The Shared World of Small Lives

The Shared World of Small Lives

This reflective poem begins with ordinary domestic incidents—ants in gram, pests in the grains, insects in storage, contamination, and a frog in the kitchen—and gradually widens into a meditation on survival, vigilance, hygiene, coexistence, and Nature’s shared habitation. It reminds us that even the smallest lives shape our daily existence, and that living well demands both care and awareness in a world inhabited by many forms of life.

Many issues I pass always; many erupt suddenly and need dealing with.
Simple interactions occur around, guzzling attention & needing small cures.

I came from Delhi yesterday, as usual, and prepared milk tea at home.
And added ginger, cloves, saunf, black pepper, Tulsi, ilaichi, & curry leaves.
Then I took some dry edible items available here in the house cupboard—
Parched gram, rice chidwa, dry fruit laddu, cashew nuts, & pistachios.

There is a small four-chamber plastic container jar kept at hand.
Different eatables are kept therein for us as and when required.
At present, they hold parched desi & Kabuli chana, and namkeen.
The fourth chamber is vacant and can be used in due course.

I saw some small ants inside the desi chana container there.
They had entered quietly through some opening in the lid.
In plenty, they were consuming the grams as their own food.
So it became necessary to vacate the pot and clear the chamber.

I took the container’s grains onto a plate so the ants could escape.
Then I cleared the chamber, though some might still be there.
So I shall shift the remaining crumbs on the plate elsewhere.
Such simple acts too demand time, care, attention, & remedies.

I see small pests enter various food items and quietly feed there.
Eating the core of lentils, peas, & nuts, they remain hidden inside.
Poking tiny holes, they turn grain into powder, leaving the outer fluff.
Then they multiply in numbers and quietly cause real harm.

I have seen this pattern with moong dal & chana kept at home.
These pests hollowed them, and I had to throw them out.
They seem to enter from nowhere and work in very tiny ways.
Yet they can spoil good stored food in a very short time.

In the last few days, such tiny ants had eaten my cashew nuts.
They left some powder only, and the nuts were almost finished.
Then I shifted them to another jar and changed their position.
Now it seems safer inside the cupboard, for the time being.

From my childhood, I know ghun, sursi, and worms in wheat grains.
They used to eat a great deal of them in the stored gunny bags.
My father washed the wheat and dried it in the sun for cleanliness.
Then it was ground into flour for making rotis and other uses.

A lot of food grains, lentils, grams, and similar things are eaten.
Even when we do care, these tiny creatures still find some entry.
Nowadays, with airtight containers, the problem is somewhat reduced.
But that too is only to some extent, in homes & on smaller levels.

People store grains in containers of glass, plastic, or metal.
Still, the issue remains, though controlled by better storage now.
But at a massive stockist level, great losses surely happen still.
A good deal is wasted through such nuisance and hidden damage.

Biology and Agri-Products Sciences study such losses in full detail.
Heavy damage caused by these pests is carefully examined there.
Farmers, stockists, & households deal with them in different ways.
With new techniques, some rescue & prevention may be possible.

Similarly, rodents eat many grains & foods, and spoil them badly.
Dealing with them, too, is difficult in houses and stores alike.
In harvested crops, a great deal is eaten by birds in the fields.
And people use several tactics and scares to save the grain.

Tiny organisms are entities equipped with survival tactics and likes.
They pierce, sneak through polythene, papers, and hidden openings.
With a small quantity of food, they may grow in large numbers.
They reach places we often think are safely closed and protected.

They are everywhere on earth, in the air, water, and around us.
Outside and inside animals, plants, and even our bodies, too.
Below the outer bark of trees, many small beings take shelter.
They eat pulp, flowers, fruits, leaves, and live in hidden layers.

Some termites infest wood and feed steadily upon its body.
Only a few kinds of wood remain more resistant to such attacks.
I see insects making holes or pits almost anywhere around.
They find leakages easily, climb great distances, and settle quietly.

We may appreciate it or not, this world is their abode too.
They exist in numbers far beyond many visible larger life-forms.
Nature has given us all certain means needed for our survival.
And they too persist wherever conditions favour their quiet growth.

In our bodies, mainly the mouth and intestines, microbes remain.
They enter through the air & water, and the food we consume.
Many are harmless, some useful, and others harmful in neglect.
So we must keep cleanliness, caution, and proper habits regularly.

In animals, too, many parasites and insects cause pain and suffering.
And it becomes difficult to remove them fully in many conditions.
In our hair, lice find a place; bedbugs earlier multiplied in rope cots.
They sucked blood and caused a great deal of discomfort then.

Mosquitoes are a nuisance all over, and we make arrangements always.
Still, in many conditions, they remain in great plurality around us.
Similarly, houseflies are also a great nuisance in warm climates.
They spread filth around food and make cleanliness more difficult.

In wounds, bacteria may enter, and neglected flesh may worsen further.
Sometimes even larvae appear, and treatment may need surgery too.
I see animals suffer from such infections and infestations greatly.
Thus, small unseen life can become serious trouble through neglect.

We see monkeys grooming each other to remove pests and pain.
Even cows, hippos, and others let birds pick their parasites.
They are profuse in sewers, dustbins, peeled vegetables, & rotten fruits.
They are in waters too; we filter and boil before drinking.

Nowadays, with RO systems, potable water is commonly available.
Yet they spoil food, turn milk sour, and make many things unusable.
Even in our refrigerators, eatables last only for some time.
So we use them quickly before they lose freshness and turn stale.

Living is certainly difficult; we must find ways to remain fresh.
Otherwise, pests & microbes can damage much around & within us.
Yet they, too, are Earth’s inhabitants, living by Nature’s own laws.
So care, balance, and vigilance must remain part of daily living.

Recently, I saw a frog sitting on my gas stove in the kitchen.
It was in the Berhampur house, quite unexpectedly present.
My house is on the third floor, and high above the ground.
Then how did it reach there, to that place in the kitchen?

My office boy, Krushna, said monkey tree frogs can jump high.
These local benga frogs can climb or leap over great heights.
I threw it outside the window twice, picking it up with a cloth.
Krushna too did so twice, and still it or another came back.

So now I have closed the kitchen windows more carefully.
Even such a small visitor teaches how shared this world is.
We guard our homes, yet Nature appears in many forms.
And living means caution, coexistence, and attention every day.

 

Pawan Kumar,

27^th May 2026, Wednesday, Time 5.08 P.M.

(From my diary, Berhampur (Odisha), 24th July 2025, Thursday, 9.45 A.M.)