Lehal Library

7 The Sikh Homeland The parched earth becomes an unending stretch of khaki with dust devils spiralling across the wastes. Even the stolid pipaJ and the tamarisk are shom of their leaves and the only green that meets the eye are bushes of camel-thorn, prickly cactus, and the ~alotropis. The succession of hot days and shimmering mirages is occasionally broken by fierce storms which spread layers of dust and sand over everything. All through the torpid afternoons comes the call of the braiufever bird~ in a rising crescendo, peeooh peeooh. On moonlit nights one can see the wavering arrowhead formations of geese honking their way northwards to the snowy Himalayas. The bJazing inferno lasts from the end of April to the end of June. Then come the rains. The monsoon makes a spec1acular entry. It is heralded by the monsoon birdG which fills the dusty plains with its plaintive cries. The colourless grey sky suddenly fills with dense masses of black clouds. There are flashes oflightning and the earth shakes with the rumble of thunder The first big drops of rain are swallowed by the dust and a heavenly fragrance rises from the earth Then it comes in torrents, sheet upon sheet, and continues for several hours. Thereafter the skies are frequently overcast; clouds and sunshine contend for dominion; rainbows span the rain-washed landscape; and the setting sun fires the bulbous clouds in hues of red and purple. Two momhs ot incessam downpour turn the land into a vast swamp. Rivers fill up and become a mass of swirling, muddy waters. Puajabis. who have to live through many months of intense heat every }ear, love the monsoon. It is the time for lovers' trvsts and the reunion of families. Gum Nanak went into raptures over it: 'The season of the rains has come and my heart is full ofjoy ... river and land 5 The hawk-cuckoo (lii~roroccyx varius). Its CTJ is rendered as 'brainfever. brainfever· in English; in Punjabi and Hindustani as j>ffl)oli or pi kahii11, 'where is my beloved?' 6 The pied<rested cuckoo (damator jacdlinus) lakes admntage of the monsoon winds and flies from Lhe East African Coast ahead of lhe clouds. It usually reaches the coasl of Inclia a day or two before Lhe monsoon breaks; hence the name, monsoon bird.