Nature can indeed be a teacher, teaching us humility. In the song "Ninaithu Ninaithu Paarthen" from 7G Rainbow colony, a verse goes as follows: அமர்ந்து பேசும் மரங்களின் நிழலும், உன்னை கேட்கும் எப்படி சொல்வேன், where the lyricist says that the trees under which they sat as a couple and took shade are now asking about her and where she was. Beautiful right?
Taking a walk in the park and seeing these trees that have outlived many of our generations makes us realize that our lifespan is minute compared to theirs, just as Balamurugan, who had been to Kailash, mentioned that he felt like an infant before the majestic towering mountain and felt so minute and small before the boulders there.
So too have these benches listened to others' conversations in the following short films. And it is telling no one nor sharing, unlike books.
Carl Sagan defines the book in the 11th episode of his legendary 1980s Cosmos series, titled “The Persistence of Memory,” as follows,
"What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."
When many go on tours, or attend concerts, or events, rather than being in the moment, they try to capture them for a later moment by taking photos and videos. We have become overly dependent on the smartphone and the internet. What if the internet were to crash one day?
Prapanjam is listening to us. Agathiyar tells me that just as we sing their praise, speaking about the Siddhas, the Siddhas too speak about us. He asks me to connect with her and access all that is spoken when I told him that I could not retain the conversations he has with me, having to depend on recordings.