Learning from a distraction!

I felt awful yesterday, arriving half an hour late at work! 

On my way to hospital,  I noticed a hen and three chicks in a wooded area. I wanted to get a closer view of all four of them. A high compound wall was an obstruction and the thick foliage of low growing bush prevented me form getting an access to a full view. Every time I moved to reposition myself, the hen too moved away. The vigilant look of the hen gives away the threat I was to her family. What engaged me was how the chicks came closer to the hen each time then made a special sound. The two chicks on either side of the hen barely visible in the photo looked like obedient soldiers under a captain. They escaped from my access without giving me a chance to a photograph them. 

This is vigilant and responsible parenting. The hen would protect and provide. The chicks follow her direction. 

The interesting thing is that at a particular time the hen would chase away the chicks, once they are ready to fend for themselves. That is a sight to watch. The hen would peck the chicks and chase them away from her proximity and then move away in another direction. When this happen for a few days, the chicks go their way. In fact at this stage the chicks and hen cannot be together in the same place even at night. I remember watching this as a child regularly as my mother reared hens and chicks. 

Why I stopped to watch them for a while although I knew that I would be late at work, is that I was overcome with a sense of excitement of my childhood memories. Some people who watched me with the camera thought I was crazy to photograph a hen and chicks. In fact the last Photograph of hen and chicks that I have, was taken in 1999 at Karigiri village. 

I was sorry for making my colleagues to wait for me at work, but, I had a refreshing encounter with a forgotten dimension of single parenting! The hen has no one to turn to, to take care of the chicks. So  the hen does it as long she thinks chicks needs her. Then the hen practices self weaning from having to be a provider for the chicks.

Parenting in human sense is a life long relationship. I sometimes have wondered whether parents live with life long expectations from their children and force children to remain with heavy obligation towards them. I feel awful when I come across family stories where parents are deprived of freedom to care and plan for their children because grand parents claim to be 'more experienced'!

Something to learn from a hen about parenting- being fully available for a while and send away the chicks fully empowered !

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)