India, Aug. 10 -- So polluted and murky have we made our waters that a Narcissus would be hard put to find a pool of pure water in our times. One so clear that he could gaze upon his reflection in the depths and fall in love with himself! Well, if one retreats from the madding crowds and voyages afar from road-heads into the foothills, there are jungle pools created in monsoon's wake that would indulge a Narcissus with a crystal-clear mirror held to his beautiful face.

A five-km trek into the ravines and along the rivulet feeding Siswan dam brought me to a transparent pool corralled by boulders. It was a piece of the blue planet in its purest manifestation. There were Paradise flycatchers in rufous morph sallying forth to hawk insects an...