UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

19/IX/2021

It was a lovely rainy Sunday morning as I walked out of the door, still dark with the street lights on. Clouds were threatening to drizzle but it was pleasant, rather there was this slight chill in the air which gives you a shiver as you move out from a warmer home to the cooler outdoors.

Hoping to find my early morning feathered friends, I gave a small thanks to the creator as I moved for my walk. The Robin was as usual the first one to greet me, singing on the garden umbrella pole before it fluttered off to find the early worm.

One could hear the Mynah’s and the Bulbuls singing. The Munias chirping, the Crows cawing, Pigeons guttargooing, Doves cooing & Owls watching silently. Of course, the street dogs were growling in the far distance. Oreo was fast asleep after a hard day’s night and didn’t even bother to wag his tail.

The road was wet as if there had been a shower a short while ago. As the day broke, dark clouds gave way to the white ones. Monsoons have stayed with us long enough but we do get spells of ‘rain free’ time. Still one odd cloud comes strolling to bid goodbye. As one looked up, a tiny mist started to touch the skin like very tiny droplets suspended in the air.

The camera was at home but the flowers were already posing for me. I heard them say that they would get cross if their photos were not taken. How could one disappoint them! I increased my pace to complete my walk and looked East & requested the sun to appear through the clouds to improve the light falling on these darlings.

A few days back one had noticed a pair of doves on the road, right in front of our lawn. They were potential subjects for my captures. To attract them a plan was plotted as they were too shy. Rice should attract them close enough for a perfect click. One small bowl was scattered on the road.

The first invitees were a pair of pigeons. They feasted to their hearts content. These guys stay under the window of a vacant building across the road. The male keeps dancing the whole day trying to entice his girlfriend. This ‘man’ keeps going around in circles while the ‘lady’ pecks on the grains. As they say, one doesn’t feel hungry when in love, so it must be the case with him.

Last evening, the doves decided to dive down but there was much commotion on the road. Too many passers-by and vehicles. They would flutter away before they could dig into rice lying on the road. In the morning it was peaceful. No one except me was there to bother them. They now consider me to be their friend as they walk off the road when I pass by, only to return to start feeding from where they left. Oreo doesn’t like to startle them anymore either.

The second pair of birds was the Mynah. They descended to the lawn and started digging worms. They don’t get perturbed by our presence at all. Today we went and sat in the shade where they generally frolic and dig for food. They went on picking and pecking, as if we did not exist. By now our cup of tea had arrived. The pair of doves kept feeding on the road and the Mynah’s kept talking to each other in funny tones, as they scavenged in the lawn.

It was time now to take a peek in the backyard. After having checked the plants, one came across a very odd-looking thing on a leaf. Anyone would mistake it as a bird dropping. As I tried to knock it off the leaf, it moved. It was an eerie & weird looking caterpillar. Sometimes one gets a shiver when one sees a spooky & creepy looking thing and that’s what happened to me.

The unkempt wild grass in the backyard made me hesitate to venture too far. It became a blessing in disguise when this bird called the ‘Coucal’ came and sat on the mulberry bush. It posed for a second and then hopped on, giving me just that one moment to press the shutter button. Soon its partner arrived and they got into a thicket. Though visible to the naked eyes, those birds blended with the leaves and mingled in the shadows. They were well camouflaged and not discernible.

A lovely morning was spent out in the open, giving me one more chance to capture unforgettable moments. Hope these days never end. Someone was telling us that your house looks like a resort. Can we disagree? I wonder!!!!!!!!!

JAI HIND