Finding Calm with(in) the Healing Forest

Contributor: Rachit Sharma

Forest can make you his own in a few passing moments or it may also take a few lifetimes. Or he may never know you - you never know him. And you both may find your assurance in other things, blissfully climbing on each other's absence, dwelling within the safety of oblivion. But this story is not about - bliss, safety or awareness of one's absence. 

The forest came alive to my senses at its own pace. As my toes climbed upon its chest, a rhythm started to set-in. A beautiful collaboration for the most basic human activity - movement. While I was tuning the tempo the ground beneath was constantly building and changing the notes and motifs of the symphony - rocky, choppy, leafy and moist. 

Photo Courtesy: New Delhi Nature Society

As we settled on a rocky mound, we were asked to listen-in and map the sounds of the forest with a few pebbles. Putting myself at the centre I meditated over different sounds and silences. The pebbles were put in accordance to the physical proximity from the sound. The map looked scattered, to me, I was nowhere close to the centre anymore. "There is no centre in a forest" whispered he. I, for one, could not understand it and placed myself in the middle of things, again - 

"This chiseled, glistening island is floating in the middle of nowhere. Is nowhere a thing or a being? I don't know. If it is a colour, it is green. Every green ever born. She is whole, may be she is a child. She plays all around and, sometimes, weeps her way into the sky, into the earth - painting parts of them with her green tears. If nowhere was a thing or a place - at least from where I stand - she must be everything and everywhere."

The forest showed a few wounds. Green scars. Some, intrusively, unconsciously had etched parts of him. Leaving behind traces of their names and initials deeply carved - 'R.K', 'ISHA', RAKESH'. The forest has healed some wounds by forming layers, some, he left green. For one, forest is still not known for 'R.K' or 'ISHA' - he is known for who he is - the way he unlocks his heart for everyone to meander. Expressing an ocean of emotions through his vulnerability. His vulnerability is its only power. 

Photo Courtesy: New Delhi Nature Society

I stumbled upon a tiny rock, he spoke to me. He spoke about his illustrious lineage. He was part of the Aravalli - 'line of peaks'. His specks date back to the first trace of life. He was a proud rock. It struck me that I am here and I am alive - I have come to this world through someone - who came through somebody else - am I also carrying a tiny part of the first life on earth? May be a speck?

A tiny fruit, tinnier than the rock had another story to tell. He told me that he was once a seed. And he thoroughly enjoyed being a seed. He loved being under and over the ground. He enjoyed being drawn to different elements around him. He believed in his being and gradually the life around him believed in him too. One day he became a tree , A tree with a large foliage, fruits and a thriving ecosystem within it. But today he dropped in the form of a fruit. He is happy. His being, his seed is safe within the fruit. He, especially, the seed-part of his, reminded me of my childhood for some strange reason. Being, believe, become, being, bel....


Rachit from our Youth Alliance team was a part of 2 day learning program in Sanjay Van Delhi.
Healing Forest Walks are organised to explore many ways one can engage with nature to experience moments of deep calm,enhance their creativity and find greater clarity in facing life's challenge.