My America Tour -2
Telugu Original : Avula Gopala Krishna Murty (AGK)
English Translation: Komala Venigalla
Journey through Nature
`Take a sixty days tour in our country, observe newspapers, journalistic trends, law courts and all other things of your interest, visit places you like and meet with people you prefer to` That was the invitation to me from the American Government which I accepted and set out on my journey. though the trip was to a country a very long distance away, my preparations were on a small scale.
It was our independence day 15th August. In the early hours at 4.45 am my journey started in T.W.A Jet Boeing aircraft. Bombay was still in slumber in the midst of bright lights. there would be many events that day celebrating the independence day- all that I left behind. But I was delighted that I would, be reaching New York on 15th August itself.
I was flying in an expensive plane which flew six or seven hundred miles an hour . It was moving faster than wind and speedier than the thoughts of some of us. It was flying over 25,000 feet from land and water levels . From Paris to New York it was 35,000 feet.
I landed in New York at 7.10 pm the same day. I started from Bombay . We might count the time as 14.25 hours but it was much more than that.
The question would arise how could it be more hours than 14.25 hours. Did the aircraft move slowly or was there any other reason ?
The answers for that question – if the earth, is square there is no answer. There is no answer if we think like our ancestors that the Sun is revolving around the earth. But earth is round and it revolves around the Sun.
My journey took more than 14.25 hrs .It took 27 hours by the time I reached New York.
In this journey in nature there was a big war being waged ,not between our ancient ideas and modern ideas, but between nature and man`s effort.
The Sun who is part of nature appears to rise at different areas in different times each moment. Because the earth is round and revolves around the Sun we get that impression. For us it looks amazing. Everyday in 24 hours it looks that somewhere it is the sunrise and sunset, somewhere else at the same time. In fact it is neither sunrise nor sunset. It looks like that because earth is revolving. It looks though for some, especially for the religious fanatics a wonder but for nature it is the daily routine act. For those who accept scientific knowledge it is a natural routine.
Our plane at first stopped at the oil city Derham in Saudi Arabia. Then at Cairo-capital of Egypt, at Athens, in Greece. at Rome in Italy and in Paris capital of France. Straight from Paris we flew to New York and by 10 pm we reached Washington DC, the capital of America. That was 15th August, our independence day still.
We reached Washington at 10pm. But it was neither 10pm in India nor was it 15th August. It was 8am on 16th August there . We stayed four hours in all in those cities where we halted . We traveled for 27 and odd hours. When we reached New York at 7.10 pm the Sun was just set in. Then after three hours we were in Washington-thus we had a very long day time!
One wonders how it is possible to have a very lengthy day time as there are only 12 hours in a day.
This wonder is the result of man`s war against nature. He is able to extend 12 hours of a day time into 27 hours. If he continues his travel from New York to San Francisco via Japan, Burma and reach Bombay the day time can be extended to 44 hours instead of 27 hours. If man challenges nature that he would refuse to see the night he can win. By taking backward journey he can but that he would not see the daytime he can win the bet. With the help of scientific technology man could show the effect of his effort on nature.This is the story of factual matter or fact. If religious fanatics refuse to accept this fact we have nothing to say.
In this journey there is neither expostulation against nor submission to nature. The significance of this journey is to observe the factual happening and understanding it.
I enjoyed 27 hours of day time which gave me a feeling of elation, and satisfaction. Though I read about this Sunrise in the books earlier I experienced the thrill by watching it after sixteen years of our independence. I could see the difference between reading and seeing it personally. It was a surprising knowledge. This is an experience everyone should have and enjoy the effect of it.
While flying high I could see the borders of earth and its shape. I could witness myriads of colors more than seven believed to be there by us , may be they acted an illusion. But it was the wonderful sunrise and the day time.
Because of the layers of the clouds between us, the earth and water I could see the distance between us and the earth but could not grasp the distance between us and the clouds, or between them and the earth. The nature was going through the birth pangs, the sun was not yet born. In this effort both nature and the sun were struggling giving an enthralling chance to man to feel the inexplicable joy. The colors were changing moment by moment yet the Sun could not free itself from nature`s womb, the birth throbs reddening the scene.
The poets who described the sunrise and did not experienced this. Those of us who did experience it are not poets. Hence beauty of that scene did not find a place in our poetry.
We could not estimate the thickness of the clouds. They were moving in various shapes- hills, threads , bunches, rings, laces, horses, elephants, lions ,goats, cows bulls and also the shapes of animals which we have never seen before.The beautiful movement of the clouds excelled the poetic imagery of them by Krishnasastri in his lyric and also superior rendering of the ssme by Bhanumati in the movie Malliswari.
We could see the areas breaking through the clouds while the plane was rising up or descending down. For a while we felt the sea nearer and we watched the golden sun beautifying the clouds with blue, green, yellow and various shades of gems. Then the golden hue of Sun turned into white robes.All this metamorphosis took more than 2 and half hours
We saw the shape of earth and indescribable beauty of the light illuminating the space where the land and the sea meet.It inspires the poets to pen great poem. The clouds near those borders broke into the shapes of towns, cities and disintegrated. The white foam exuded by the waves appeared have to become clouds. The clouds appeared to have covered the sea with the white cloak. Then the clouds themselves looked like forming the sea. When the plane was descending through the clouds we felt that the clouds themselves formed into steps bidding farewell. It is very difficult to assimilate the magnitude of Solar riches.
The beauty of the clouds started disappearing after 10 am on 15 th. We could witness the white golden colors of sand particles.
That was how we took nature into our hands giving life to daytime extending it to 27 hours. When we reached New York night embraced us with a feeling of triumph that it could catch us.
That was my first journey in nature.
(From Andhrajyothi, 1-9-63)
*****
(to be continued…)
వెనిగళ్ళ కోమల మూల్పూరు గ్రామంలో జన్మించారు. ప్రముఖ హేతువాది ఇన్నయ్య గారి సతీమణి. అంబేద్కర్ విశ్వవిద్యాలయంలో ఇంగ్లీష్ ప్రొఫెసర్ గా 1995 లో పదవీ విరమణ చేశారు. ప్రస్తుత నివాసం అమెరికాలోని వాషింగ్టన్ డి.సి.