SENSE IN NONSENSE

 

In this humdrum of war, I was thinking about the birds and animals in those countries. What fault had these innocents done to deserve the bombs. Human suffering, we all are witnessing but no one is covering the trauma and ordeal of the fauna.

 

Devastated homes, devastated nests, distressed people, disillusioned and tormented fauna, uncertain about their next meal but the birds can fly over borders. Birds too feel the heat and get caught in the crossfire.

 

I have never seen birds cry if their nest is destroyed. They fight, contest, resist, divert attention, struggle, attack and counter attack with all their might but then move on. Humanity wails much longer. Even strays lose their pups, lament a while but see life beyond. We need to learn a lot.

 

We on the other hand are enslaved to modernity and technology. The privileged ones cannot live without electricity. We have got glued to our gadgets. Above all, we cannot part with our phones. Our whole world is in there. Imagine if your phone explodes every time you pick it up. Everything is fair in love and war they say.

 

We cannot live without purified water as our immunity has reduced drastically. Watch someone from the US who comes to India. They drink coke, juice or mineral water. Imagine, humans in war zones drinking contaminated water bombed by the US. Birds and animals don’t know who the US is.

 

From the ‘wake-up’ alarm to ‘go to sleep’ alarm is set. Reminders, auto pay, mails, messages, books and podcasts are all inside that six-inch “dhatu case main band vo ala” which was introduced in our lives to stay in touch. Now, it not only takes photos but exchanges notes live, clothed or unclothed is another discussion. Birds are punctual without technology.

 

Birds and animals do not need petrol or gas. We won’t survive without them. Life comes to a grinding halt but they soar free on self-powered wings. A storm might disrupt their flight but cannot stop them from flying.

 

I sat down to think where do I spend the maximum time with the mobile? Was it my bed, my study table, my sofa or the ‘throne’ in the toilet? Answers may differ but the two-minute job can take anywhere up to two hours. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Headphones or ear pieces which I call ‘Kaankhajura’ are the new earrings. They are attached to people’s bodies like glue. Sometimes, you mistake the voice of a person talking through his danglers as if he or she was addressing you. Many of us have answered, only to realise it was …….

 

There was a time for me when the newspaper was the first thing to be read in the morning. Having gone through the headlines in the drawing room, it was the centerpiece in the bathroom where it was studied in detail. The editorial was best understood when your tummy felt lighter. A stack of newspapers would allow you to check the crossword answers. What a jolly good time it used to be!

 

Birds and animals are oblivious of war. They tweet and chirp to communicate. We humans have “emojified” things. Even a ‘like’ is a thumbs up or a heart depending on the platform you use. Actually, the volume of traffic on the phone is so much that if you stop for a minute on each message and react with two words the day would be over.

 

Check your groups, like some of mine force feed me three hundred nonsensical messages a day. Perforce, they have been muted permanently.

 

I was watching a Bulbul who had built a nest in one of her hanging pots. She leaves the nest only to eat, drink and relieve herself for very short periods. The rest of the time she sits on her eggs, hatching them. Soon we should see her chicks arrive.

 

Had she been using a mobile phone, she would have been watching “Bird Tube”, “Avian flix” or “Hormuz Prime” all the time. She would have forgotten to even feed her babies while being engrossed in her gadget. Birds would have more flying accidents if they used their mobiles even in ‘inflight’ mode.

 

Humanity is being churned and so are animals and birds in these wars. We have much to learn from birds including how to fight and make truce without being hooked to gadgets. Will we ever? I wonder!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© ® NOEL ELLIS