The avian rituals!

I stopped during my walk in the garden, seeing the berries partly eaten.  Being the early morning time, I waited if birds would arrive in the sight, searching for berries!

Soon three jungle Babblers arrived in the adjacent tree. Instead of them going for the berries, what I noticed was a ritual which some birds perform to help groom each other. It is one way, the birds get help from other birds,  to remove the ectoparasites from their body. 

The avians have a difficult time to protect themselves from ectoparasites. 

In fact some trees, with fruits would have ants resident in the trees. The custard apple fruit is inaccessible to the squirrels and birds as the red ants crawling in the tree keep them away. 

Similarly the red ants keep the honey bees and butterflies away from the cashew nut blossoms as the ants thrive on the sap from the nut in the tender stage and feed on the honey from the flowers. 

How the life of birds, insects, and parasites, are sustained in ways beyond our imagination. Our eco-system is a marvel to say the least. 

On my way back, I was wondering if some bird would arrive to feed on the berries! I noticed a parakeet in the coconut palm adjacent to the berry plant, waiting for its turn!

The movements of birds around us create surprises and insights ! They have got used to living by fending for themselves. The nature is their bowl. 

I am not sure if humans think of this dimension when they cut trees and do not plant new ones to sustain the eco-system. 

Even with bird bath and feed we have in the garden, the summer heat has forced many regular visiting birds to skip our garden! The Egrets visit the lawn when it is dusk!

I hope we would have a few summer showers to help the birds to return to their favourite shelters in the tall trees behind our cottage! Th early morning cacophony that we are used to is missing altogether!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A transition time!

During the transition to the day break yesterday, I happened to notice the above sights in our garden. The flowers with their brightness and contrasting presence in a green canvas, drew me to watch them and go near them. 

That led me to notice a butterfly moving between foliage of plants. It did not seem to be in search of flowers for its nectar. It was while tracking the movements of the butterfly I spotted a Parakeet and a Greater Coucal in the garden. 

At day break, which is a transition time in nature, the nature comes alive to its ornamental look, which fades into its usual appearance in the bright sunshine. 

This transition is a time when the leaves get dried of the condensed water, which settled on the them during the night. The butterfly was feeding from the water drops from the leaves. The regular movements of the visiting birds to the garden would start soon after the day break. The silence of the morning would soon get interrupted by bird calls and movements. How in about half an hour, the stillness gets interrupted and birds come to announce of the new day and the start of new rhythm of the day! 

On my return to my study, I happened to read the text from John's gospel, chapter 14, the first nine verses. Thomas and Philip were in a conversation with Jesus of Nazareth, perhaps a few days before the passover, when Jesus had the last supper with his disciples. Thomas spoke about his uncertainty about where Jesus was going even though Jesus was progressively preparing the disciples for the crucifixion journey. Philip in anxiety said, 'Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us'. Both of them were overcome with the fear of transition, when Jesus was not going to be with them in a physical form after the crucifixion. 

During the transition of the day break, nature and avian life come alive to announce a new day and its fullness. The followers of Jesus was overcome with the fear and stress of transition. 

It helped me to take time to revisit the way I feel at day break. Is it the sense of anticipation or anxiety of the unknown that is dominant in my consciousness! I confess, that anxious thoughts dominate me. The electricity gets interrupted on a few occasions, while the water is being pumped from the well to irrigate the garden. Each time the power supply is cut off, there is wave of anxiety. As I traced the triggers for anxiety, I realised that it is a habit that has come to stay!

The butterfly and birds begin their day with no certainty about their source of food, water and shelter. But they fly and move about as usual. 

Thomas and Philip expressed anxiety about Jesus not being present with them in sight. Jesus was preparing His followers to live by faith and not by sight alone. 

The morning breaks each day after the darkness of the night. It is an authentic statement of what is to follow after every night. It is a good illustration of the certainty of things to happen. 

As one gets older, the tendency is to waver, doubt and be uncertain. I felt lifted to experience that there is certainty about what cannot be seen. They exist and it is the optic of faith that brings comfort!

I confess that there is weariness and doubt when one person gets re-elected as the president of Russia for the sixth term in suspicious circumstances. When a few politicians in the USA and India follow similar sinister practices to get re-elected, our faith in goodness around us gets shaken!

Th history of humans has its beginning and convergence in God of our lives! That thought is faith generating!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

Fruits in the Summer !

The summer time is harsh on birds. The Bulbuls and jungle Babblers come searching for food to our garden. If they cannot find ripe fruit in the garden, birds would come to the feeding corner, where they can find water and fruits.  

When I spotted an Egret and Tailorbird, I knew that they too are searching for their food in the garden

The spider weaved its web and was waiting for its prey. The web suspended a dry leaf and kept hanging and swaying even in strong wind. A small spider displayed its strength by making the strands strong!

A meditative walk in a garden can bring us back to an experience of how life is so diversely lived amidst the travails of life!

