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The CICADA


By Dr. R Sudarshan

After climbing a dozen moringa trees and spending hours looking for them, one Cicada appeared, allowing us near, and readers, to feel its impression, look at the above portrait!

SILENCE OF THE BIRDS - The CHANTING CICADAS 

Suddenly this week, hundreds of male Cicadas took up their position high in the trees and began to chant. Their combined decibel value can be over 120 and their warble is like a dozen chainsaws grinding the wood. The birds are almost silent now OR you just don't hear them. It is all the way a symposium of critters, mainly on the moringa trees.

There isn't a person on the planet that has not heard the Cicada chant. They are everywhere except on poles. And their summer rush into farms and forests indicates the health of the green. They are as common as they are exclusive. Most of them hide in the soil when born and come out only after 15 to 17 years and climb a tree to chant. Thus in many cultures, they are symbolic of immortality. Their Tymbal membranes vibrate 400 times in a second to give out that rambling sound. They don't harm, they don't bite, they simply come out once in as many years only to chant, mate, and go out of sight just in a few weeks.

It is so hard to see them. But when they swarm the farm, that's a sign that all is fine.

For any relevant query, message 81051 12990.

* * *

Padma Farms (Gaddige Road), Farmer's House, 1A, 13th Cross, Kalidasa Road, VV Mohalla, Mysore.

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Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

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