Dick Cheney's Naked Lady or My Lady in a Gown!

Folks, did you notice that something very strange happened, just a couple of days ago. Well, the world just stood still! All intelligent people of the United States of America and equally intelligent people from all over the world, were gridlocked in a global tribal ritual. With the latter day avatars of tribal drums, viz. telephones, emails, blogs, and SMSes, they were busy trying to find the final answer to the world's most pressing concern of the moment. The American economic down turn, sub-prime crisis, or the fiddling at Bear Stearns and its economic consequences could wait! What was this crisis that was engaging the minds of the very best? Well, old boy, Dick Cheney had gone fishing wearing sunglasses. As sunglasses are wont to do, they were reflecting. What was so special about the reflections from the VPs glasses, was that they were reflecting a woman. As if that was not strange enough, it had to be immediately decided, whether the woman was fully naked or in a bikini! Even mainline newspapers got into the fray, with learned editorials. Lines of Associated Press and others agencies were also buzzing.

Some said, that the mystery woman was definitely naked, others said otherwise. Some dim witted guys were profane enough to declare that they only saw Dick's fishing rod in the reflections. Even on Associated Content, the article reporting this national dilemma drew the maximum number of animated comments. What about me? I discovered that Dick's business cronies had with impunity milked the nation's taxpayers, by bloating up the bills for the supplies and logistical support for Iraq war. Since then I felt that Dick Cheney, was nothing but an avatar of Tricky Dick (Richard Nixon, for you!) and there was nothing worth looking at, even he were standing next to a real naked woman.

This recent episode made me wonder, why the people and the media spent so much of their time and energy, speculating about the reflections from Dick's sunglasses. If we really want to let our fancy go wild, then come with me, my friend! Let's look at the clouds in the sky. I see trumpeting elephants, chubby cheeked babies and everything in God's creation which is fluffy and the whole world of Harry Potter. We can debate, whether what I see, is also what you see. Even if we do not agree, we would have at least got lost in one of many of the wonders, which God's creation has to offer. Or why not look at the ever shifting multihued wonders of a sunrise or a sunset! One can see so much beautiful objects in them.

In one of the greatest epics of India, Ramayana, the saint poet, Tulsidas writes:
"Jaaki Rahi Bhavana Jaisi,
Prabhu Murat Tin Taisi!" meaning:

'As one's faith,
So sees one, his God, in everything!' - As simple as that! Or as the Scriptures say, 'Seek and Ye shall find it!' You get, what you are looking for!

Usually, when I go for my morning walks, I carry my camera along. I photograph everything that the wonders of Nature have to offer - from the majesty of a lone tree to the wondrous shapes and colors of leaves. Sunrays filtering through the trees! And most revealing of all, are the turning and twisting of roots of different plants. To prove my point, where as folks saw a naked or a bikini clad lady in Dick's sunglasses, I see an elegant lady with long hair in a flowing gown, in the roots of a tree, which faces us when we sit on a wooden bench, after we finish our morning walks. Take a look at the accompanying photograph! Do you see an elegant lady or not? You may still see only a tangle of prop roots on the ground and aerial roots. It would still be worth wondering, why some trees have only roots buried in the ground and some have visible prop roots (as we see in the accompanying photo) and some have aerial roots, or both. I have made my pick, now the choice is yours! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE?