Meramec Cavern

When you travelled across United States all through you don't miss a glaringly noticeable feature, that is it's enormous land. We know how it measured , but we feel it's hugeness only when we travel through it. Passing through miles and miles of uninhabited lands, scattered human dwelling, flowing rivers and swelling huge lakes, humongous canyons, astounding mountains, extensive lawns, expansive green belts, ungrazed priories, high mounds, what it really means to be vast is only to be seen and experienced.. India is a big country too. Travelling from one state to another is a painful thing considering our moderate transportation and road conditions. There are many places where I have not stepped into. But with no exception almost all the places are overcrowded and the land virtually looks inadequate. The lakes, mountains, riverbeds, valleys, peaks, plains, every place is occupied and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a tranquil place. Forests have been cleared and cultivated. Waters have been contaminated. Almost nature has lost it's lustriousness and placidity.

This country restored my confidence that there remain few places on earth where human inhabiting, still not a threat to the nature preservation. .Things with different objectives can peacefully coexist. Some places on the map are yet not on the brink. I can imagine that these places when they were under the control of native Indians would have been almost impenetrable. If we enquire the natives aged over 60 or 70 they would account for the destruction made here too.

As the days pass by miles and miles with no trace of human being make you increasingly restless over a period. The vastness appeals almost to the point of dullness. The wilderness to the point of distress.The loneliness to the point of morbidness.The compelling powerlessness that make you sterile. One morning I suddenly wake up and ask myself "Where are my people?". I don't hear anything but the sloshing waters, and rumbling winds. Occasionally one would would crave to retreat to the crazy noises, mad chuckles, and machine honking. It is a kind of retreat to the invisible interconnectedness between humans.

I was travelling again to the caves, chiefly accredited with Jessey James hiding. I wondered why a place is so significant after a bandit? I know in India it will not happen. It is a country where belligerence is not state culture, and gun is not a household possession. It is a country where the next door man is not quickly suspected. It is a country where people were not easily killed for petty reasons. I found my answers when I carefully studied the case of Jessy James a falsely attributed "Robbin Hood " a robber, a betrayed gangster, after civil war hero. Hollywood had found a subject worth 20 movies in succession!

The scenic beauty of the place quite a thing. Trees stood like mangroves in the overflowing waters bordering the caves. Where does the water come from? Quite a puzzle. But it twisted and curved and goes farther and farther into woods. The very entrance of the caves looked gigantic and and caves looked very long ( approximately 7.5 Km). Very few telling about Jessey James, but the rest of things like flowing underwater, and the year long uniform temperature of 60 F were seemingly interesting facts. . Living in the damp caves for a long without a ray of light or sunbeam could throw a man into deep depression.

I did not learn a bit about the caves before stepping into them as I wanted learn every single detail from my tour guide. But the guide being too American in accent, only few mutterings could be deciphered. Few minutes walk into the caves really made me astonished by their grandeur . For few minutes I thought it was perfectly reconstructed, until I found stalactites and stalagmites. My God! I have never seen a thing like this before!

I did not come knowing what existed here . It was like pleasant surprise to me. They looked so wonderful and looked like a mystic mistake the nature had indulged into. The calcium deposits slowly dripping through cracks like frozen waters take one hundred years to make one cubic inch. A person can spend his whole life in observation, yet could only find an inch length of speleothem. At this rate there is no wonder they took 400 million years to take this shape. They were wonderfully lighted , walkways thoughtfully made, an systematically shown as in case of any other thing in Us.

The vine room, supposedly the largest in the world, at height of 58 steps away in the caves is worth the sweat. The stalactites take the form of grape bunches as if they have forgotten to drip down. When we come down we find the the still water in a pond no more than two feet deep, reflecting the high dome creating an illusion of 50 feet deep in water. We walked into the cavern for a mile or so. There is always a water dripping through their ceilings and a stream flowing alongside. It was amazing sight. We could not go further as we were told that the caves deep inside are home for numerous bats and water animals. So we turned back. My visit to the caves was most satisfying experience. I thought I was privileged to see one of the wonders, the world has to offer, specially when it is unknown phenomenon in my country.