Cuckoo, the manipulator

Once I wrote something about cuckoo in my previous blog post. It seems that cuckoo has once again drawn my attention for yet another reason,i.e for their shrewd way of hatching eggs in the crows nest. The female crow in the gulmuhar tree nearby recently started hatching and one fine day, a male cuckoo came near the nest, sat on a branch and started crowing at the top of his voice incessantly.Both the crow soon left the nest to chase the cuckoo away and meanwhile the female cuckoo came out from her hiding and laid eggs on the crows nest. She threw some of the eggs below so as to make the quantity of eggs appear the same. The female crow returned after a while and didnt see anything amiss and started hatching again. After a couple of days, chicks came out of eggs and the female crow still weren't aware of the deception. When one fine day, the cuckoo chick started uttering the first cooing sound, the mother crow realised that she had been duped by the cuckoo duo. Mad with raze, she threw the cuckoo chicks from her nest and not even satisfied with that, she started pecking at them angrily. Fortunately, some villagers nearby rescued the chicks and caged and reared them till they were able to fly.
Most of the time it so happens that the mother crow do not even realize the deception and the cuckoo chick grows up under her care and later flies away. What a blatant example the cuckoo shows of forfeiting one's duty.

Tiger on the prowl

Wonder of wonders, there is a female leopard on the prowl, seen in our campus for quite sometime now along with her two cubs. Seen at first atop hills surrounding the campus, it later started venturing out, perhaps on the look out for food for the cubs. People's apprehension knew no bound and evening walk has become a thing of the past. As the campus was a big forest earlier, and trees have been mauled down to build this concrete world, the wild inhabitant's life became jeopardized and they had to hibernate in whatever small forest area that remained within the campus. Now that food is getting scarcer, in spite of the danger involved, they venture into human territory. As of now, the leopard has not harmed a soul but as a tiger is a tiger, people are paranoid. Oblivious to all these commotions however, the leopard is roaming around, sometimes seen sitting leisurely on the roadside or sometimes mistakenly entering half constructed quarters. Our quarter is located near a small wetland and I for one is wishfully thinking that perhaps the leopard will frequent the wetland at night at least once and I could see it for real. But till now, luck is eluding me..I can visualize in my mind's eye what a spectacular scene it would create, the spotted beast amidst pristine green and sparkling water..I have seen only deers amidst greenery and that picture is still imprinted on my mind..roaming free spirited wild animals with their multi hued colors, seen in the wilderness is a million dollar view and I would thank the almighty a thousandth time when i am blessed from experiencing such a view..that too from my own balcony...

nature's fury

There goes a proverb in Assamese which when interpreted means thus; On the onset of spring, BORDOICHILA (wind) goes to her mother's place. However, when she returns, she returns with a vengeance, destroying whatever comes on her path. I have seen BORDOICHILA yesterday night, and oh how!

Yesterday night, while basking in the ambiance of spring cultural fest in the campus and getting soaked in the heady and scintillating bihu dance performance, we heard the distant rumbling of an approaching thunderstorm. However, before we could reach our car, big pelting raindrops and gushing wind hit us on the face, taking our breathe away. We anticipated the thunderstorm late at night and was completely taken by surprise. The wind was so powerful that it blew away most of the roofs of the thatched housed in the nearby village. As the wind blew in a spiraling pattern, it just demolished whatever came on its path. How transient and small we felt as we just watched nature's fury being unleashed and was helpless and powerless to do anything about it!

At this juncture, numerous thoughts has crossed my mind and I felt an urge to unwind and share my musings. While there is tremendous advancement and hi-tech inventions every other day, at the other end, natural disaster is claiming more and more lives in different parts of the globe. It is a pity that despite numerous disaster mitigation and management workshops, seminars and conferences, and despite chalking out agenda of action, disaster is causing and will continue to cause untold misery and havoc in people's lives, be it in J&K, or Pakistan or Italy. One of the most important factor causing maximum causality and damage in a disaster like earthquake and storm is poor housing condition. So quality housing should be one of the priority action in any disaster management and mitigation plan.

My new abode

I have recently moved to my new abode, overlooking an unique wetland, frequented by varieties of migratory and local birds. From our elevated balcony, which is some 50 mtrs above the wetland, the view is irresistibly beautiful. Most of the wetland is covered with vibrant green grasses, and pools of water can be seen only intermittently. Unseen to the naked eyes, birds settle in the grassy parts of the wetland and only when they takes flight are they visible to viewers. And what a spellbinding, soul stirring scene it creates!

Right there in the middle of the wetland, there are two date trees, laden with fruits. These are wild dates and not the delicious ones imported from Arab countries. Yet,the trees give a panoramic view of the wetland, like an artist's canvass unfolding before the eyes. Towards the far end of the wetland, there are naturally grown trees, creepers,shrubs and bushes, giving it a unique appearance, as if there is a rainforest in the vicinity of the wetland. Along with birds and insects, there are reptiles too including python and green flying viper. The other day, a python was seen lying across the road leading to our quarters, blocking traffic for a while. It later slithered towards the wetland below.

