Bengal Forest

Welcome to Sukna Forests, nestled into the Himalayan foothills. The path is unpaved, hence the softness of the sound of our footsteps. The path is never a straight line. For what is ever a straight line in the natural world? It runs along like the letter S, a stream of soil. The streaks of damp soil, veins along the forest path, are a leftover over the rainy season, the monsoons that nourish the soil for four months here. The unpaved path, like the tea gardens nearby, are a reminder of the presence of humans. Those who have come to visit the forest before you. Trees grow thicker as the path cuts deeper into the forest. The forest is ripe for exploration, but before we begin, let's take a moment for a calming wind-down. Tonight's exercise is a really simple breathing exercise. So when you're ready, let's begin. So first, get yourself comfortable. Now just bringing the attention to the breath, just noticing where you feel it. In the noes, the throat, the chest, the diaphragm. You are nice and relaxed. We're gonna be taking a deep breath in for four, holding it for four, and then breathing out for six. So are you ready? Let's begin. In for four, two, three, four. Hold it for four, two, three, four. Now breathing out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. In for four, two, three, four. Holding for four, two, three, four. Out for six, two, three, four, five, six. Great. Now, returning the breath to normal. It comes like an appetizer. The tea gardens of Gunma. Before one enters Sukna. Near them is a large playground, where children play football all day. It comes as a relief to the eye after the pointed spires of the hills in the background. It is flat or perhaps flattened. The waste hype-y shrubs, like inverted umbrellas, they now hold branches of long decades, together look like carpets rolled out, till the horizon. Every morning, women come to these gardens. They bake the freshly grown leaves. The new leaves are easy to identify and to pluck. The curious half falls of the tenderest greens sprouting from the carpets of tea shrubs. In the morning, the bud is so tender, that it's faint green looks undry, not completely born and ready to meet the world. But on a moonlit night like today, the air had become centered with the fragrance of young tea leaves. And the tea as they'd looks like an inky reflecting surface, the glossy leaves and their moon so shadows, become indistinguishable from each other. The naming of the Sukna Forest was not coincidental. Sukna means dry in Bangla. And one can hear the history of that word in this place. The...