I took time on one morning to watch the movements of birds towards our feeding station, since the time the first serving of banana fruits were given around 6 am in the morning. In about five minutes, the Bulbuls appeared for their feed. Most of these Bulbuls are residents in our garden.
They formed into two groups.
A good number of them scattered themselves in the trees as in the above photographs, from where they can watch the feeding station. It is from their perches in these trees, they flew down to the feeding bowl.
The photos below of the second group Bulbuls show how they shared the meal time. A few of them flew in and out following their meal. All the birds perched in the trees had their turn for feeding.
I refilled the bowl three times during this ritual.
The photo below is that of two Bulbuls arriving in the tree, below which was the feeding station, following the bird calls of the Bulbuls who had their morning meal.
The bird behaviour of the Bulbul family is a fascinating aspect of the collaborative life they live.
They care for others.
The Barbets or a squirrel who also visit the feeding station become part of this meal time ritual.
As Anna and I get to observe these natural scenes in avian behaviour, we feel moved by the order that some bird families follow to be fraternal!
The Bulbuls have a filial attachment. They share that with birds of other species.
The opportunities are not equal for all people, who live around us. There is chasm between people. The haves and have nots still follow two parallel paths.
The stories of men and women engaged in bridging this gap often move us. A tribal community in north Kerala who weave bamboo baskets contributed large sum of money to the collector's fund to help the people displaced from their homes in the recent landslide in Wayanad. Their gift was like the offering a widow who put two coins in the offertory in the synagogue, about which Jesus of Nazareth made a mention, 'She out of her poverty put in all she owned, gave all she had to live on' !(Mark 12:44).
This form of giving from the abundance of goodwill, is what sustains human life.
Anna and I had an opportunity recently to meet Johny and Mercy Oommen, after their retirement from the mission hospital at Bissamcuttack. Johny apart from pioneering initiatives in community health, invested his time to create a residential school for tribal children in their community, which stands as a gateway for children to find opportunities for higher education. Mercy gave her efforts to design the nursing college in the hospital to offer opportunities for women in the local communities to be trained in nursing. Their focus on children and women created a new world of opportunities, which change the prospects of many families to move upward socially and financially. This came out of a couple's spontaneous self giving of all that they had!
It is in giving we create pathways for others to walk in and find a future of hope!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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