The Jungle

            by  Samartha Vashishtha

Few dare to mess with it.
The brave or the desperate.

Like the hostel boys who probed
Deep into the woods
Searching for bhāng¹ leaves each day;
And the foreign tourists
Looking for a forgotten waterfall
Named after a lord long dead -

To picnic.
“Which country?” we would ask;
“No coins!” they would reply.

And early mornings
Beasts’ hunting time still –

The milkman who climbed
Four kilometres up the valley
To sell milk
Nine rupees a kilo;
Or women calling out at night
For their cattle lost in the dark.

Rauvolfias² are threatening enough
To keep the rest home.

1. Narcotic leaves, hemp
2. Rauvolfia Serpentina, popularly known as Sarpagandha in Hindi, is a herb that resembles the cobra in shape.

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