Summers are truly here in Bangalore and the air is filled with the mellifluous music of bird calls. My personal favourite is the Koel (Asian cuckoo) that works as a mindfulness bell for me, often waking me up from my reverie. This is also the time when the birds start nesting.
All over the world, we humans have also been called to stay at home, in our nests. As I am completing four weeks of sheltering at home, I am reminded of another home of a dear friend. A home that was built with utmost patience and care, a home that was an embodiment of love and nurture.
I didn’t recognize how special it was the first time I spotted it though, mistaking it for a bunch of dried leaves and pieces of paper stuck together by the monsoon rains. Imagine my surprise when one day I noticed a yellow sunbird visiting it now and then with bits of twigs and paper, and with a graceful swoop worthy of a trapeze artist sitting pretty inside it.
I would sneak peeks at my new houseguest through the window as the mama bird soon went into a brooding stage. A week later I could hear shrill tweets as the eggs hatched and the loving parents brought the birdlings food and warmth. And, one fine day I couldn’t hear the tweets anymore and just like that the sunshine family flew the roost.
Since then every year, my feathery friend has come visiting me and I have the best seat in the house to admire the cycle of life. I even named her “Maitri” and her nest “Haiku.” One year, she brought another friend with her and I had two Haikus to admire. Another year, she brought a whole tribe along with it. A tribe of bees! I was surprised to see the bird and the bees co-existing beautifully, making me wonder why we human beings couldn’t do the same.
The first time Maitri visited me, I would sneak peeks at the little bird sitting calmly and majestically in the nest while the monsoon rains and winds lashed around her tiny little home. And, I wrote about lessons on living that we could learn from her.
- Simplicity and functionality: A “home” is home as long as it serves as a nurturing place for love and growth. It doesn’t need to be big, expensive and fancily decorated. Although, I couldn’t help but notice that Maitri has incorporated a bunch of yellow bougainvillea flowers as part of the nest. Maybe she knows about my love for flowers and has decorated the nest with one.
- Resilience: I have seen the nest been tested by the kind of rain and winds that have laid flat the sturdiest of trees. I was so worried about the nest that one night, I woke up to check on it at 2 am. The nest was a little bedraggled because of the rains but was still going strong. Thankfully though, our little yellow architect and civil engineer seem to know her construction materials and engineering. I did a little research on the nests of sunbirds, and it turns out that the birds use spider’s webs in generous proportions. Who needs Kevlar when you have the strongest and most resilient material available in the natural world? I couldn’t help but wonder how the birds know that spider’s web is the right material and how do they go about sourcing it?
- Patience and care: I have seen this tiny little bird bring small twigs and other construction material over and over again, and meticulously place it inside and outside the nest. I can’t imagine us human beings doing that (in our current lifestyles) to build even a dollhouse, let alone a home for ourselves. The father bird keeps guard while the mother bird builds the nest all by herself. Here is a link for a video of a sunbird making a nest.
- Courage and trust: It must take the utmost amount of courage, bravery, and trust to build a home hanging by a single thread from a thin branch.
I am revisiting some of those lessons today as we are also being tossed around by the storms of change and uncertainty while trying to find our calm within us and also inside our homes.
May we find the love and care within us to not only nurture ourselves and loved ones, but also the ones who are most vulnerable during these times.
May we find the courage within us to hold space for all that the present situation brings forth.
May we trust our inner resilience and the deep mysteries of Nature
When I wrote this piece a few years back, on one stormy night, I was whispering a silent prayer and wish for my friend. These days it feels like that the birds are sending those prayers and wishes back to us.
To stay calm in our nests.
And to take this time to rest and roost, so that after the storms have passed, we can birth a most beautiful world that our heart knows is possible.
