Wonder of wonders Chapter VIII 38

Natural Wonders
(wonderful changes)

My wonder increases day by day

as I look at Natures ingenious way(s)

Oh! how it runs its grand stylish mansion

in a subtle incredible fanciful fashion
organizing a fantastic grand show
of dancing billions in groups or rows
whirling round and round in its tow
as per an all pervading cosmic code
at the right moment at the right note

all according to plan and universal law

designed and operated without a flaw .

See the life that has evolved on this planet my dear

only God knows how it came or arose here
but today it has so blossomed and bloomed
making it beautiful and lovely and plumed
in a variety of uncountable fascinating forms
that each with its own special feature abounds
I n phenomenon after phenomenon vying for attention
I for one will vote for co evolution, and bird migration
but you may choose embryogenesis, metamorphosis
photosynthesis , symbiosis evolution or pollination
that is to name a few out of numerous exciting citations
and salute one who thought of such a wonderful creation.

but ‘Creation’ the very word starts a stream of thought

bringing to mind vision of the present and the past.
some say asteroids and comets are flying ‘horses’ of hellos
and Life came ‘riding’ on them ‘piggyback’ from cosmos
others say it was ‘born’ only here on the shores of the seas
but whether heavenly or earthly was its real birth place
Wonder of wonders 39

it first came into being as unicellular organism in this place

in the form of self creating , self multiplying chemotrophs
and only thereafter appeared the photosynthetic autotrophs
and thanks to Cyano bacteria oxygen was soon in the air
becoming instantaneously ‘poison’ for some living beings!
and later ‘Life’ for others in those primordial conditions.

Since life and its origin itself evokes a sense of wonder

philosophers have speculated on it since ‘our’ time began
and the scientist have discovered it created itself nearly
3.6 billion years ago and then Life’s own clock began.
and interestingly it has continued to tick ever since till date
flowing unabated like a stream to meet its unknown fate .

And the living world which First RNA and then DNA
‘created’ so long ago goes on and on merrily even today
with those very fundamental processes which began then
and are running the show unfailingly up to this day .

In fact ancient Archie chose their ‘life style’ so wisely

that Extremophiles living near extremely hot water vents
in ocean beds these days use it even today unhesitatingly;
making merry there teasing and taunting us undoubtedly .

and lo! we humans at the top of the biological ladder !

still have our life and death in the ‘hands’ of successors
of those bacteria which our ancestors of ancestors
engulfed and ‘domesticated’ in hoary past with vows
of symbiotic relationship to live together- not merely
for 7 generations but for millions of generations eternally
till the sun and moon shine and life survives heavenly
encounters
that is to say to mitochondria which each cell contains
and which makes it respire and so lets us Live, making
ATP for our energy needs and also mediate signaling
initiating timely death signals to ensure apoptosis properly .

and this is not the story of simply kingdom animalia

for plantae also had similarly acquired mitochondria
Wonder of wonders 40

indeed it had taken another step to go ahead in life

taking care early in evolution to befriend the engulfed
bacterial predecessor of chloroplast -now an organelle
making ATP setting another example showing interalia
oh Man !see ! this is how promises are kept janabeyalia .

All this is unbelievable but true that prokaryotic bacteria

have played unique roles in life’s long history and
matched their wits with all varieties of ‘higher’eukaria
coming out with flying colours even against those
giant dinosaurs and modern Man with his paraphernalia.

As I ponder over these imponderables and a host of others

my heart begins to beet faster and mind boggling thoughts
arise and push my curiosity to higher and higher pitch
and I begin to wonder how forms apparently so simple
‘discovered’or designed and used such complex processes
without any brain or heart or—soul! or with only the later!
while ‘men’ have taken thousands of years to discover
discern, contemplate and comprehend such processes ..

Be that as it may , out of a host of them a few fascinate

excite, thrill or provide food for thought more than others
at any rate:

Oh! how a cell , functioning at ‘nano’ scale,

indulges merrily in‘ cell to cell ‘talk’or tale!
lives and dies according to its own ‘cell fate’
carries on as such from the first to last date
sending and receiving signals in various ways
generating energy by electronic or chemical trails
exploiting molecules atoms protons and electrons
or photons from time to time efficiently in its wake
and what is interesting all the more that some little
unicellular organisms are ‘cleverer’ than others for
they can switch and toggle between various techniques
which their big brothers are unable to undertake .

Yet another process is so arresting you see, some say

that even children are curious to know the way
Wonder of wonders 41

an egg becomes embryo, and an embryo chick ?; and

in the process how cells proceed ,on their own, always
to the right place at the right time in the right way ;!
and organize themselves to form a full chicken anyway
The secret, of course, lies in parental DNA, maternal
cytoplasm and the ability of cells ‘to talk it over’ in the
language of chemistry to tread along a predetermined way.

Many children however like to catch if they can

a caterpillar and ‘make’ their own butterfly
feeling enchanted as it moults again and again
and their instar after instar plays a ‘star’ role
in its transformation into a pupa and by and by
metamorphosing into a beautiful lovely butterfly.

This ‘miracle’ is performed by ‘magician’ hormones you see

which ensure that larva shed s its body but does not die
and dramatically transforms timely into pupa and then in fly;
and may be an inspiration for the Vedic theories** which imply
that Atma is eternal and bodies ephemeral and it continues to
exist permanently only acquiring new body from time to time.
simply

But as the time to say good by approaches

are we prepared to say so as easily as a
caterpillar or pupa of a bee or butter fly ;?
Nay we all spin a cocoon and while in it
want to continue in it indefinitely and
do not want to shed it and fly away to
inhabit another body easily , inspite of all
godly assurances and ancient philosophy .

Na jaaetey mriyatey va kadaachin*

naayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah
ajo nityah shashvato ayam purano
na hanyatey hanyamaaney sharirey ;
Wonder of wonders 42

vasansi jirnani yatha vihaaya*

navani grahnati naro aparani

tatha sharirani vihaya jirnani

nyanyani sanyaati navaani dehi

**Lord Shri Krishna in Gita (chap.2/20-22)

Santosh (Ratan)
5/108 SFS
Mansarovar Jaipur