Rishimukh
Purple flowers began to drop
from a twisted vine
that had grown up the trunk of the big pepper tree
and spread out among the branches,
signaling that it was time
to serve the evening chai
Butterflies fluttered
from plant to plant,
having their evening meal,
and a great variety of birds sang their songs
and looked for a bedtime snack
while the ducks waddled and quacked
and the workers began to return from the fields
♫ ♫ ♫
A hint of cardamon
and just the right amount of buffalo milk
made the chai at Rishimukh
the most delicious chai in Karnataka
Homemade music
accompanied the birds
as Vannte played his guitar
mantra style,
repeating a beautiful melody
over and over again
because no one ever grew tired
of listening
♫ ♫ ♫
Which flower
do you think will fall next?
Hard to say
They’re all ready
to fall
at any time
We should be ready too,
to leave this life
at any time
I’m ready
Me too
But let’s enjoy it
as long as we’re here
Yeah
Flowers never die
They just change form
Like us
Yeah
♫ ♫ ♫
A light dinner at six
while the sun sank to the west
and the moon began to rise in the east
That roti was right on the edge
of perfection,
hard enough to maintain its shape
yet soft enough to tear
And the soup was just right,
filling, but not too heavy
That Finnish chocolate was pretty good too
Yeah
The Finns sure know how to make chocolate
The crickets had been singing
for over an hour
when all at once
ten thousand toads began to croak
I guess it’s time
for the evening jam session
The power then went out,
for the fourth or fifth time that day,
and everyone returned to their room or hut
to fetch the instruments
they wished to play
And then on drums and guitars,
a harmonium and a harmonica,
a kalimba, a mouth harp and more
the Rishimukh band took everyone on a trip
through a musical wonderland
♫ ♫ ♫
By seven thirty
almost everyone was pretty tired,
and one by one they left
and headed off to bed
After putting away the louder instruments
the few who remained
walked down to Viswa’s hut
to have a smoke and sing and play
a little longer
♫ ♫ ♫
The call of a very large being
passed through the night
and everyone stopped to listen
What do you think that was?
No idea
It sounded like the howl of a very large wolf
and the trumpet of an elephant
mixed together
There it is again
Maybe it’s Hanuman
Hanuman is usually pretty quiet
even when he’s doing battle and rescuing girls
Yeah,
he’s a silent servant
I think what we heard
was a passing truck
that sounded like a big wolf
And an elephant
Yeah
Maybe it was a chupacabra
Maybe
Just then the dogs began to howl,
warning of something
and telling it to keep away
♫ ♫ ♫
The leopard is usually pretty quiet
Yeah,
he likes to surprise his prey
I saw one of his paw prints this afternoon
down by the river
It was as big as my hand
Without walls
it might be hard to keep him out of the huts
He hasn’t eaten any people around here
Mostly he goes for dogs and ducks
and other small creatures
The dogs then fell silent,
hoping
that they would not be chosen that night,
the people returned to their huts
and went to bed
and some owls hooted
throughout the night
♫ ♫ ♫
winterblume 