Mankind’s tryst with clouds is at least as old as Mahakavi Kalidasa’s Meghaduta, an epic poem written in the fourth or fifth century on an exiled yaksha, pining for his wife, asks a cloud to convey his message to her in the Himalayan city of Alaka.
Clouds are like imagination. They cruise across the sky in myriad shapes, change and adapt, flow and travel. It is amazing to watch the movement of the clouds, an ever-changing canvas in the sky, as the winds and the clouds play a celestial game, in subtle and enchanting shades of white, grey, blue and pinkish-orange. The variety is fascinating — pretty, white clouds, menacing clouds, wispy clouds, et al. One can find meaning in the shapes and figures as one would in a Rorschach test!
There are several references in literature where clouds are likened to stray drifting thoughts. Clouds have often been associated with emotions and romance, where clouds appear to mirror the feelings of the poet or the protagonist, of his situation, mood or need. Many a song in Indian films call upon clouds to play the messenger between star-crossed lovers.
“Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes…” was a very popular song of the 1970s and 1980s, describing the happiness of the singer with her beloved beside her!
In addition to poets, scientists have been interested in clouds. A scientist would define a cloud as a visible accumulation of tiny water droplets or ice crystals formed by the condensation of water vapour in the earth’s atmosphere. Clouds have the uncanny knack of making even an atheist remember his maker, when he experiences a bumpy flight going through a pocket of turbulence. We generally pronounce the sky as either cloudy or clear with a cursory glance, with scarce thought about the 10 basic cloud types — cumulus, cirrus, stratus, nimbus and combinations thereof. Cloud seeding technology seeks to stimulate the life within and improves a cloud’s ability to produce rain. Can we try this with young minds or for the aged with dementia — plant an idea so as to awaken latent potential and help realise enormous and seamless capabilities?
Kelang Gyatso says, “Our mind is like a cloudy sky: in essence clean and pure, but overcast by clouds of delusions. Just as the thickest clouds can disperse, so too even the heaviest delusions can be removed from our mind.” If the sky is overcast and we feel depressed, we must think of the peacocks which dance at the sight of dark, grey clouds because they know that abundance is going to follow and there will be food for the offspring in the season that follows. Could we or should we develop our own ritual to dispel a gathering storm?
Though a cloud may cast a shadow on an otherwise perfectly clear, blue sky, like a worry blotting a carefree existence, every cloud they say has a silver lining. The secret to a happy life is to find the silver lining and to colour one’s life with it. “We all have bad days,” says Miranda Kerr, “but one thing is true; no cloud is so dark that the sun can’t shine through.” We have all been in situations where our minds are clouded by emotion, making rational thinking difficult. Even the sunniest days can have a few clouds in them. As novelist Anais Nin says, “Don’t let one cloud obliterate the whole sky.” Make being on cloud nine your lifestyle! Imagine your thoughts are clouds and let them go by. Choose only those to linger, which are going to nourish and enrich your life.
Virtual cloud
In a world governed by information technology, “cloud” gets a whole new meaning. Data of all kinds are permanently saved and easily accessible because, “Everything is on the cloud!” All data is now stored on a virtual “cloud” in large buildings in some remote corner of the world.
We cook, study, order, do research and communicate through the cloud these days! With cloud computing, cloud kitchens and God knows what else, both real and virtual clouds dot our skies!
Clouds add to the many mysteries of the universe. Rain-bearing clouds are life-givers and support life on Earth. It’s truly magical to see gigantic clouds capable of causing a deluge on earth, being nudged along so easily by gusts of breeze. Come July or August, grey clouds are sure to appear on the horizon, to sustain life for the year ahead. Where do they come from and where do they go? What causes them to precipitate or disappear just so? Who choreographs this magnificent performance? Can we find the answer “on the cloud”?
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