WHERE WILL THE BIRDS SLEEP TONIGHT?











“A frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives.”
- American Indian proverb


But, a man does!

Last couple of days, there have been some new visitors in our colony: Snakes!

Now, you know how it is when we sight a snake – whether it is a cobra, viper, python or a rat-snake – in our colonies! As some remain busy with dialing the snake-catcher’s number or as some overzealous on-looker tries to either kill or shoo away the snake… some have already shot a video and it is ‘telecast’ in the society group. So, all of us, who are away from home, get to know the snake status…

“Is he still there?”… “Is he caught?”… “Is he killed?...  Is he gone?”

By the way, where will he go, if you chase him from our colony?

To the neibouring colony…

And, when they chase him from there?

To another colony, obviously...

Of course, if he is alive, that is. If he is caught by a responsible snake-catcher, perhaps, the snake may end up landing in a jungle or a zoo…

Nobody, normally, asks the question: “Where did he come from?”

Similarly, now and then, some monkeys visit our colony… and, we get to witness a similar buzz… Yes, monkeys are fun to watch unlike the snakes. But, nobody wants monkeys to stay here either. So, in a few hours or sometimes in few days, they go somewhere else…

One of the things that make my morning walks (Between 5 and 6.30) heavenly is the chorus of the birds which reside in the trees inside our colony. Time to time, our garden staff trims the trees in our colony… Some trees get completely stripped… and, none of us really ask: “What about the birds? Where will they sleep tonight?”

Whenever we read in the newspapers the report about a leopard or any other big cat loitering around a housing colony in any area in Mumbai, we don’t ask the question: “Why have they come here?”

I am not an environmentalist or an animal activist. I am as guilty as any of my fellow-humans are in making these fellow-creatures of our planet – homeless. I, too, do not want the pigeons to build their home right outside our windows… “They dirty the windows… They send stink…” Yes, I, too, say…

But, if I throw away their nest, eggs and little babies… where will they go?

Like others, I seldom ask…

God has given this planet to all – humans, animals, birds, snakes, insects, worms, trees, plants, grass, creepers and bushes… But, only, we humans seem to be so hell-bent in destroying the planet we live in…

True. Frogs do not eat up the pond they live in… We do!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: ScienceNews


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...