Civilisation

"I looked out from our flat roof on an alien scene. Someone blew on a conch. I took in the big sky of the plains. Beyond our house there was a lovely patchwork of bright yellow mustard and lush winter wheat. The colours were sharp and astonishingly crisp. I could have been at home in England hemmed in with grey drizzle, or brushing past people cocooned by stress and self-absorption. I thought of the life I’d led, commuting with my brain switched off, ignoring the world: cars and personal stereos keep reality out.

A cock crowed and received several answers. I started to see again: people herded cattle out to graze or took flowers to the temple; there were soft groans of buffalo- or ox-cart wheels as men moved rice, brought timber or thatch. Tharu women wearing bright blues and orange walked elegantly erect with water in pots or piles of firewood on their heads. Tinselly Badi women dressed in pink and purple swept out their shacks after the night’s lucrative work...."

From page 109 of A Glimpse of Eternal Snows

My redrawing of Tharu house decoration, Rajapur Island, Nepal

 

 

A peacock redrawn from a Tharu house, West Nepal