#7 - Myself & Nature | Part 1 | A Memoir

(In this blog, I have added the links of most of the plants & animals discussed for your reference. Kindly see them for a better visual & reading experience.)

When I first came to Chennai a few years ago from my hometown Madurai, it was not at all surprising for me that the city & people were too busy, fast & felt like a timelapse which was easily an expected one. But the only thing that was surprisingly unexpected for me was the sound of the common squirrel. Here is a sample sound/call of Chennai's Indian Palm Squirrel also the sound of Madurai’s Indian Palm Squirrel. I don't know why they sound different. I asked a few of my friends and they told me like Chennai Slang Tamil & Madurai Slang Tamil, squirrels may also have different slangs.

Similarly after a few years when I reached Bengaluru. Wherever I go on buses around Bengaluru I could hear a different loud bass sound from trees. I have waited to see it, but couldn't find it. It was similar to the deep sounds of “Sembothu” (Crow Pheasant). I was confused whether it is a bird or an animal or an insect. Then, After a few months I finally heard that call from a tree very close to my PG room.So I slowly moved towards the balcony to find out, opening my camera to capture it & search it on Google Lens. But when I reached near the balcony two greenish yellow birds flew & yes that is the day I found out that it was a “Barbet”.  Then I found a different type of Lizard on the walls of HSR layout which was a very different reddish yellow lizard and searched on the net to find it to be “Peninsular Rock Agama Lizard”.  And this is me, a curious me on wanting to know about different flora and fauna around us. This curiosity started within me at a very early age from 6-8 years I guess. I used to wake up to the AM radio playing devotional songs at around 06:30 AM in the morning, then I pick my brush & start to brush for nearly more than 15 to 20 minutes in our home backyard which consists of a 3 cents of a small garden with some plants & trees. What I would do daily is to just watch the green plants, the birds that sit on it, insects and butterflies that fly around, sometimes rarely, some animals would come like stray cats or dogs. My mom used to scold me for keeping the brush in my mouth for so long, but I never cared. Still now, whenever I go back to my home I would just sit and watch( வேடிக்கை பார்க்கும் மனிதன், which means a human who just watches things). And also at that age my dad bought me a drawing book where we have to connect the dots & color the pictures. That book was filled with birds. Those were mostly foreign birds like Cockatoos, Penguins, Paradise Bird, Humming Birds etc.

The most common organisms that I have seen in my home’s backyard are a group of “Yellow billed babblers”. It always comes in a group of 10 or more.Whenever it arrives to the backyard it would be always making sounds for nearly a 2 minutes then only it calms down, if we suddenly go out or with that hard door opening sound it gets frightened and suddenly it makes the sound to alert others I guess. Then obviously Squirrels which won't be afraid even when we are around. The squirrels and babblers were always finding food together. Mostly squirrels would be climbing from ground to eat the lavender color flowers of the Ceylon Spinach(Commonly called Pasalai keerai). On seeing this I always wish that I could be one of them. And my favorite of all the birds in my backyard was the “Sunbird”. It looks like a mini penguin to me, and also I thought it was a hummingbird considering its size to be too small. Backthen I didn't know its name, I usually call it the “Between” bird, because its sound feels like the word "between” for me. Also it had long beaks, and it flaps its wings in air continuously & sucks nectar from hibiscus flowers & other flowers, it was a great feast for our eyes. Similarly there is another bird which looks in the same size of Sunbird that is the "Common Tailor Bird". I was thinking both are same species for a very long time because of its size and looks, but both are different. And I am having 2 bad memories with these common tailor birds which I feel guilty & regret it till now. The first one is vaguely during my 10 years of age I guess, that was the time I was reading animated books of animal jataka tales and other children books with animals & kings. So there were many stories of people hunting animals & birds with bow & arrow & similarly in DD National also there were some hunting of animals/birds shown as cartoons. So on reading & seeing this, I also thought of hunting this particular tailor bird not to eat but to grow it as a pet. What I did was I would throw a single stone at it but my aim & angle was bad, it kept missing & the bird was flying. So I took a handful of stones & started to throw desperately, some stones hit it and it started to make louder sounds. But it escaped and my mom scolded me. Then after a few days the same tailorbird or some other bird, I don't know, had its babies. One baby was about to start to fly. Me and my cousin took it out from the nest.(The nest of the tailor bird is so sophisticated it weaves it with 3,4 large leaves and places soft sponge inside it, such an architect). We kept it in a basket and gave water & were both watching it the whole night. Then my Chithi & mom told us that we can't pet a bird from nature, also its mom would be worried. And also, it was not eating anything, So we took the bird and left it out. Then what happened to it we don't know. This is the first thing I regret till now. 

