Sahyadrica

Thrung Thrung Karma Our world is full of bird-whisperers. They wander alone, sometimes they are followed by the likes of me – often with a camera – to listen and watch and be amazed by their art. I follow Phurpa who walks a few yards ahead of me, his hands behind his back signalling me to stop or follow, talking to birds. His presence conjures birds from nothing. It is not a cheap trick, for hidden in his skill is a learning we need to take heed of: in this world of whisperings, habitats disappear in front of our eyes; birdsong lost to machines crushing stones and digging sand and felling wood; everything is being concretized or paved over – bird nests and bird bones. Following him into the mountain valley, I stumbled upon a bird among birds in a place among places in a year of years. *** Act I. The Sedge A river takes birth in a glacial lake somewhere beneath Chiumo and Nyegi Kangtsang, two of the tallest peaks of the Eastern Himalaya. It flows between ragged wind-swept snow-dus...