The plumber was laying pipes in our garden yesterday to irrigate the property to sustain the vegetations. Every time we do something to sustain life around us, we become grateful for what we receive in return. 

Almost all through the year, we have banana and Papaya fruits in our garden. The squirrels and birds live on them. We get our portion in plenty. We have enough to share with our neighbours. 

The nature is a food bowl. It is always giving. 

Given to give!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)

 

Seeing in the twilight!

The first view of the valley, beyond our cottage at the twilight time of the morning, often gives some surprising sights. 

I happened to notice a Kingfisher on a cable intently looking around as if, it was taking in all that is around even in the twilight. 

During the fifteen minutes it was perched on the cable, it took a 360 degree view of its surroundings. There are a few Kingfishers, who are resident in this area, where a stream and canal flow. 

What engaged my attention was its alert presence and visual scanning of its surroundings, even in the twilight. 

What is a twilight view! It is partial and incomplete when the light is dim. It is the light that makes the surroundings bright and easy to perceive. 

In a person's life time, he or she would have gone through twilight seasons, when one could not see and sense clearly due to darkness hiding the sight. The darkness can be inside of us or outside of us. 

Jesus of Nazareth while referring to the light within us, said: 'If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness'! (Matthew 6:23). 

As it is the lenten season and the Holy Week is only a week away, my thoughts have been lingering on the events preceding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was at the house of Martha,  Mary and Lazarus, six days before the passover (John 12: 1-8). 'Mary took a pound of very costly perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair'. Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, present on the occasion, seeing this, said: 'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor'? The gospel writer adds a description to give us a window into the personal habit of Judas: 'Now, Judas said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it' (v6)!

The darkness of thieving habit within, because of which a sacred act of anointing of Jesus was seen through that reduced view!

What hinders our outlook is darkness within. I took time last week to visit the occasions in my life in the recent years when I felt the darkness within me hiding the light. Those seasons of darkness seemed to disturb rational thinking and forgiving attitude. It took a while to allow the light of hope and purpose to dawn on me. Now looking back, I realise how dark was the interior within,  filled with sorrow and despair! 

If the light within becomes a lamp, even in twilight one would be able to meander to find the path. The intentional look of the Kingfisher all around gave me an inspiration to find the way forward even in the twilight. The light within us is larger to show the way, than what the twilight can conceal. 

It is now eight months, since I stepped out of my full time clinical work in the hospital. I had only a twilight view of how I can engage my time fruitfully. Now, I find the light within me becoming brighter to have a better view of my calling for this season in my life !

Even if it is twilight all around, the light within us can guide us on!

M.C.Mathew( text and photo)

The dew of Kindness !

The morning sight of the dew covered flowers gave our garden a splendid look till the end of February. 

The appearance of the flowers now, as seen in the photographs below, is different. Although summer has set in, and there is no more dew,  the lilies look fresh and colourful. 

I noticed a Kingfisher returning to the cable with a grass hopper in its mouth. That is when I remembered that the stream below us is with scanty water with only occasional movement of fish, since summer has set in. The Kingfisher has to look for an alternative to its first choice of feed. 

The nutmeg trees in our garden need to be irrigated on alternate days, due to the soaring day temperature, which makes the soil dry. 

It was common to watch cows and goats grazing in the field during the day, which too is not in sight due to the heat of the day. Also the grass on the ground has withered. 

When a technician came to service the air conditioner in our home last week, his remark interested me. He was without much work during the winter months and had to borrow money to look after his family. Since February, he is working about 18 hours a day. He mentioned that he would earn enough during the next three months before monsoon sets in.  He would have enough savings for the rest of the year. 

Listening to that narration brought an awareness about the struggles that can harass people to find their livelihood. For that technician, there is no social security, health care protection or family pension. He is dependent on his daily labour for his income. 

It is a disturbing to think that,  there is no assurance of social security for people who are self-employed. They cease to earn, when they stop working, or when they are no more able to work.  

The Kingfisher finds at least grass hopper when it cannot find fish in the stream. 

For a person who is unable to work due to illness or old age, he or she is left abandoned to fend for oneself! Even adult children do not take enough note of such people. 

I wonder if the Churches, which spend large amount of money to celebrate festivals, would be austere and allocate a portion of its income to give to those in its neighbourhood, who live reduced and marginalised lives!

They deserve the dew of kindness because they served us with their labour and service! 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)

A family of birds !

A grey Tit, Marshall's Iora, and a jungle babbler, the first two in the foliage of the Neem tree and the babbler in the bird bath beneath the tree, was a pleasant sight to watch a few days back in our garden. 

The morning times since the summer has set in, is cloudy, while the birds are in the morning flight between their stations. The bird movements are also less than what it used to be. I do not get to take as much photos as I could take normally.

The sense of consciousness of the family which birds express is what such a gathering of birds reminds me of. 

The sense of togetherness, these birds convey, brings a refreshing experience each morning. 

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)