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”...
18 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

A PERFECT GARDENER

    Most of us are parents and grandparents now. All of us have brought up our children and now are looking after Gen Z. We gave our children and their children the best of best.   With that as an opening remark, let me shift focus to gardening. I am no expert on parenting or gardening. We went with the tide of highs and lows. The churns and turmoil. Even if we consider ourselves as perfect parents, can we be perfect gardeners?   The answer in both cases would be a big NO. When you look back, there is something more which could have been done. Things could have been done differently. There is no perfect template which can fit all.   One saw the kid take baby steps, then their growth stage and then they matured and ready to bear their own children. What is in store in the future? No one knows.   Having said that, let me return to the topic of Gardening. This would interest gardening enthusiasts. Are you a perfect gardener?   My p...
4 comments
Read more

TAKE A PAUSE

  One thing I have realized that spending time with nature brings so much of mental peace. A small bird can just cheer you up. Her tweet can lift your mood. The sheer joy one derives from watching then come and play in your garden, feed, and bathe is just elevating. All those who do it know what I say and a request to those who haven’t must try it.   Morning time is the most hectic for the birds. They all know that their feed will be there. Their tweets and chirps are indicators of the happiness they enjoy. I am sure in between their tweets they chirp to thank us too.   Evenings are another kind of high. These days their feeders go empty by evening. The water bowls too are nearly at bottom levels, not because of their thirst but now they bathe in the bowl more often. The water sprinkled while they shake their bodies flies off emptying the bowl.   In the evening, when I go to the rooftop there is a different kind of hustle. A few sparrows, a pair of dove...
14 comments
Read more

A BREAK FROM BLOGGING

    Christmas week is a busy week and spills over to the New Year. Friends and family get together, rejoice, make merry and strengthen bonds. It is cold and wintry, the reason to indulge in relishing plum and rum cakes and pakwans, dry fruits and puddings and be at peace.   However, too much rest to my ‘finger tips’ was catching with me both with the laptop keys and the ‘click button’ of the camera. Sometimes, it is good to take a break or if one can call it a ‘fast’ of a different sort. It is a good time to sit down, chill, run down and reflect on things which are now memories in the year coming to an end. How time flies!   We had a dinner planned for my chaddi-buddies and their families last evening. We were looking forward to having fun and lots of laughter. However, in all this milieu, some little things had to be done like feeding the fish on the roof, lest I miss out.   As I opened the roof door, my eyes lit up when I saw a white breasted k...
8 comments
Read more

RUNNING TO TOWN

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   24/IV/2024   As they say, “Jab geedar ki ‘maut’ ati hai woh Shahar ki taraf bhagta hai”. (When a jackal wants to die, it runs towards the town). It simply implies that when someone is in ‘deep trouble’, he takes certain wrong steps and gets into agony himself. It also means that if correct actions are not taken timely, then chances are things go wrong.   Another implication of this idiom is that when someone wants to ‘avoid trouble’, he choses a wrong path or when one faces difficult times, he goes looking for advice and solutions from wrong people and places, jeopardising his own existence.   Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this straight away applies to our troublesome neighbour Pakistan and specifically to the thought process and mindset of their Army Chief General Asim Munir, who revealed it in the lecture he gave to the overseas Pakistanis recently.   I say this in the context of the ‘massacre’ and ‘savagery’ these dastards did in Pahal...
8 comments
Read more

TALE OF A CERTIFICATE

It was way back in 1979 that I became a ‘matriculate’ with a ‘first division’. One required 60% marks for it and I got 60.14%, one mark over the threshold. This I came to realize only yesterday when I had to produce that certificate after almost 46 years.   Those days, first division meant you were the cream. No one talked about percentages or marks. All that mattered was I, II or III Div.   The first time I realised that how important this certificate was when as a young Captain in the Indian Army with three years service, I got a notice from the Army Headquarters to “show cause” why my services should not be terminated as they did not find my matric certificate attached with the mandatory documents required to be submitted to UPSC.   Earth moved under my feet. I was from a Sainik School where all documentation was sent by the school administration. How could they have missed out? Why me, was the question?   Panic and fear struck together as I had ...
6 comments
Read more

A SPEECH

  LT COL NOEL ELLIS   19/IV/2025   Imagine when your “sir ka jhoomar becomes gale ki haddi”, then what happens. That was one Jumla I picked up from the Pak Army Chief’s speech which he delivered in Islamabad to Overseas Pakistanis. They are dual citizenship holders. Their ticket it appears had been paid by the state of Pakistan, I reckon.   An Army Chief addressing a gathering of people who at the very first instance decided to “Pakistan se Zinda Bhag” is uncalled for. If I read correctly between the lines, it was not to impress his countrymen but somehow convince the audience to remit dollars to ensure he and his ilk get their salaries, a plot of land on retirement and an assured pension. Rest of the countrymen can scavenge for all he cares.   Above all, the PM of Pakistan and his cabinet were in attendance. The Chief’s political ambitions were clear and his speech was a subtle message to them that the Army is ‘THE Mai Baap’, as he flexed the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

MYSTERY OF THE MISSING FISH

  Stray cats are on the prowl in our lane. Residents feed them a variety of food. From Roti to bread and milk is their diet. The way they are bloating is an indicator of their health.   They have been also feeding on the roti we spread for the birds. They eat roti only in case of an emergency. It is birds the cats are after. We haven’t seen them catching one but knowing cat behaviour, they would not miss a chance.   What I do not appreciate is that they jump into the grain bowl. It is a shallow earthen pot hung with wires on a protrusion of a dried branch. Even if there are ten birds feeding on the feeder, it doesn’t shake. Imagine, when a big chubby cat jumps onto it. They have dropped that pot several times and broken it.   We do not mind cats basking on our veranda chairs, but how does one tell the cats not to leave the birds alone. Like the birds are looking for a meal, so are the cats. Nothing like a juicy sparrow or a bulbul or a fat dove.   These cats wer...
6 comments
Read more

ARMY CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR

ARMY CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   16/I/2026   I was watching the excerpts of the ‘Army Day Parade’ held in Jaipur. The show put up by the Army was exemplary. It reminded me of the Chinese Military parade, ours was far better. I wish I could have witnessed it in person.   What impressed me was the showcasing of the ‘Bhairav troops’ in their ‘combat regalia’. Especially the Sikh troops. Camo painted faces, Khaki pagris and the call of Bole-so-Nihal could shake up the enemy in his grave.   What caught my attention was their boots. Keeping their tasks and deployment in mind in various sectors, those boots would be wind proof, water proof, light weight, comfortable, flexible, durable with enhanced grip and ankle support.   The contingent was not in ‘Tez chal’ but ‘daur ke kadam taal mode’. Which implies, they do not walk but are always on the run to annihilate the enemy. Their boots had to support their operational requirem...
4 comments
Read more