Labouring for food!

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I watched this Imperial pigeon perched in a nutmeg tree in our garden and attempting to get the nut and maize between its bills from a split nutmeg fruit. 

I watched this with delight and surprise, the way it positioned itself upside down to get to the nut and attempted to insert its bills into the spilt nutmeg to make it wider, to get a good hold of the nut between its bills. Its attempt were impressive to watch, as they involved careful movements of its bills. At the final stage, when it was almost getting the nut into its mouth, the nutmeg got plucked from its stalk and dropped to the ground. 

This species of pigeons is not in the habit of picking up the fruits from the ground. That happened to be the only split nutmeg hanging in the any branch nearby. 

I watched the pigeon looking around and conveying its readiness to move on. So it disappeared into the foliage to search for nuts in the rear portion of the tree. 

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This pigeon is a regular visitor to our garden and visits three trees each morning around the same time searching for its breakfast feed. It is most skilled to get the nutmeg nut between its bills by negotiating through the gap of the split nutmeg shell. But this time it failed in its careful and patient attempt. 

I sensed how every bird has to labour for its food. It is its second nature. Its flight movements are for exercising in flight skills and fending for food. 

There is a feature common with humans. The birds plan their moves during the day in search of food. It is an inherent instinct of theirs. 

The human need is food, shelter, education, security and resources to live well. We too are instant driven. 

I heard a talk by a professional yesterday, who suggested that our personal struggle will become more bearable and comfortable when we have thoughts towards our neighbours, for whom the struggle to exist is intensely burdensome. 

It is in developing a community consciousness, we feel our struggles to be a routine and necessary to keep us in fraternally conscious. 

It is the national election time in India. The language, the politicians use is  worrisome. It is a language of hate, insult, insinuation and challenge, while referring to the leaders of the other political parties. There is no semblance of fraternal consciousness. I remember a politician stating in Nee Zealand during its election last year saying : 'Each political party has its good and down sides. You choose a party that can meet the national challenges at this time'. What a magnanimous way of being fraternal. 

Till humans have an appreciative thought towards others, we are not fully human. 

One time when the politicians become less human is the election time. We see this aggressive attack on political leaders of other parties starting from the Prime Minister. I wonder politicians would behave maturely by acknowledging that we are fraternal beings and our political ideologies are only as much as the different dresses we wear!

The pigeon's effort was to feed itself. It failed in its attempt. But it has the wide open space to search for its feed. 

There is enough space for each of us. Why then fight to dominate? Are we not equals, who live by favours we receive from each other!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)