Of the view from the mind’s eye

 
 
By Vijay Phanshikar :
Moon peeps, 
she blushes ...
Earth !
- Self 
 

 

THE metaphor is universal ! As rains dance under night clouds’ canopy, they pause for breath. Occasionally, through them, the Moon peeps -- and the earth blushes blue. She smiles. She hums in ecstacy ! This is usual, normal -- one would say. Mother did not think so. Often, she placed her arm across my shoulders, pulled me close, and showed the Moon peeping through clouds. ‘Look at the Earth, son. She is blushing in joy. All the time when the rains danced, she missed the moon. Now, she is happy”. Simple sight, so to say. But its metaphor is deep and fine and nuanced. Astro-geographically, the Moon is a spray-away from the Earth. Poetically, the relationship of the Moon and the Earth have many names. Mother often dwelled on those -- different names at different times.

 

When the rain-dance took a pause in night and the Moon chose to slow down a little and take a longing look at the Earth through a window in the clouds, Mother made a point to look at the Earth and sense her bliss and blush ! In that brief moment, the Earth mirrored the Moon’s colour, the Moon’s coolness, the Moon’s distant longing. The humans have often effervesced with poetry when they see the Moon up there in the night sky. The painters and photographers, too, often relish those moments to picture, to capture in their frames on paper or celluloid. They often travel endless miles to get the best of views. They imagine and they stretch themselves to capture the Moon and the Earth in an eternal and distant bond. ‘Son, have its mental picture -- of the Moon looking at the Earth basking in bliss and blush. If your mind can picture that, then you have made the grade’, Mother said.

 

What grade was that ?, one wondered. ‘Of mental finesse, of the mind’s sensitivity, of your ability to visualise the obvious that others miss’, she said. ‘That’s where man becomes human,’ she did not forget to add every time the subject sprang up -- which was often. Later, as photographer -- both, amateur and professional -- one made efforts to capture the Earth’s blush and bliss upon seeing the Moon peeping through clouds. Each time, the Earth assumes a different hue, a different fragrance, too, and a different persona ! Capturing only the Moon up there, or the Earth down here was often easier. But capturing both together in one frame and not missing the Earth’s blush was an artistic challenge. In those moments, the camera was often a bland tool; what worked was how the mind imagined the scene, and bent forward and backward to position the camera to capture the most apt angle. And each time, the camera clicked, Mother’s words welled up in the mind -- about how man becomes human when he picks up those nuances that are visible only to the mind’s eye !