The Grand Old Man!

I was traveling from Bangalore to Hyderabad. I boarded the less crowded Yeshwantpur station which vaguely reminded me of my favorite place Phulbani. As soon as I sat in the train, I repented for not bringing any novels to read and pass time. Few minutes after the train left the station, it took a halt near a small station and stayed there for  a while. The scene in this sketch was the view from the window next to me. So, I greedily grabbed the opportunity, pulled out my notebook and started sketching. It was a huge tree and a goods train was standing next to it.  I could only finish the outline and a few of the detailing within that time. I tried to capture as much important detailing as possible so that I can use the pattern to go on and finish it later.  When the train started from that station, I was half-done. Rest of the part I finished on my own. I took a picture from my cellphone camera, but surprisingly that did not help much. I then realised the brilliance of nature and the capabilities of our eyes. Even though an entire area was visible to me, I could focus only on the area that I was interested in and could ignore the rest. It was like a virtual zoom. When I sketched it, it was the same way I focused. That was something amazing. Any ways, I felt I improved in capturing the depth of the scene with this sketch.

As I was looking at the huge old tree and sketching it, I felt very curious. What if trees had a soul? What if they could feel and experience things like humans do? What if this tree was like that? I could imagine myself sitting on it and watching the world around me... I know this is a mad quality of me, but I love it. This tree must have been at least 200 to 300 years old. And world has changed so much since then! That place probably would have been a jungle hundred years back! From no machines to monster trains, from dhoti clad men and saaree clad women to trousers, jeans and salwars, from pot water to tap waters, from serene calm environment to a noisy one, it would have seen so many changes! If I could relate that tree to a human, a grand old man was the closest I could. The imaginary me that was sitting on its branches went through a rapid and vivid change as if I was watching some time lapse video or something... More than the sketch,  this experience was more enriching and satisfying to me.

And thus I had a nice journey! :)