Strange behaviour

One of the good things of the convalescent period after surgery is that, I am less mobile and therefore can spend more time sitting and watching the sights all around. There are some sights that hold my attention during such occasions.

I have a good view of the trees and shrubs through the window, where I spend most of the day.

The morning scenes such as what happened today  is indeed special.

The lone monkey who was in the garden, looked most playful and was jumping from one branch to the other. Suddenly it became still and froze into one position for a while. That is when I noticed that a wood pecker  had arrived on the adjacent tree. This wood pecker was looking around and seems to have noticed the monkey. It kept looking intently in the direction of the monkey.

I have no idea of the chemistry between a monkey and a wood pecker. But one thing was true that the monkey stayed still in that position for abut ten minutes, till the wood pecker flew away. The monkey too disappeared after that. 

A wood pecker seems to have had a frightening effect on a monkey. There are several territorial and hierarchical conventions birds and animals follow in nature. 

This reminded me of what happens in real life. Few weeks back, I avoided hiring an autorikshaw parked inside the compound of a railway station as my earlier experiences of their rude behaviour made me uncomfortable. I walked towards the exit gate and was about to get into an auto, when some drivers who were following me stopped me from doing so, as autos other than the ones parked inside the station compound could not pick up passengers from the station. I refused to be dragged into more difficulty and moved to the bus stand to catch a bus. I have seen this happen in other stations as well.

We encounter many such instances in real life, where people exert authority over us and make us feel deprived of our freedom.

The best gift we can offer to others is to value and esteem them. This is the only way we recognise the dignity of others as created beings. We promote social well being and harmony by polite, courteous and meek behaviour towards others. There is no place for arrogance, threatening, or manipulation in our relationships with others. We serve each other for the common good of all. The least among us is worthy of the same regard and respect we offer to people who matter. This is how we nurture human brotherhood in an environment of tensions, conflicts and anger. William Barclay, a writer of great repute, referred to the Beatitudes Jesus of Nazareth as the 'soul of all relationships'.

It was only later I realised that, as a nation we remember the 144 birth anniversary of Mohandas Karanchand Gandhi, who was an apostle of peace, non-violence and truth.

M.C.Mathew (text and file photo)