No sooner does winter begin than the bird begins its sojourn from the snow-capped Himalayas and finds a temporary abode in the plains. It’s a black bird, gregarious and closely resembling a sparrow. One male and 10 to 12 females generally constitute a flock. She is smaller than the Dhobin, another small bird known as wagtail or washerwoman bird. The appearance of both male and female is similar. They are fond of insects, love to roam around, preen themselves and take pride in their beauty. They are friendly by nature and are therefore known as saheli or friends.
Saheli doesn’t prefer a fixed abode and keeps flying from one tree to another. This is her lifestyle and this is her social culture. She is a migratory bird, and yet enjoys immense popularity wherever she goes. Sahelis make us feel as though they are our own birds, our very special guests. When they depart with the onset of spring, our homes, courtyards, riverbanks, gardens all seem sad, empty and deserted.
In cities that are fortunate enough to have rivers, one can see white Siberian birds, either cranes or storks. Bird lovers hire boats and feed them gram flour sev (noodle shaped fried snack), and the birds eat it with great relish. It gives great pleasure to see the birds coming from distant countries eating an Indian snack. However, it’s important to find out whether it is harmful for them or not.
Last Saturday, we had our regular English class in school, but children were reluctant to stay in their classroom. They wanted to go for a walk in the forest, which is part of the 400-acre school campus. Who can resist the stubborn demand of children? So we decided to walk, talk and learn. As we went deeper into a dense area, suddenly a rustling was heard among the leaves and the children became very quiet. A dialogue began in whispers. “What can it be? This is not on the list of our birds.” “Have you ever seen this before?” “Wait, wait, I’ll see.”; “Yes, I saw it, oh! How long his beak is! And the blue lines running down from his neck to his belly! Sir, which bird is this?” The children are curious and it seems that their love for everything new and natural is so spontaneous.
The innocent enthusiasm of the children, their fusillade of questions, and the flame of their innocent curiosity create a peculiar and pleasant agitation in the mind. How interesting it can be to watch birds, how great a subject of curiosity it can be for both the child and the teacher! To watch a bird, deep concentration, steadfastness and love for nature is required.
There is a separate scientific discipline for the study of birds called ornithology. But if the sound of a bird, its way of moving, its songs and flying do not create waves in your heart, then love for this scientific discipline will not blossom. It will just be an artificial thing, imposed by others. The difference between someone who loves the birds and someone who does it for a purely academic reason is actually the difference between a sensitive poet and a critic who doesn’t write poetry but is full of dry, technical knowledge, either praising or vehemently criticising.
Birds teach us very subtle and careful observation. Their sounds make our listening skill very fine and sharp. I am sure there aren’t many who know that a crow, which we see sitting on our roof and parapet every day and we just keep chasing away, can make 36 kinds of sounds! And each of these sounds has a different meaning. And the house hen, which seems to have been created just to satisfy our palate, makes 200 sounds! ‘Eat like a bird’ is a very misleading phrase because most birds eat twice their own weight! This is equivalent to a 50 kg person eating 100 kg of food! Penguin is the only bird that can only swim, not fly, and is also the only member of the huge family of birds that can walk straight!
But this is just knowledge and gathering knowledge about birds does not amount to loving them. Many years of my life have been spent in a place which is covered with trees, plants and unkempt forests. I have walked through the dense forests looking at a lovely river during my long walks. At least 80 varieties of birds could be seen during an hour’s walk without the help of binoculars. I don’t even know the names of many birds. And the unknown winged friends are a greater source of joy than those whose knowledge I possess. Knowledge is a barrier to aesthetic pleasure which paucity of information easily affords!
The birds have immense beauty. Their fluttering, flying, colours, their sounds have a magical effect on the mind. We hardly ever realise the importance of these birds. Many people do not even realise the price we are paying for completely destroying a magnificent bird like the vulture which was the most meticulous scavenger nature had created.
Schools in cities are now generally built in lifeless buildings made of concrete. They are often devoid of trees and plants. Just as a ritual, on some special days, some government officials plant saplings and later they are forgotten; they are not even looked after properly. Buildings are now built in such a way that birds are seen as a nuisance that spread dirt; the pigeon shelters are removed from there by architects.
Birds are the most vocal and ideal spokespersons of nature. They also present an interesting challenge to children. They seem to be saying, “Come, if you recognise me, tell me what you know about me.” Those who start taking interest in birds start becoming sensitive towards the environment around them. They start thinking about their food habits and living space, and try to create a suitable environment for them to live in. Watching, caring for and loving birds are not an expensive hobby. We just need some time, attention and love.
The next time you hear a rustling in a bush, or notice a movement in a tree above, just stop and watch. Maybe some wonderful gift of nature is waiting for you and is trying to attract your attention! Is it possible to keep some fresh, green boughs in your heart, on which birds can come and sit? Birds have feathers and songs. They also have a long flight. We should never imprison them. A bird in a cage is one of the most painful sights in the world. Birds are very vulnerable, always a soft target for predators, a delicious delicacy to placate the palate, but they sing all the time. Even while sitting on a fragile twig, they sing. They sing because they have wings that can take them away from danger in the twinkling of an eye. I often wish I could learn more from birds and could take to my wings of imagination as soon as an unpleasant situation approached suddenly in life, without any warning signs.
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