The visiting birds returned to the garden after a week, following the dry spell of the last two days after a week of rain and thunderstorm. The Sunbirds feeding on the nectar brought normality to the routines in the garden.
About three hundred meters away, I noticed a Bulbul flying to join another Bulbul, probably its pair, perched on the summit of a tree.
The Bulbul at the feeding station with its bird call was waiting for its pair to arrive! The Barbet waited for the Bulbul to leave the feeding station. But hearing another Barbet's bird call it flew away into the foliage cover, skipping its list to the fading station.
These are regular happenings in the garden. But when one notices them, there is an opportunity to feel near to the life events of the avians. They live on the provisions they find, for which they have to fly to different places each day!
We heard yesterday, how a family who came to visit their relatives in Ernakulum from Bombay are waiting for the air fare to return to the normal level from its 150 percent increase due to the festive season. The investigations by a civil society organisation in Karnataka state revealed that the petrol has 31 percent Ethanol as against the 20 percent which the car engine can cope with. The hotel tariffs are higher by 100 percent during the festive season! In one supermarket the oats packet is sold at the printed price and in another supermarket it is sold hundred rupees less than the printed price on the packet. When we hear of these practices, there is a sense of stress! We live in an exploitative business culture! The instinct to use an occasion for disproportionate profit is a violation of trust that is inherent to good consumer practices.
I return to the birds. They labour to fetch their food by flying to different stations. They are given in plenty. They live well fed and content!
I sense a desperation in human behaviour to have more and yet not feeling content!
The appeal by a civil society group to reduce the expenses during the festival season and contribute to help people who need medical treatment but are unable to pay, yielded good response! That is a refreshing and hopeful sign of the human spirit of solidarity with those who suffer!
I feel grateful for the birds coming to our garden telling us how they are well cared for every day! They bring the message of contentment and comfort! Theirs is a counter culture to the stressful way of living caused by a longing to have more!
M..C.Mathew (text and photo)
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