The Flame & the Larch…
Once a larch tree rose in the forest mighty!
As tall as the sal of yore, dense with bountiful flowers
Nature wondered why it blossomed always,
Its secret hidden deep, known only to the clock’s hour…
Then came man, pondering over this magical wonder.
Curious… to discover the larch’s magical ways…
So he hid above in a machaan of wood;
Hoping to know the secret some day
In the golden light of the evening sun
Day after day, a flame appeared…
It wafted the tree with its blazing scent;
And the tree stood brighter and steadier.
The man, now with the secret uncovered;
went behind the flame to claim his nectar of life;
Rang he, the barrel that echoed through the woods
With the flame now in his grasp, he grinned and sighed…
But lo! He realised that the flame was lost
For its magic worked, only when it breathed its scent.
Not for him, but the deep woods so beautiful
He thus realised, it was life that beauty lent…
Remorseful, he walked upto the tree
now dying, without the flame to breath its love;
He stood there watching, over what he had seen before
And looked up at the sky, the clouds above…
A thought occurred and he dropped the barrel,
A brush he picked to express his sight.
Of the land’s mighty beast, the flame’s love for the larch
And the tree glowing above; ochre, black and white….
Thus came about this art of yore!
To tell the tale forgotten over time
Save the flame, thus save the larch…
Thus, will the deep woods glow and shine…
- Raghavendran Kandaswami -
Some moments, are not picture perfect, they are simply art worthy… And Corbett is probably one landscape that lends creativity to an artist to make his art – bountiful, yet mistakenly; expressive, yet solemnly.
It took a few rides into Corbett’s landscape to come across this moment of a beautiful flame of the forest, rising from the glowing flow of the Ramganga river, to step into man’s path and walk into the scenery of life – the woods, the tree and its passion for the tree.
As we stepped into Corbett this time, it helped us make many moments as it always does. But somehow, a photograph that transforms into a painting without much ado, is a gift that it sometimes offers.
From the many moments, thus; this one is priceless for us, since it makes for much imagination of the wild, in its quiet serene moment. And also, how we have the unfortunate ability to tamper with it and ruin its grand splendour.
When the famed Pedawali headed towards the tree, we knew that we had a painting for a background to capture the glory of Sambar Road’s queen. And as she walked into the light of heaven, we waited to soak in the scene, before we picked up our shutters to blue away.
20 Feb 2023, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar, Uttarakhand