Waymarks on a Journey
19 March, 2024
Seeing in the twilight!
17 March, 2024
The dew of Kindness !
The morning sight of the dew covered flowers gave our garden a splendid look till the end of February.
The appearance of the flowers now, as seen in the photographs below, is different. Although summer has set in, and there is no more dew, the lilies look fresh and colourful.
I noticed a Kingfisher returning to the cable with a grass hopper in its mouth. That is when I remembered that the stream below us is with scanty water with only occasional movement of fish, since summer has set in. The Kingfisher has to look for an alternative to its first choice of feed.
The nutmeg trees in our garden need to be irrigated on alternate days, due to the soaring day temperature, which makes the soil dry. It was common to watch cows and goats grazing in the field during the day, which too is not in sight due to the heat of the day. Also the grass on the ground has withered.
16 March, 2024
A family of birds !
14 March, 2024
From Being to Becoming
10 March, 2024
Towards an integrated view and practice!
The usual practice in photography is to crop pictures to highlight what is in the Photographer's optic. I followed that cropping process to the serial phots of this Kingfisher in our garden, who was perched about 150 meters away. That was the nearest distance I could reach for taking the pictures of the kingfisher.
Three changes occurred as I kept cropping the photos to get a micro view. First the larger view around the bird got obliterated. Second the visibility of the bird improved. Third the last two photographs appeared noisy. The feathers were not looking crisp and sharp.
The advantages and disadvantages of the art of cropping photographs!
This gave me an insight about the way we process every information we receive. Our mind through its optic of pre-existing ideas, thoughts, or bias filters the information and decodes it to fit into our existing opinion or a new opinion we are conditioned by our overview on that issue. This has its advantages and disadvantage. It is good to use our knowledge to process an information and interpret it ethically and discerningly. The disadvantage, is that most information we process in this fashion looses its objectivity and factuality it deserves when we interpret it subjectively.
How to then, have a macro and micro view of information we receive so that we look for an all rounded view of facts and information !
The political climate in India is now charged with the election pitch of campaigning for electing a national government for the next five years. What I encounter in the political narrative is accusation and counter accusation. We disregard human worth and highlight human vulnerability and acts of commission and omission.
One thing that the Kingfisher maintained in the macro and micro views of the photos is its colourfulness and elegance. That did not change.
I wish we learn to view and receive others as they are rather than distort them and their behaviour through the optic we introduce through our personal preferred narration.
One can use any brand of car to travel form one place to another to reach the destination. Each car has its strengths and weaknesses. But each carries the passengers.
It is the political ideology or the means we advocate to reach our destination that really matters.
The way we are and behave is determined by our inner beliefs and orientation. One political party in India has brought a strong sense of coherence by bringing religious sentiments to the political narrative. Another political party attempts to retain a secular and social outlook to its ideology.
Both political parties need to get the picture of the reality. The reality is that there is increasing unemployment, disparity between the rich and poor, and alienation of the base of pyramid of the population from moving upward socially and economically. One rich family can spend millions of rupees for a pre marriage function, where as there are millions of farmers and artisans trapped in debt and distress. When we live in such a polarised social climate, what we need is to return to ask a fundamental question: who is our focus!
The kingfisher and all around it brings the fullness to our view. I got an enlarged view of the Kingfisher but a reduced view of all that was around it, during the cropping process. The pre-cropped and cropped view together bring wholeness.
The tree and the forest are equally important! One cannot miss the tree for the wood or vice versa.
Towards an integrated view, orientation and living- to me that comes as a calling for a family, society, nation and organisations!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
09 March, 2024
A morning routine!
I have a collection of photos of this Kingfisher, engaged in its feeding trip. It was perched above a stream, watching carefully the movement of the fish in the stream.
It dived into the water and returned to the wall of our garden, at the boundary, adjacent to the stream with a fish in its beaks and swallowed it when it was no more moving between the beaks.
It stayed for a while in that position after the feed.
Then it took a position on the wall, looking down into the stream to wait for another catch.
I had to move away after fifteen minutes, when the Kingfisher was still waiting for its next feed.
I have seen similar behaviours on some occasions, which made me think that it was the same Kingfisher, choosing the same place and pattern.
I feel fascinated by this morning routine of a kingfisher. It starts the day with its breakfast!
Around 8 am in the morning I have sometimes noticed a Kingfisher on a tall tree engaging in bird calls. To hear that call is refreshing, because by then, most birds have left our garden after the morning short visit. The Kingfisher is in our garden even during the noon time on some days. The stream below our property and the canal that flows though our property give the Kingfishers a reason to be around for the day.
For me its colourfulness, neatly groomed body, attentive look, long beaks and brisk movements while diving into the water are fascinating sights.
A bird receives no assistance for its survival and daily needs from any source. Yet, they receive what they need for each day! Their restful and planned behaviour offer an antidote to anxiety prone living and stressful pursuit for upward mobility!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
A difficulty is an opportunity
Till about three weeks ago, the plants bore an ornamental look in the morning, with water drops covering them. The night temperature was low.
Now the plants, buds and flowers look dry in the morning with the night temperature shooting up. The days are hot and humid.
What is sad is that bird movements in our garden have decreased. Many birds seem to have moved away with only a few making thier regular visits.
The Magpie robins , three of them were around our cottage making bird calls tunefully. One of them who visits in the morning is silent. It does not receive reciprocal calls from others. Is that the reason that the one visiting is mostly silent!
A kingfisher comes near our cottage and makes bird calls in the morning. That is a pleasant sight and a welcome interruption to the silence of the morning.