The second thing is after a few years another nest was built by common tailorbird on the mosambi tree. I just climb on a wood & to see if the mom bird has laid eggs. 3 eggs were laid. After seeing it I was eager when it would hatch. So, I pulled the branch where the nest was hanging to check. I will always check only when the mom bird is not in the nest, but on that day I climbed on the wood, pulled the branch and the nest’s opening was straight near my face and suddenly to my surprise the mom bird was inside. It flew out, I in fear & shock missed the balance of the wood where I was standing & left the branch. In that force, all the 3 eggs came out, fell down & was broken.  I was very much deeply saddened & guilt driven. After that the mom bird was continuously making noise flying out of the nest, circling around the broken eggs. While typing this, my heart is palpitating, I am still guilt- ridden for this incident. I really feel sorry for these birds. These incidents happened some 20 years back, these birds are definitely not alive right now. But still some days I feel guilty & regret about these birds. Hmm.. Uff..

The Next set of birds that come to our backyard are as follows, these are in random order of my memory Common Myna , Cuckoo , Rettai Vaal Kuruvi/Karichankuruvi , Vaal Kaakkai , Parrot , Woodpecker, Kingfisher, Bulbul, and very recently these Waterhens have come & settled in our surroundings. I am a good observer and during my final year my uncle gifted me a handycam & with that I shot videos of whatever birds or animals in & around my home for a period of one year or more I guess. And when the movie “2.0”s song “Pullinangal” was released I thought of making it a compilation, & made it. I personally love this video. In that video I have shot mostly all the above said birds. And there are few birds that I can't see nowadays around my neighborhood. The first bird that comes to my mind is the Hawk/Shikra. Its tamil name is “Vallooru” I guess. This name comes in the song “Life of Ram” - “Oh Katrodu than Valooru poguthey”(which means “With the wind flies the hawk”). During my childhood many people around muy home were growing hens & chickens, this hawk flies from up above the sky & easily catches the smaller chickens, then flies away. At that time hens would also shouts in a very peculiar sound & chases it to very long distances. And the crows would always fight with these hawks in the sky. I haven't seen the normal Indian sparrow around my household even during my childhood, I have seen only in deep villages those days. As my home is in a semi urban area not so rural & not so urban, it's an extension area in the outskirts of Madurai. Very rarely I have seen Peacocks coming near my home.

On the Nature related books that I have bought & read “A Day with Shama” by Theodore Baskaran a few years back. This book gives us a great feeling of being present with him in his walks through deep jungles & shores of rivers & Sea. While writing this, I wanted to re-read it once again to recap the exact details, which I will do it for sure.

On the final note, I always feel that we shouldn't go against Nature, but with our greed we are going against nature's way. I try my level best to be in tune with nature like most Tribal communities who worship nature without damaging it. And I remember a quote from the recently released trailer of the movie “Minmini” - “Nature Heals”. I am not romanticizing Nature, because Nature only has order & disorder. I personally feel that everything is connected in this nature. So, whatever thing, even if it is small that we can do for nature, then it gives back in huge amounts to us. There are still a lot more stuff to write about nature, but fir now this is it. And, Finally all I know is I am made up of nature, & I am the part of Nature. 

In the next blog, we can see the flora version of nature & myself.

Peace. ☮️ ✌️
Senthil Rajan V 😇