I travelled to Bheemeshwari, the banks of Cauvery just about 2 hours drive from Bangalore . I had arrived here with a friend to do some editing work. We wanted a place, where we can be one with nature and we found this one was ideal.

While the river flows across uninterrupted, the birds spread their joy through music and the clouds revolve around the hills. The animals in the forest are living peacefully as we see the peacocks and deer enjoying the silence of the forest.

While, we as humans can take a lot of credit for all the technological advancement, which mankind has benefited from, we are equally responsible for destroying nature by all our acts and deeds.

When you come to a place like this, you realise that there is so much more to learn from nature. A morning walk before the sun rises in the East lets you hear the sounds of nature in its best form. Then as the river flows down the hills and plains you can hear the crocodile crawling across the river and making his presence felt.

One feels as if the world has come to a halt when you be with nature. There is absolute freedom for man and the animals and birds around him. We neither spoil their daily routine nor they come in your way of work. Today, we realise how much we have moved away from nature.

As I write this blog, I can hear the chirping of the birds almost like an orchestra. While we may not understand the language of the birds and the animals, they are rhythmic and make you listen to them and enjoy their tunes.

On the other hand, they also convey to us how much noise we create around us disturbing their daily joy. The best thing I learnt about nature today is to let them be themselves. We should not disturb their daily lives and they will not interrupt ours.

We sometimes feel as if we are the masters of the universe and have a right to live life our way and not allow plants and animals to live life their way. It is this selfish nature of man, which destroys nature.

If we travel to remote villages and hills, we realise that humans continue to live along with nature and respect them as they are and not as we want them to be. Today we travel away from the city to experience nature in its purest forms.

However, if we are willing to learn from our friends and relatives living in hills and villages, we may realise that if we let them be as they are then there may not be a need for us to travel to discover nature.

Life is no different from nature. If we allow people to live the way they want to be, then they may flourish. If we impose our beliefs and our values on others, then they may dissent and even oppose it. Our duty is just to create a culture of openness and authenticity around us. This may be true in our families , organisations and society at large.

Let’s learn to live and let live.

S Ramesh Shankar

16th March 2023