MY LUCKY DAY

MY LUCKY DAY

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

25/IV/2024

Some days one is lucky, some are luckier and today was the one of them.

Everyday has something new to unfold, some surprise and something good. This happened in the morning as the sun came up over the horizon. A black sunbird came and sat on the hanging pot I was watering. Her beauty and shimmer of feathers at such close distance just mesmerised me.

All shades of black, golden, green, and yellow kept flickering as it danced on the pot hanger like a pole dancer dancing for me exclusively. I knew it was my lucky day today.

That is when I heard the clarion call of the peafowl. One is fascinated by the beauty of this bird. Every bird is unique, every colour is distinct, every call has a meaning. Every ray of light falling at different angles highlights the hidden colours of its feathers.

It was time to move to the riverfront to catch peafowl in action from my command post to observe the proceedings from a vantage point sitting well camouflaged under a thick canopied neem tree.

It is the passersby who play spoil sport. The peafowl scoot to safety over the bund, the moment they see humans intruding their limited space.

My camera was not playing up. Last night, I had changed the settings while clicking the moon, I thought. The LCD screen would just show no display. I missed a heartbeat, if the camera had gone ‘kaput’. Once the camera is stable on the tripod, it is easier to shoot looking at the screen.

Peafowl walked in. I was desperately wanting to click but could see just nothing on the screen. A few cuss words had to flow. In pure Punjabi mind you. While I was fidgeting with the camera another passerby said Hi to me, but then the birds moved over the bund to safety.

One had gone well prepared today. Besides, battery at full charge, I had applied a generous amount of Odomos. Mosquitoes are deadly in that area. They look for a juicy creature like me. Instead of pressing the click button one gets busy scratching all over. I wouldn’t allow them to ruin my day.

While I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my camera, two squirrels, who probably lived on that neem tree came scampering at full tilt towards me. You would have noticed how they play hide and seek by spiralling up a tree to hide from their partner. One of them jumped up the tree trunk then leapt on to the tripod and then jumped into my lap and sat still for a moment.

Her partner was in a momentum to go up the tree which it did. It would have realised where the other one went. After a short halt, the squirrel in my lap jumped as far away from me and raised the squirrel alarm with her short bursts of shrieks and screeches. It was my lucky day.

It was time for breakfast and to move home when one realised that the display on the camera suddenly came up. That is when I gave a few nice juicy Punjabi ones to myself. If you have dark glasses on, it is natural that everything would be dark, stupid.

One had just removed them to wipe the eyes. The fault was wearing the goggles and not with the camera. All those thoughts of cursing the dealer, to all and sundry just vanished. It was time to call it a day.

Right at the turn of our lane sat Mr Kingfisher on a pole calling me. Had I switched off my motorcycle, or dismounted, it would have flown away. But then, it posed for me like a professional model. Vibrations of the bike were giving a mild shake but then it was my lucky day.

On reaching home, I thought to peep into the bird feeder to check if there were enough grains for the day. Just then a pair of finches came and sat on the ledge of the feeder, not more than a foot away from my face. One of them looked at me in shock, as if asking me where the hell did you pop up from. I froze and absorbed the scene. The other finch did not care. It jumped in the feeder and picked up a couple of grains when it realised that two big eyes were staring at her too. They made a dash for their lives. What a lucky day, I said to myself again.

From the moon to the peafowl, to the squirrel which almost took my nuts, to the sunbird and finches greeting you in your face was an eventful day. Can one be luckier? I wonder!!!!!!

JAI HIND