This lone Bulbul was at this site in the rain, for a while! There was no other bird movement in the garden. The cloudy sky was getting darker threatening a heavy down pour. Its still and composed presence drew me to observe its next move.
The movements were largely hopping and not flying! It disappeared into the thick foliage for its shelter when the down pour became heavy and windy!
For this Bulbul the rainy day break, brought some uncertainty and denied of its early morning visits to flight stations! For avians such dislocations are usual and predictable.
It was the sight, of the Lily in the pond about to bloom, that clarified for me another side of this otherwise gloomy sight. By mid day the Lily would bloom even if it is cloudy and raining heavily! That certainty gives another orientation ! The nature brings signs of hope and bloom even in the rainy days.
In a conversation yesterday, I was delighted to hear how a mother took a break from her work to welcome her baby and is currently adapting to the rhythm of her five months old baby with delight and ease, although each day is different from the other days. Most infants move towards the sixth month with greater enthusiasm to explore by crawling and socialising. That is when mother is alert to provide the baby with interactive opportunities with appropriate toys and reciprocal responses. A mother becomes even more present to the infant emotionally and creatively during this transition. With the baby sitting up and crawling, the movements become self directed. This mother has different cause and effect toys in the visual field of the infant, to activate and direct the movements of the infant.
A Bulbul adapts to the wind and rain. An infant becomes fully present to its environment because the mother anticipates the needs of the infant and offers them in the environment. Both the Bulbul and the infant are finders and explorers!
The Bulbul is free to move about and find its shelter in the rain. An infant too, when given freedom and encouragement, becomes a pathfinder to engage and socialise. What would surprise us when we observe such a well engaged child in a creative environment, is purposeful movements and regulated activities. Instead of a crying child calling for attention, an alert infant entertains himself or herself in a way to be even more observant and reciprocal. The instinct of wellness settles in within the infant because the anticipating mother provides the plan for the next move of the infant.
I saw this in action while visiting a home. The infant was in the stage of being on his knees and attempting to bear weight with support to stand up. Seeing the infant move towards the chair which had books kept on a cushion, she reached out to remove them for the child to have space to hold on to the chair firmly to support to stand. In no time the child was doing what the mother anticipated. His delightful look at the mother when he accomplished to stand holding on to the chair, was a moment of ecstasy for the mother and child! This was a vivid illustration of anticipatory parenting! The mother was present ahead of time for the child to be assured of safety and showing the pathway to the child for the next move!
This illustrates vividly how formative parenting is an investment in child development! It is a disgrace to childhood to offer passive parenting or surrogate parenting with screen time to infants and toddlers, when they await creative learning in an engaging environment, which is ready to reciprocate and participate in the exploratory instinct.
The sighting of a Bulbul in the rain in our garden led me to these thoughts because its movements were orderly and planned! The above thoughts originated from my memory of seeing infants ready to explore!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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