The Sunset - Nature's Art with a Message

From today's Island newspaper. Published on the blog earlier, but what appears below is a modified version.

January 5, 2019, 6:17 pm

By Dr. Nihal D. Amerasekera 

"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty if only we have the eyes to see them." — John Ruskin

I have often wondered why sunsets being a natural phenomenon occurring everyday evoke such intense passion and emotion. Is it the crimson glow that mesmerise us?  But we never pine for the day that’s gone! The combination of the sun, the clouds and their reflection on the water gives the sunset a magical status.  Light reflecting from the setting sun behind a city skyline or a distant mountain, with bright orange hues are a magnificent spectacle of mystical charm. I am reminded of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem "Stray Birds"

"Clouds come floating into my life,

no longer to carry rain or usher storm,

but to add colour to my sunset sky."

There is something very soothing for the soul in looking at the sky. When darkness overcomes us we tend to look to the skies. Tagore’s message is something to remember when we behold those enchanting sunsets in the midst of tough times.

Sunsets mirror our lives in many ways. They are transient. Although unfailingly regular it’s never the same in appearance even at the same venue. So much like our own lives changing from day to day and from year to year, sometimes the ‘clouds’ hiding the beauty within.

Sunset ushers in the end of the day and the conclusion of our toils. It brings on the silence of the night and the peace that comes with it.  During my sojourn in Arabia I found the Muhsin’s melodious evening call for prayer from his minaret, hypnotic, as the sunset across the ever-changing sand dunes. I grew up living opposite a church in Nugegoda. Every evening at 6 pm the church bells rang rhythmically and gave us kids a clue it is time to wind down and find refuge in our homes. This reminds me of Gray’s Elegy written in a Country Churchyard.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,

The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,

And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

By Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

Despite its beauty Sunset ushers in the dusk, darkness and drawbacks. It is true people don’t fear the darkness of the night as they used to. In the tropics, the night energisers hordes of mosquitoes to torment us in waves! Worldwide it is a busy time for thieves and burglars to earn their living, leaving behind a catalogue of grief.

Sunsets we have stored in our memories are linked to places and people. In 1962 my parents lived in Weligama. It was a daily ritual to visit the Rest House to see the setting sun and watch the fishing boats with their flickering lamps disappear into the horizon. This also brings back the joys of my youth when I had all my life before me. It is a reminder of the time spent with my parents and their infinite love and care. When my best friend was a doctor in Hingurakgoda in 1971, I spent a weekend with him. One evening we sat on the bund of the Minneriya Tank watching the sun go down. The sky was orange with a dazzlingly beautiful cloud formation. There were flocks of geese flying in V- formation while a multitude of bats were taking to the skies. I remember with such clarity hearing a lone bamboo flute playing the haunting melody of "Ranwan Karalin Pasila" made famous by Susil Premaratne. It was a sublime experience. Sadly, my friend and his wife are no more and my parents too have now crossed the vale. But I will cherish these effusive memories forever.

I am born a dreamer. Once it nearly cost me my life. I was living at the Jeewaka Medical Hostel in 1966 and was preparing for the "finals". It was a comfortable but humble dwelling on Turret Road. After a long afternoon of study, I walked to the Colpetty beach with a friend, to sit on a rock and watch the sunset. We often talked about things spiritual to relax and unwind. As darkness fell we started to walk back, deep in thought. When I was about to cross the railway line, my friend pulled me back with great force - and I saw the train go whizzing past me. I could feel the heat of the steam and coal and was just inches away from a certain death.

It must be the diurnal variations caused by our hormones which make us more serene and emotional past sunset and a lot more amorous and sensual too. With all its beauty, sunset ushers in a seedy aspect to life and none more graphic than the wartime music of Marlene Dietrich, then a symbol of sophistication and titillation. These were popular when WWII was raging. The song ‘Lili Marlene’ conjures up images of a young lady waiting under a gas street lamp for her Army lover to return.

Underneath the lantern

By the barrack gate

Darling I remember

The way you used to wait

‘Twas there that you whispered tenderly

That you loved me

You’d always be ………

My Lili of the lamplight

My own Lili Marlene

Everything that has a beginning also has an end. For the light of the day, sunset is its end. It is a reminder for us all of our own mortality and also a memory of those who have gone before us. It enlightens us to use our time wisely and to keep our thoughts calm and peaceful. For us older folk, these are our sunset years. The simple thought that we leave this earth as we came, with nothing, appeals to our generosity and altruism.

In my retirement I made a special attempt to see the places I’ve always wanted to see. I recall with much nostalgia the sunset at Angkor Wat seen from the top of the thousand year old temple. It is now being restored by the Cambodian government. The southern hemisphere has its own beguiling sunsets. Gordon’s Bay sheltered by the Helderberg mountains in Cape town provides a wonderful vantage point to watch the sunset knowing well there is no land beyond its horizon before the South Pole. South America is unlike anywhere else on earth for its climate, mood and scenery. Sunsets across the breath-taking landscape of the Atacama Desert showing the reflections of the sky on the sand dunes is stunning. The kaleidoscope of vivid colours at sunset seen across the Magellan straits in Punta Arenas in Chile is an awesome spectacle that will remain with me forever.

I have kept the best for the last. A visit to Agra is a unique experience as it unravels its enigmatic mysteries of the Mughal Empire. The sad story of the Taj Mahal has resonated through history and its magical beauty fails to hide its grief and torment. The sunset beyond the Yamuna river with the shiny white marble of the Taj Mahal as a back drop is a sight fit for the Gods.

My grateful thanks go to my parents for taking me to watch this nature’s beauty as a child. My life was enriched by the sunsets I saw from the historical elegance of the Ramparts in Galle, the splendour of the Galle Face Green and by the weathered rocks near the New Rest House in Negombo. Although I preferred to suck Aleric’s Ice Cream and chase frolicking brown crabs in the sand, the sunsets have left a lasting impression on my psyche to bring peace to my soul

.I dedicate this note to my parents as they lie in the Churchyard of St Mary and St John in Nugegoda listening to the tolling of Church Bells, in calm silence. May their Souls Rest in Peace.

Meanwhile the sun will continue to rise and set until the end of time.