CAMOUFLAGE - A MYSTICAL CURTAIN
CAMOUFLAGE - A MYSTICAL CURTAIN
Camouflage is a defense or tactic that organisms and objects use to blend into their surroundings, making them difficult to see. It relies on coloration, patterning, or shape to conceal presence, either to hide from predators or to ambush prey.
Camouflage, also called cryptic coloration, is a defense mechanism or tactic that organisms use to disguise their appearance, usually to blend in with their surroundings. Organisms use camouflage to mask their location, identity, and movement.
A species’ camouflage depends on several factors. The physical characteristics of the organism are important. Animals with fur rely on different camouflage tactics than those with feathers or scales, for instance. Feathers and scales can be shed and changed fairly regularly and quickly. Fur, on the other hand, can take weeks or even months to grow in. Animals with fur are more often camouflaged by season. The arctic fox, for example, has a white coat in the winter, while its summer coat is brown.
A species’ camouflage is also influenced by the behavior or characteristics of its predators. If the predator is color-blind, for example, the prey species will not need to match the color of its surroundings. Lions, the main predator of zebras, are color-blind. Zebras’ black-and-white camouflage does not need to blend in with their habitat, the golden savanna of central Africa.
Chameleons change colors in order to communicate. When a chameleon is threatened, it does not change color to blend in with its surroundings. It changes color to warn other chameleons that there is danger nearby.
Background matching is perhaps the most common camouflage tactic. In background matching, a species conceals itself by resembling its surroundings in coloration, form, or movement. In its simplest form, animals such as deer and squirrels resemble the “earth tones” of their surroundings. Fish such as flounder almost exactly match their speckled seafloor habitats.
Ghillie Suits
Ghillie suits are a type of camouflage used by the military and hunters to blend in with thick vegetation. In addition to patterns of contrasting green or khaki, ghillie suits feature elements of foliage from the area: twigs, leaves, and branches.
In Australia, Ghillie suits are nicknamed "Yowies" for their resemblance to the Yowie, a mythical creature similar to Bigfoot.
Movies and drama series were made to highlight the effect of camouflage. There are many movies made in the Japanese language about Camouflage.
An image from Camouflage, a Japanese drama series
CAMOUFLAGE BY RISHI PARASHARA:
Matsyagandha ferried people across the Ganga. One day, she found herself ferrying a sage called Parashara. Midstream, near a river island, the sage expressed his desire to make love to Matsyagandha and have a child with her. ‘No one will marry me if you do this, she said with concern.
‘Don’t worry, ‘ said the sage, drawing a curtain of mist - a camouflage - over the ferry. “With my magical powers, I will ensure that you will bear a child instantly and regain your virginity”, said Parashara. And you will never ever smell of fish anymore. Your body will give out a fragrance that men will find irresistible.
Before the ferry reached the other shore, Matsyagandha had become a lover, then a mother, then a virgin, and finally a fragrant woman. The child born of this union was raised by Parashara. He was named Krishna Dwaipaina, the dark child delivered on a river island. Eventually, he became known as Vyasa, who compiled the sacred scripture of the Mahabharata.
In the meantime, I would like to mention that Matsyagandha was not an ordinary woman but a princess.
Satyavati was not an ordinary fisher woman. Her father was a King called Uparichara, who, during the course of a hunt, had rested under a tree in the forest, thought of his wife, and ejected a joyful spurt of semen. With the intention of not wasting this semen, he wrapped it in a leaf, gave it to a parrot, and requested it to carry it to his wife so that she could bear a child with it.
A few days later, some fishermen caught this fish and found in its belly twin children, a boy and a girl. The fishermen gifted these children to King Uparichara, who accepted the male child but let the female child be fostered by the fisherfolks. The chief of the fisherfolks adopted the girl and raised her as his own daughter. She was called Satyavati but teased as Matsyagandha for she smelt dreadfully of fish.
Now you know her story mentioned above with Rishi Parashara.
The writer recalls seeing a Japanese movie in which some youths sat on a bamboo stage in front of a river, camouflaged or with a mystical screen.
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