Axe | Sidhharth

The Mountain

I am home. I am shelter. I am the silent companion. I am the watcher. I am the secret bearer. I am the keeper.

I am home to everyone. I do not choose anyone on priority. I do not limit the members of my family. I do not differentiate on the basis of the qualities one possesses. For me, all are same. A long time ago, I was all alone, barren, just another piece of solid rock. Then I attained a color, a slight tinge of green which spread all over me, covered me in itself. I don’t know how it chose me, but it felt good to be of some use finally. The greenery expanded, its roots deepened in my body and it grew taller everyday, until it covered all of me. Then, the creatures began to arrive. All sorts of creatures, some could fly, some could kill, some could crawl and each one of them had certain uniqueness among them. I welcomed them all. The last I wanted to be was lonely again. With all this activity in and around me, I felt alive. I felt as if I was the one flying in the sky or diving in the stream. I was home, and in that moment, I knew I will always be one. Continue reading →

The Woodcutter

Continued from The Leaf Plucker

Before I decided to pick up my father’s axe and become a woodcutter, I was a shepherd. My family possessed multiple herds of cattle. It included sheep, goats and buffaloes. We lived among many other families and moved places after every few months. The main reason for such nomadic lifestyle was to keep our cattle alive and be able to feed it. When the number of animals grew more than we could handle, we would sell them. The money helped us relocate. It would take months before we decided to settle in on a new location. It irritated me to leave our place of living every year and find a new one. My father told me it was not necessary, but it was a tradition. Our ancestors had been traveling all around the country. It was not in our blood to settle down at one location and be able to raise our families in normal human social structure. I always found it difficult to understand. So, when my father died, I decided to break off. I took my share of cattle and set out to find a new place for myself, where I could settle down for the rest of my life. Continue reading →