Birds that charm us!

 Some birds stand out by their behaviour and habits. 

This pair of Sunbirds are regular visitors to our courtyard and pause for photographs sometimes. They visit the same place almost every morning and arrive around the same time.  They are present silently with an occasional bird song to guide its pair to the location. They move from one bush to the other in search of nectar. Since the jasmine bush was trimmed, they come searching and leave in a hurry.

They are among the best groomed birds I watch in our garden. They fly elegantly. They make no fuss if Magpie Robins or Barbets or Bulbuls are around. In fact they regard and recognise them. 

I watch these small birds as much they stay in the vicinity of our courtyard. I have a large collection of their photographs taken fairly regularly. 

I learn something from them every time I watch them. They live aware of other avians and are regardful of them.

I have sometimes wondered whether I have fallen in to the trap of listening fatigue! Every time I welcome a family, I wonder whether I am fully present to listen and enter in to their situation. During this season of pandemic, people have more stressful experiences because of which the consultations get longer! The narrations are sometimes awfully disturbing that the tearful narrations make me pause to feel settled before I can proceed. At the end of the day, what I audit for myself is whether I was regardful of each person who came to visit. 

In conversation with a 11 year old boy yesterday, I got to know his struggle to cope with his studies and difficulty to stay attentive during the on-line classes. His performance declined for which he is pulled by the teacher publicly. He feels embarrassed before his classmates. His difficulty to read a text and paraphrase it bothers him a lot. His interest in games and sports is versatile, but opportunities have been denied due to the COVID related restrictions. He would soon return to a regular class room in another two weeks. Although he looks forward to it, he has fears as to how to face his classmates who do not think of him favourably! He is without friends who think of him kindly or sympathetically. He is a silent sufferer. His mother spoke about him with concern and affection. She is at her wits end sometimes when he cannot be consoled for his poor performance in spite of his earnest efforts to study. 

I have my colleagues at work who face many challenges ahead of them. 

As we prepare to enter the tenth year of the department, there is one change that we would go through. The department supported children who have had neurological disorders without obvious developmental disorders, but with another consultant having joined the institution with training in Paediatric neurology, the department where I work would from now on, focus on children with developmental disorders. This might change the profile of the department. But that is how when new specialities get started in a hospital. There is a loss, but the gain might be the prospects of more focus on matters that need attention in our own specialty. 

The Sunbirds being daily visitors bring to me a message of invitation for graceful presence and thoughtful regards towards others!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)