The morning scene in our garden yesterday, was similar to the routines of the mornings, when the birds gather in the flight stations. A red vented Bulbul, a Tailor bird, a squirrel, and a pair of red whiskered Bulbuls were perched in two adjacent trees. A red whiskered Bulbul was at the feeding table, waiting to feed!
That is when a surprise below caught my attention. The Cedar Bay Cherry tree had raw berries in their blossoms, which would turn to dark grey when ripe. Now the berries were green and raw.
The red vented Bulbul moved through the foliage of the tree consuming the raw berries!
The red vented Bulbul stayed perched in the adjacent tree after this feeding expedition, content and ready to fly away.
A red vented Bulbul behaved differently from the other birds, who too are fond of berries. It did not mind if the berry was not ripe or succulent.
The odd behaviour or a behaviour different from the expected or what is commonly observed often raises eye brows when parents observe it in their children.
A mother observed that a three year old child often picked up leaves from the ground and had a large collection of them. For the mother it was an aberrant behaviour. It was when the child got an art book and colouring pencil set for his birthday, the parents felt surprised by what he did. He tried reproducing the size, shape and colour of the leaves he had gathered in the art book! He filled all the twenty pages of the art book to the surprise of all. He had an album of leaves at the age of three years. For parents, it became the gateway to discover more creative abilities in their son.
What appears different might not be an aberration or odd behaviour!
I wish parents view what they see in the behaviour of their pre-school children as an occasion to be more observant of their child to discern the hidden treasures in a child! This calls for patience and openness to observe the behaviour through the optic of the mystery that remains hidden in a pre-school child.
I remember a mother recalling how her five year daughter could bake a cake all by herself and decorate it for her younger brother's birthday party!
The red vented Bulbul broke the avian tradition of waiting for the fruits to ripen! I have a suspicion that the bird was juvenile and was therefore less experienced in finding a feed.
A home is a place for children to be themselves ! A child is a mystery and every child becomes a delight as much as parents can celebrate the unfolding of the person!
When children have some special needs, even that becomes an opportunity to enable them to become what they can be!
A child is larger than our first impressions!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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