Among these “small everyday deeds” – yet an extraordinary phenomenon – is the daily traffic of birds to a semi-barren eucalyptus tree next to my terrace. As uninteresting as it may seem, to take note of this one activity, day after day, especially during the lockdown, gave me a chance to realize what a beautiful experience of my life I have been foolishly missing hitherto. To come to an understanding eventually that it is, by far, amongst the favourite spots of birds, gave further impetus to my curiosity towards this extraordinary unfolding of nature.

As the lockdown gave me some time to look at things just as they are, I noticed, to my amazement, that the branches at the top-end of the tree are like an elevated platform for all kinds of sky soaring birds. The fascination for a natural routine of birds, solely for the sustenance of life, brought me closer both to the tree and the birds. I was compelled to dig deeper and my fascination led me to do a bit of research on the daily tree travellers. I found out that other than the locally found species of Parrots, Crows, Pigeons, Koels, Starlings, Ashy Primas, Red Vented Bulbuls, Barbets, Green Bushchats etc., the migratory Indian Grey Hornbill also make an appearance in the wee hours of the day.

As I would gaze at them for several moments, I observed how intelligently they fare. At the top of that tree, which is some sort of a strategizing spot for the birds, I would often observe them scanning the surroundings for their next move, which would be for food, for gathering raw materials for their nests, for escaping the lurking threats – ultimately for survival. They would come, observe, talk to their fellow species in mesmerizing voices (which I wish I could understand) and then make their flight. This whole process appealed to me as a lovely turn of events, absolutely pure and momentary.

In this whole process, I developed a special love and hate relationship with a pair of Black Kite, which often dominated the tree. I would love them and they would hate me! Nesting on the tree nearby, the Black Kite pair saw me as a threat and would attack me in the protection of their baby. Intrinsically, I communicated a lot of times that I am not a threat to your family – but to no avail. The attacks continued even as I became more and more peeved and wary of them. At one point of time, I would hold a stick in my hand or take an umbrella to avoid the heavy thumping on my head from their broad claws (which I got a couple of times).

Their movement over my head would perplex me. But, at the same time, I learned a lot about the remarkable character and strength of that bird. Their amazing movements in the air and meticulousness in marking the targets were exceptional. I was particularly impressed by their choice of an ambush as a strategy to attack, something really to be a fan of. Eventually, the attacks subsided – presumably because their baby grew older or they didn’t see me as a threat anymore. Absent lockdown, I may never have experienced these beautiful moments.

Looking at these birds and the tree not only bestowed upon me moments of peace, it compelled me to reflect on the futility of man, with all his manufactured suzerainty over other species. As shown in the recent Disney-Pixar animation movie ‘Soul’ (2020), the purpose of life can be anything from watching a leaf falling down from a tree to listening to some music to walking alone in a park, I wondered how purposeless our lives are, despite all the great things which we tend to think we do and achieve every day.

The hollowness of man stares at me every time I am in the company of that tree and those birds. It may seem, I realize, that we are the ones superior with all the romance, the development and the technological advancement that we take so much pride in. But, when, although faintly, you are in the middle of that experience, when you rise above yourself, you are reminded of your limitations.

You are reminded that you are just waiting for death to happen, but it is these creatures of nature that are actually living. You are reminded that you are far worse than all those who you deem inferior in your limited minds. I realized that there is a lot to learn from these messengers of truth and I posed a question to myself: Are we not just grovelling in the dark while they are soaring high in life? Are we not, I ask you?

While I try to unlearn what has been taught to me, over and over again, about the nature of man, I continue, at the same time, to take some new lessons for life from the rhythmic and poetic living of the eucalyptus tree and its flying passengers.