I am getting familiar with some birdcalls, chirping or singing, which might be in the form of whistling, trills, random sounds, long calls and tuneful singing. Each bird species has its own qualities of rhythm, pitch, tone and repetition. Bird lovers create spectrograms of bird calls to see graphically to appreciate and understand the inner language hidden in these sounds.
The sounds of birds are audible. But there are sounds which they make which are infrasonic, below 20Hz and ultrasonic above 20, 000Hz, which are not audible to humans.
It was while watching and hearing this Rufous tree pie, at dawn perched in a tall bamboo pole, in a quiet village, I got a sense of the different moods that the bird conveyed through its bird call.
The syrynx of birds which produces the sounds give different outputs. The chirp is long or short, loud or soft, repetitive or variable, each corresponding to the mood of the bird at that time. Often it is the male bird which is melodious and tuneful while singing. During the mating season, it is a way of attracting females for dating and courtship. The inner language of bird calls is worth pursuing to get familiar with.
During the twenty minutes when this tree pie was giving away its repetitive bird calls, looking in different directions, I knew that it was likely to attract another tree pie to its vicinity.
That is what happened. Another tree pie arrived and perched on the top of another bamboo pole in the adjacent bamboo grove.
Both of them flew out together from that spot beyond the bamboo grove, in a few minutes. The bird calls stopped once the other tree pie arrived.
The birds too have an inner language of relating, belonging, giving, receiving, and trusting to be partners. About seventy percent of birds have permanent relationships and remain faithful to each other once paired.
Their body language correspond with their bird calls.
The tree pie was not giving away the bird calls in a sterile way, but doing it emotionally and lustily. Its body movements corroborated its intent to be friendly. There was a friendly and inviting intent evident in its movements of the neck.
As I walked back I pondered over the way I communicate the inner language. If the inner language is of concern, listening attitude, friendly disposition and acceptance of the other person, then that would get communicated to create a warm milieu in mutual communication.
This needs sense of presence to align our inner language with the tone and senior of our voice and a language style that is pleasing in the listener's ear.
This becomes important in public speaking. The listeners, if can feel loved, touched and moved by what and how we say, then the speaker becomes present to the interior of the listeners. Sometimes the loudness of our voice, harsh words used, condescending attitude or self promotion will create distance between the speaker and the listeners.
I kept thinking as to whether my facial smile is an expression of the regards towards the other person when I greet him or her! I felt the need to be hesitant to criticise when the other person is not ready to engage in a conversation. When the other person is not ready to listen or respond, my remarks would amount to a unilateral statement and might appear as an accusation. While criticism can be upbuilding when used creatively, an accusatory tone increases the distance in a relationship.
We carry hurts and disappointments and if they alone inhabit our inner self, then the inner language is resentful, reactive or critical. That milieu distances us from others.
The inner language is a mirror of our own attitude to life and living. Even when we face sorrowful or hurting situations, if the peace that dwells in the depth of our being can be experienced, then we shall communicate sober and friendly ambience even in provocative situations. If we stay accepting of ourselves, we would grow to be accepting of others in all situations.
The inner language forms our thoughts and our spoken language connects us and build relationships.
The language of love is a gift we offer to our listeners.
The tree pie offered its language of love through the bird calls and found a friend!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment