earth, vast indeed. People of that place believe that their Lord, along with his wife and brother, returned home after an exile of 14 years. Though this had happened a great many years ago, people still celebrate the homecoming of their exiled crown prince. They light lamps to reflect the luminous victory over an evil demon. But that’s another story for another day. The sky looks down in amazement and wonder ... Twinkle twinkle little earth? The stars too smile and once upon a time so did the moon.

Oh the moon! The cute little round moon! But for all its cuteness, littleness and roundness it was a very thoughtful and caring moon. Why? Well, if only you knew what happened as many years ago.

The moon, with the stars and the meteors and the comets and the asteroids watched in awe as that vast place was lit with lamps.
“For all that brilliance and radiance, it really is nothing in compared to the moon”, Zuphris the garrulous star commented.

“Yes, true that. The moon doesn’t need a reason to brighten up the sky. It is as it is”, said Bondig, a star that was fascinated by the moon.

The earth beamed. The earth loved the moon ... treated it like its younger one. Each time anyone said anything nice about the moon the oceans of the earth sent ripples of smiles across. But, suddenly the moon was sad. You must be wondering why was the moon sad.

“I wonder why is the moon sad”, said Pouloch, a curious star.

The moon looked at the stars and the earth and said “Oh but it isn’t fair! The love, the faith, the dedication of those beings on earth which is lit up so brightly ... It isn’t fair if it is compared to me.”

“But they are no match to your radiant beauty oh moon!” said a passing cloud on earth.

“I don’t know about that but I sure don’t like stealing their thunder”, replied the moon and the cloud hurried away elsewhere.

The moon sighed, thought, pondered, reflected and sighed again ... and then, smiled.

The earth, who was watching it lovingly, sensed that the moon had a moonwave (a brainwave to us). “What lies in the beautiful mind of yours, my lil one?”

The moon twinkled and said “Well, to be fair on those beings and their love, I shall no more be visible in the sky when they celebrate this day. Let their love and dedication rule the night. I have the rest of the year to show my deemed brilliance. Let them rejoice and sparkle and glitter and shine and gleam. I shall come back slowly after they have finished celebrating”.

“Oh my moon! You do make me so proud! Your thoughtfulness and care!” the earth said so and the highest peak on the earth got higher by a few more inches. Oh the swell of pride!

The moon, gentle and graceful that it was, gently and gracefully slid away. Suddenly, the lamps on the earth now seemed more luminous! If only they knew of the selfless act of the moon!

“I lighten up, not just your path.

I lighten up your glum heart”.

Bonded forever ...

“You have been a very naughty moon!” chided the earth.

But the moon just smiled playfully. It always did. Because it knew that the earth never really meant that from its core. It knew that the earth loved it above all the celestial beings. It knew that the earth used to go around looking for it whenever it didn’t see it. It knew that the earth cared. And that is exactly what made the moon take so many liberties with the earth. The comets often complained about the earth’s indulging behaviour towards the moon. But no one took the comets seriously. They cometh, they leave. The stars scolded the earth for spoiling the moon by letting it get away with all its funny frolics and comic capers. But then they twinkled away when ignored by the earth. And then one night ... a most miserable mishap took place.

The moon, which loved to play hide and seek with the earth, went hiding behind Jupiter. Oh! Jupiter is kind. It wasn’t him that was the problem. Or his size. And you really must not judge people according to their size. Because in the celestial world, the bigger the better. It was the awful asteroid! The asteroid didn’t have any sense of direction. It used to run against many planets and celestial objects. A headless chicken no less! And for a reason best known to asteroids, they were always in a state of hurry. It was this very state of hurry that made the asteroid crash with the moon! The moon, before it could even sense what happened, went rolling down. Luckily Jupiter caught its fall. See, what did I tell you about not making fun of large sizes? Suddenly the universe went still. Everyone knew the earth’s love for the moon. Everyone knew that the earth was looking for the moon again as it was hiding, hoping to be found. Everyone knew that the earth will throw up fire from its core, should anything happen to its beloved moon.

But the wail of the moon! In the cold stillness of the universe the wail of the moon was heard beyond stars. The earth rushed towards the moon, rushed towards Jupiter. Jupiter was nursing the moon and it perfectly understood what the earth must have been going through as it had many moons of its own and each one was as dear as the other. The earth wept, cuddled, hugged and kissed the moon. The moon had been scarred for life. Dark patches. But the earth kissed them all. The toughie that Jupiter was, looked on with moist eyes.

The earth thanked Jupiter, carried the moon in its arms and went back to its abode on the solar system. But it was no more going to risk any such misadventures of the mischievous moon. So, it borrowed a special glue from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It bound the moon to itself with that glue. Now the moon could roam in space freely but only as far as the earth would let it go, which frankly wasn’t too far at all. That glue was invisible but very strong. How strong, you ask? Well, so strong is that glue that even after all these many millions of years the moon is still bound to the earth. And Jupiter still has a little red spot marked where the moon fell.

If only we could love and care for each other as much as the celestial beings ...

The Moon Song

Birds chirping, waves roaring, the heart-stopping clash of thunder ... sounds of nature. And then there are a few sounds that exist no more. Like the sound of a pink petunia singing or a blue rock whistling or brown birds snoring ... and then of course, the moon singing. Oh but it did sing!

A very long time ago, when the birds till hadn’t learnt to fly and the flowers still hadn’t learnt to bloom ... the moon used to sing. Every starlit night it would come out in the sky very shyly and then would start singing. It was so melodious that the creatures of the earth would be lulled to sleep. The trees would stop swaying. And the bats? They were wise. They used to sleep during daytime so that they wouldn’t miss the moon singing. And the ocean? Oh it fell in love with the moon and its song! Now that worried the Troxon star no end. Why? Because the Troxon star, a father figure to the moon, knew that the day, or rather night, the moon realised it was beautiful it might become vain and would not be able to sing so beautifully. Its beauty lay in the ignorance of the existence of its beauty.

One night, when the moon didn’t come out in the sky, Troxon shared its concern with the ocean.

“Oh mighty ocean! Do you not see if you tell the moon that you love it because it is beautiful, it might stop singing so sweetly.”

The chivalrous ocean answered “Oh bright Troxon! You fear not! My love for the moon shall remain undeclared and unrequited. Be at peace.”

“But oh powerful ocean! The moon will see itself in your stillness. It must not do so. For it won’t love you but rather fall in love with itself. Heavens forbid, should that happen, it won’t be able to sing anymore!”

“Oh twinkling Troxon! You have my word that whenever the moon shall sing I shall not sit still. I shall dance wildly. The moon will never be able to see itself in me. Be at peace.”

Appeased, the Troxon star stood guard in the sky nevertheless and the next night the moon came out, shy as ever. It started singing. Creatures started sleeping. Trees stopped swaying. Bats started listening. And the ocean? It started dancing. Jumping and thrashing its waves. And so it went on ... till one fateless night.

The moon sang with a soulful sweetness hitherto unheard of. The squirrels swear that even the trees cried that night. A melancholic song. And the ocean was tranced by it. So lost was it in the song that it forgot to dance and thrash it waves. It stood still. Alas! The moon saw its own reflection in the stillness of the ocean. It stopped singing. It couldn’t believe it was so perfectly round and radiant and resplendent. The Troxon star reminded the moon to continue its song but to no avail. Too late, the ocean realised its mistake and started dancing again but the moon lost its voice with what it saw of itself.

The creatures cried. The trees talked. The bats bawled. But the moon couldn’t be persuaded to sing. And to date never has and probably never will.

And the ocean! It cried a million tears. Hence the salty ocean. Oh to hear the sweet song of the moon once again!