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Content Tip
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Write
Articles to share your ideas, views and experiences.
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Fuchsite
I was camping
near Nathdwara about 60 km away from Udaipur City in Rajasthan.
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Nathdwara is
the place of famous temple of Meera Bai who was a devotee of Lord Krishna
and a legendary figure. She wrote many bhajans praising Lord Krishna in
her own style. Born in early 16th century, Meerabai belonged to the royal
family of Mewar. She renounced the luxuries of royal life and became an
ardent devotee of lord Krishna and started living at this place. I visited
the temple observing every minute architecture and the idols that were
kept inside the temple.
Being a
geologist, my natural inquisitiveness had drawn me to study
the intricate mineralogical art works on the temple.
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Strangely
enough, I saw that some of the idols were ornamented with emerald green
coloured necklace, and further these unique emerald green minerals were
engraved on the walls of the temple. It glittered and gave a pleasant
atmosphere within the temple even surpassing the glamour of the diamond
eye in the original idol of Lord Krishna.
I was engaged
in the geological work around this place of Nathdwara. The area was a
peneplained domain of granite gneissic rocks and more than 3000 million
years old. Interestingly,
within this gneissic rock a lot of hillocks of quartz-fuchsite bands
show the effect of fold movement synchronous to the changes in the
direction of gneissic band. They form hillocks of beautiful
semicircular bands. This quartz-fuchsite rock can be literally traced
within the gneissic rock. I used to enjoy working around this hillock of
fuchsite. It was a strange feeling of an unknown attraction of the mineral
fuchsite. I used to hammer the rock and tried to get a lump of pure
fuchsite. The mineral had an attractive emerald green colour with flaky
crystal habit. In fact, the mineral was a chrome muscovite. Its green
colour was due to chromium within its lattice structure. One day at
about 25 km south of Nathdwara, I was surveying the area and was following
a foot track to reach a small mound, marked in the survey of India's
toposheet.
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I could locate
that small hillock over which a group of small local children were playing
and a group of people were merrily observing them. I climbed up that small
hill and was eager to examine the rocks. I took out my hammer and was
about to hit, when the people around came running to me. They started
telling not to break the rock there. So I stopped breaking but to my utter
dismay I could see the entire slope of the adjacent hill. Yes! the same
deep emerald green colour was glittering all around the hill slope. A nice
and pleasant feeling prevailed over there. I suddenly became aware that
the people around were observing my speechless astounding moment with
their innocent smiles.
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Some one told
in their language "Sahab this hill is a sacred one, our ancestors came and
settled here. We came to know from one generation to another that this
hill is a sacred one. Do you not see that the surroundings are full of joy
and happiness! We are here since 500 years when our beloved mother
Meera bai built the famous Nathdwara temple!" I could really
feel the influence of emerald green coloured fuchsite a deep mantle
mineral everywhere. I handed over the hammer to my field guide and started
observing the children playing over there.
Contributing Author: The author,
Mr. Asimendu Bandopadhyay, uses his free time in writing. He has developed
a writing style revealing the bondage of nature and the life. He wants to
share & communicate those events of his own with the readers for their
valuable feelings and interactions. The author was
working as a Director in Geological Survey of India in the last phase
of his service career. In his younger days worked in various field of
geology with background of foreign training in United Kingdom under United
Nations Development Programme Scheme in Marine Exploration. He gathered
vast experience both in land and Ocean. Active participation as Chief
Scientist in as many as 15 different geological cruises in the Bay of
Bengal is in his credit. He took part in search of Fe-Mn nodules cruising
45 days at a stretch in sea in the Indian Ocean in Skandy Surveyor, a
Norwegian Research Vessel. Published scientific papers in national and
international journals. Besides scientific milieu, came across many
human-inhuman experiences. Vast field of Rajasthan, the place of desert
and his initial placement in the job ended in the deep sea through
majestic happenings covering human feelings and scientific search.
asimendubandopadhyay@yahoo.co.in
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