On a cloudy evening, when visibility was not good enough for photography, I captured these pictures of a pair of Bulbuls responding to what they noticed and heard.
There were a few bird calls in the air. The birds sensing rain, normally look for safe shelters.
Initially I thought that the frequently changing body behaviour of the two Bulbuls might be linked to the plan for the flight movement before the rain fall.
I noticed that they stayed on even when the drizzling started!
They looked intently in one direction, which made me scan in the distance anything that might be worrisome for the Bulbuls. There was a large gathering of crows on a palm tree. The cacophony they produced might have been threatening. The tall trees for shelter were located in that direction.
It was evening and the last flight movement of the Bulbuls was hampered by the crows.
That alarmed me about the plight of birds. I received a few pictures from a friend, about predators who search and find nests to consume the eggs in the nest. In one instance, the nest was without the eggs a day later.
The freedom to live and thrive is denied to many. The thousands who get displaced from their homes on account of natural disasters, war, famine, development work related to building roads, housing complexes or commercial spaces experience stress and distress.
This came home to me the other day, when a news report suggested that thousands of fish were floating in a river, which might have been contaminated by untreated chemical effluent discharged in to the river by factories close by.
I was looking for some message of comfort and hope from the prime minister of India, when the unemployment has reached to a monstrous figure, the highest in forty years. When only one out of five youth can find a job, the message of despair is in the air. Instead, during the ongoing election season, I heard the prime minister using divisive or threatening language to gather votes for the political party that he represented. The prime minister has elected himself to be the next prime minister without giving a chance to the members of the parliament elected from his party, to choose a person in a democratic way.
We live in an environment, when those from whom we expect a conciliatory and encouraging message, disappoint us.
Do we live in a hostile environment where others with authority dominate and control!
The Bulbuls hesitating to fly to their shelter on account of the predators around, reminded me of the plight of thousands, who suffer and endure without respite or hope to renew their strength!
The quaker movement also referred to as the Religious Society of Friends, which began in the 17th century, focussed on abolition of slavery, granting equal rights for women and for securing global peace. This movement created history as a catalyst for change without violence or aggression. Their passive resistant movements did wonders in England, Ireland and in the USA.
I remember talking to a senior friend who was active in the above moment and involved in the independence movement in India. Before his home call about ten years ago, his parting message to me was, 'One can represent and communicate truth even if one is alone'!
When I noticed the Bulbuls to be defenceless and forced to stay on in the open when it started raining, I remembered this message of the Quakers- to pursue truth and peace all the time, even if one is alone! Fear of reactions did not stop them from following that enlightened path
This was what the Bulbuls left with me on that evening!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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