From the ripples created in the water and from the attentive stork's unwavering and alert stance, it is logically deduced that fish population is present in the pools of water, although we are yet to see a stork catching it's pray. The specialty of the wetland is that it is not fed from rainwater, rather from a spring from below. For this reason, water always remains, despite scorching heat.At one time, the grassy part was utilized by the villagers nearby to grow one variety of rice named "Bao Dhan" during rainy season and Corn was grown in the relatively drier area
during summer.

Be it rain or scorching heat,when I look across my balcony, I can feel a somnolent serenity enveloping the atmosphere and it inundates my soul as I inhale the fresh air and raw earthy scent wafting through the air. To me, it is an epitome of spiritual fulfillment and inner bliss.

Oh..heavenly bliss! Finally I could hear the sound of thunder yesterday night. I was jolted awake from my deep slumber and I hastened to the balcony to get the feel of first drop of rain on my upturned face. For the first half an hour, there was just the wheezing sound of wind blowing and i was feeling almost disappointed when first drops of rain fell on my face. My ecstasy knew no bound..The steady downpour thereafter lasted for almost half an hour and the smell I longed to inhale pervaded all my senses. The trees with dancing leaves already promised me a vibrant, beautiful and heavenly morning and I could already visualize the excited chirping and frolicking of morning birds.The panoramic view of the mountains afar, which I have been missing for the past two weeks will unfold before me tomorrow like a Michelangelo painting. How content I'm feeling today after days of restless longing! i love u mother earth and always want to see u in ur majestic glory..

Parched earth..parched soul...

What has gone wrong to the mother earth? The blanket of dust, for the past two weeks, have enveloped the green surroundings, the mountains afar, and the azure blue sky above. Such bleary is the scene that it is sucking the life force and rendering us limpid and dehydrated like a squeezed out sugarcane.The trees being already devoid of leaves, this feeling of barrenness is exacerbated by the dust spell. While crossing the mighty river Brahmaputra, I was distressed to see the magnificent panoramic view of the river being submerged in the dusty haze. We are longingly waiting for the sound of thunder and pitter pater raindrop. But alas! It's almost two weeks now and there is no sign of rain coming..We all are parched..humans, animals, and trees all around. Oh..how lovely it would be..to smell and inhale the scent of drenched mother earth!

How do u feel when a cuckoo crows?

Spring is still a month away and beautiful voice of cuckoo is associated with the heralding of the spring season. I too used to wait longingly for this melodious voice coming from afar in rhythmic phases which gives one the feeling of intoxication. However, satirical as it may sound, from last year, cuckoo’s melody has become cacophonous to the ear. One sole cuckoo started frequenting the tree right near my bedroom since last year and wonder of wonders, it started crowing right from January in its incessant drawl. Initially it was a real treat to hear a cuckoo from such a close quarter as it is so rare now-a-days to hear this seasonal wonder. Initially, the bird used to come at a particular time of the day, and we were used to the rhythmic singing for a short span of time. However, as the days went by, the cuckoo broke it’s routine and started crowing at odd hours, disturbing our peace and tranquility. It would start crowing from 3 o'clock in the morning and would continue doing so till the wee hours in the morning. Sleep eluded us as it was impossible to sleep blissfully when cuckoo's singing at it's highest decibel invaded the tranquil night everyday, jolting us awake from deep slumber. However hard we try to drown the noise by stuffing pillows in our ears, it was of no avail. It had become such a curse that at one point I had some wild thought of bringing firecrackers to scare the bird away. But the least I did was throwing a stone wildly at the tree which had become the cuckoo's night abode. Although it helped give us some quiet moments, but it was short lived and the symphony started and continued unabated. And this misery of sleepless night is still continuing..

I have found out for the first time that most birds have certain enmity towards cuckoo and keep chasing it whenever they come across one. It is beyond my comprehension why a bird with a lovely voice should be hated by fellow birds and why it had to hide and make itself less visible from fellow birds. The enmity between cuckoo and crow is well known because cuckoo always kept their eggs in a crows nest during hatching time and the deceit is noticed by the crow only when the babies grow up. For this reason, crows and cuckoos are fast enemies but what about other birds?

This experience of mine is a bit funny and I wrote it from satirical point of view. For a nature lover, like me, cursing a cuckoo is the last thing i want myself to be associated with. But considering the number of sleepless night I had gone through, amazingly that was what I actually did! Now I know why cuckoo’s singing sounds sweeter when coming from afar. It gives a kind of spread effect and sounds like a symphony. From close quarters, the beauty of cuckoo's voice is lost.