Skip to main content

ROBIN & TIKTOK

 

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

 

05/VIII/2025

 

It was a fantastic morning as the skies were absolutely clear. The sun changed its colours from crimson to pale yellow to near white. Chores in the garden and my cup of tea were about to finish. It was going to be a hot and humid day. That didn’t deter me from checking on my birdie and reptilian friends.

 

Before I could serve Roti, I saw a hazy outline of a bird hiding in the Bamboo clump. It was my little friend who had come calling again. “Hi, Ms Robin! I am so thrilled to see you back”, I quipped. She just bobbed her tail and flew to the fence where I could see her clearly. I thanked her for returning.

 

I had a volley of questions for her. Where is your family, husband in particular? The males are dark and blackish and the ladies have dark brown hues. I seemed to have touched her “dukhti rag” (pained nerve). She sat “tight beaked” without a chirp. I left it at that.

 

Her best friend and husband fell prey to the recent massive storm and their nest had been destroyed too. She was looking for a new partner. Now she was all alone and trying to cope up with her loss. ‘Cheer up’, I told her. Here, have some fresh roti, as I spread some for the birds, like I do everyday.

 

Down she glided so happily and pecked on pieces. She would have had just two and dashed a fleet of sparrows quite annoyed towards Ms Robin. For them one additional bird meant lesser food. Though I had spread enough, they were eager to duel with this newcomer.

 

I knew these birds would get used to each other and stay in harmony. The Bulbuls seem to have already accepted Ms Robin to the fold. There was no reason for the sparrows not to fall in line. A lone, harmless bird, with a very small appetite should not be a threat.

 

Robin was smart. She had learnt a way to outsmart the sparrows and a means to not to offend them. Robin moved to a side next to the berm of the road, a little away from where the roti was spread. Sparrows keep dropping pieces on the way to their nests. Robin didn’t disclose her secret, where to find roti to enjoy her meal in peace.

 

Well, not to arouse suspicion, she started pecking on something on the edge of the berm. I thought it was a moth. However, when I keenly observed, red and black ants were moving helter-skelter. Juicy ants were added as supplements and a change of flavour for Ms Robin.

 

Her instinct made her discover an ‘ant hole’ on the road side and would never run out of ‘ant toppings’ like black olives on her pizza, instead of ricotta cheese. Having gobbled quite a few ants, she flew and sat on a branch very close to me. Her belly was full, I knew it.

 

Just then another scene got revealed to me. The recent encounter of the cockroach and the Chameleons was still fresh in my mind. Probably, TikTok was expecting me to serve some more cockroaches. But alas, I was empty handed.

 

Mr TikTok was on one tree and Ms TikTok was on the adjacent one. Both were not in talking terms, it appeared. A fight Mr TikTok must have picked up with her must be the reason for him to be on separate trees. The reality was a little different.

 

Ants that were moving in a trail, hugging the corner of the road, turning at a gap, were going up and down the almond trees, where Mr & Mrs TikTok were sticking to its trunk. Instead of searching for food, food was walking straight to them.

 

He had placed his tail in a crooked manner. The ants had to negotiate his tail. They kept climbing up from near the tail and towards his feet. With his keen eyesight and a fantastic aim of his tongue, he was picking up those ants for breakfast.

 

Ants were coming fast and he would get confused which one to catch. His independently roving eyes were following them closely. I realised that ‘Ms TikTok’ was doing the same thing on the other tree. I left them to enjoy the shikar.

 

I proceeded on my morning walk when I saw a bird sitting high on a lightning conductor and calling out loud. I waved at her and she bobbed her tail in acknowledgement. Ms Robin followed me till the end of our lane.

 

Was she trying to tell me something? I wonder!!!!!!


https://youtu.be/X_tpYE7Mt5g 

 

JAI HIND

©® NOEL ELLIS

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINGER ON YOUR LIPS

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   29/IV/2025   What has happened to Pakistan? While India is doing Fauji Exercises, Pakistan has mobilised for what! I agree that the people of India want revenge. But, from whom? Our PM has only said that “we will not leave the terrorists and their supporters till the end of the Earth”. He has never said he will sort out Pakistan, or has he?   It has been hilarious watching discussions on Paki social media channels. They seem to have already given up. Our RM meets the PM and Pakistan starts shitting bricks. They talk about jazba and gazwa, and start telling us about their nuclear arsenal. 160 I suppose. By the way we will send across one equivalent to your 160 if need be.   There is a saying, ‘Chor ki Dari main tinka” literal meaning is, a straw in a thief’s beard. However, the deep meaning is that a guilty person reveals his guilt through his behaviour, even unintentionally. Clearly, “a guilty conscious needs no accuser”...
16 comments
Read more

SCENE AT ELLIS’ RESTAURANT

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/XI/2024   Every morning the scene in the Ellis’ restaurant is so refreshing. The notes birds sing sounds like ‘reveille’ being sounded by the buglers. The ‘scenario’ keeps varying with arrival of different birds at different timings.   It is like being a restaurant owner, working solo with minimum help. Yours truly is the waiter, housekeeper, cook, receptionist, barman, purchase manager, accountant, and storekeeper of this shack. Imagine!   Foremost thing in the morning is housekeeping of the garden area, followed by watering the pots. This gives the plants a nice bath, like kids being readied for school.   The first set of ‘clients’ called the ‘Tailor Birds’ appear. They love to hunt for insects which get disturbed by the watering ritual. They sing and dance, hop and skip and carry on chasing moths and worms, without bothering about my presence.   By then the Bulbuls and the Sparrows start lini...
22 comments
Read more

IF THERE IS A WAR…...

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   28/IV/2025   I remember the 1971 war as a small child. We were in Kapurthala Punjab, very close to the Pakistan border. It was an evening in December, I do not remember the exact date. While returning from a friends house, the declaration of war was done as I skipped along the ‘Thandi Sarak’ of Kapurthala.   The gist was that a vehicle with loud speakers was telling people to head home as an "emergency" had been declared and war had started. I ran as fast as I could, shivering with fear and my heart beating unusually fast. Though I was a lap baby when the 1965 war had taken place, it appeared serious business now.   Overnight, Dad and other Uncles started digging trenches infront of our homes. Carbon paper was no dearth in a teachers house, so mom got into an overdrive to stick them to the glass windows. Though the glass had been painted during the 1965 war, some broken panes had been replaced. Mom told ...
6 comments
Read more