LOVE IS BLIND

LOVE IS BLIND

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

18/VI/2022

How does one fall in love? Your guess is as good as mine. Love sees no barriers, no justification. It happens. At first sight, absolutely and then reaches the stage of ‘madly in love’.

That’s what these animals and birds on the riverfront have done to me.

I remember my courtship days. On a borrowed Yezdi, told lies to the gas station boy to fill the tank up in the middle of the night in Jaisalmer. Did the same thing in Pokhran and reached Jodhpur to meet my fiancé on a full moon, (Budh Purnima} night. All alone, on a ‘Dark desert Highway’. The love was such that ‘you could check in any time you like but you could never leave’.

It is time to fall in love with nature. Cool breeze, greenery, squeaks and shrieks of squirrels, cooing of doves, screech of a parrot, chirping of sparrows, singing of hummingbirds, gaggle of a duck enchants me. Sound of the silent river being disturbed by paddling of the water birds. Alarm being raised when they see humans. The green patch in the midst of the desert makes one go gaga.

As soon as I arrived at the colony’s western gate, the first ones to react were the squirrels. Their sharp alarm sent a message to all the birds enjoying breakfast. Partridges scooted helter-skelter to the river bank. Peacocks followed suit. Doves, pigeons & sparrows stood still, sticking out their necks to understand the situation. Only to realise that there was no danger.

Into the neem trees these squirrels disappeared. Chasing, racing, climbing at breakneck speeds, then swirling around the trunk to become invisible. Then emerge again, going up and down a spiral staircase. Stopping in between to check if all was well, then off again.

Rest of the birds were least bothered, pecking away to glory. Nothing on earth could distract them. More of their kin joined the feast but no one objected or shooed the others away. Once in a while the ‘males’ did go ‘gootar goon’, fluffing their necks and calling the girls, probably telling them the grains close to him were better. Could they be hidden signals for something else?

The dogs kept ‘doggo’, into their dug out pits, looking at me. One wagged his tail as if telling me, ‘tum fir a gaya’. I felt apologetic to disturb them, all of them stretched in unison and curled yawning for the next round of siesta under the shady trees.

It was time now to meet a pair of pigeons, staying in a well next to the mandir. They come up & bask in the sun. At the slightest sign of danger they dive back. A quick snack and they are back to the parapet of the well.

As I walked down the river, I saw a sudden movement on an overhanging Kikkar branch. A sunbird was hanging upside down, as if practicing moves on a balancing beam. She wasn’t shy to show her skills. It was a revelation for me when I downloaded those pics and saw the act closely.

One saw that there was a spider's web in that jungle not visible to the naked eye. Only the lens could capture a work of art. All what the spider had hunted the previous night was stuck in the web. Ms Hummingbird was enjoying stealing the spider's kill. The poor spider would have worked hard spinning her web, where insects were bound to trespass. Web was a success but before she could enjoy the booty, this sunbird stole the spider's catch. Amazing!

A couple of dogs kept following me. They were spooking off birds because they would start chasing each other. Moment I turned back, they would go still as if nothing happened, making innocent faces.

Across the river, which is merely a trickle now, was a group of peacocks which had come for a drink. Pandit ji had just finished Arti and asked me ‘Phaatoo liyo kain’, I nodded. He threw water from his lota, the sparrows flew and sat on the wire mesh. Hundreds of them.

Mr Malya was now on the HT wire, I called and he looked back. He sat taking a review of the river for prey from this vantage point. Bhaisaab spotted something and dived, then vanished. But he gave me a lead where a Heron and a Stilt were feeding.

It was breakfast time for me too. Peacocks crossed to the home bank to feed & gave me a few poses. Then people started pouring towards the mandir, which was the end of the session for me.

Falling in love is a great experience, that too head over heels with so many ‘girls’. I better stay blind. What about you? I wonder!!!!!!!!!!

JAI HIND