BARKANA, JULY-2015

It started way back in 2011, on a rainy, dark and thrilling noon when, along with 2 of my best friends, I ventured into the “God’s bedroom” like forests of Agumbe in pursuit of Barkana, a falls as alluring as its name itself. It’s been almost half a decade since my urge to meet her “sparked” in one of the most romantic time, way and location possible, as such a moment remains a distant dream to ever happen in my “changed” life again. That noon; the dark, erotic, wet July noon of 2011 was so special that; it remains to be seen in the coming years if I would ever witness such a marvel of the natural world. It was indeed the most romantic noon I had ever spent to end up, after enduring few of the best natural challenges, at a point in the forest opening where I believe one could witness what happens during those moments when life departs and death awaits. But the natural forces were so wild all these years that I couldn’t get a glimpse of her, for she rolls down a distant hill and blanketed by silky clouds of the monsoon winds blowing straight from the distant sea. 2015 was a year of deficiency, as the monsoon failed like I never seen before, with very less clouds hitting the magical village of Agumbe and this meant, an opportunity. In pursuit of this opportunity I picked up my friend Deepak, back from my childhood days, and drove towards the West on a night that was undergoing beautiful transformation some 700 Kms away, but very ordinary and boring where I was starting this journey from. Night drives, particularly at high speeds, push you into a deep loneliness to give that exotic feeling of being separated away from the regular world order as eyes, arrogance and anticipation work in tandem to get past that next mile alive. Those are the only moments in my entire life where I had given 100%, as I manage to live past numerous haphazard misses from the gallows. The morning next saw me and Deepak hit the monsoon graced highway to Agumbe, but with startling absence of the ambience unique to this romantic gateway to hideout of Mr. God. Agumbe is one place, in the past 4 years since my love for monsoon began, that has been immune to the vagaries of this annual rainfall bonanza, nevertheless; she was ripped of her immunity by the strong forces of nature and rendering her to be an “ordinary” at a time of the year when she would seem to be the living room of Gods. But still, she managed to hold on to her legendary monsoon fever as I stepped into the life altering forests for the n^th time in pursuit of a “terminal” that would seem to be the junction of life, and beyond it (Photos 3 and 24). After moments of romantic hiking, which was filled with a mild sprinkle of fear, we hit the “break” in forest cover that opened up to a visual drama and stunned the “anticipating’ eyes with remarkable impact. Those were the moments that were frozen on my time forever (Photos 1,9 and 13); and those were the moments that took me close to the rare time zone in a human life that prevails just before its departure from the mortal form. An hour or so later, as the Cicadas amplified their protest from within the depths of the Jungle, we realized it was time to leave the master alone for his after dark indulgence. One last turn back (Photo 25), and the impact was inscribed to be there forever until I reached that rarified time zone of life-death transition itself. Barkana; what a way to get close to God…what a way to feel death while still being alive… what a way to get spiritual…