Small Wooded Areas Around Us
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 6 May 2024
Dr. Ravi P. Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service
Even a crowded city like Delhi, which is the capital of India, has several forests in different parts of the city. To call dozens of trees and some shrubs and a small pond nearby as a forest may be a little exaggeration but it does convey an idea of a mini forested or wooded area that gives a green touch to the area with dozens of branches and an uncountable number of leaves adding to the green flavour.
Apart from the branches and the leaves that keep the air quality clean and breathing of fresh air welcome, there are some creatures moving and jumping on the branches of the trees that present interesting sights to people sitting or standing around. There are many creatures — birds and squirrels and an odd buzzard that give some movements in the branches and appear attractive, appealing and interesting.
Some of the main movements we see are caused by squirrels which jump from one branch to another . These creatures have a tail that is as long as the body of the squirrel and help them jump and show some interesting acrobatics to any onlooker. There are some birds also that have fabricated their nests with the help of tiny twigs and leaves but you do not see much movement in them. A bird that has laid her eggs in the fabricated nests does sit in the nest to give warmth to its eggs . It is necessary to do it to provide warmth but its sight is sober, not very mobile. After a few days the egg is broken by the bird’s beak. One may be lucky to see small birds called chuja (in Hindi language) in the nests. The mother bird has to perform essential duty of bringing some morsels to eat for the baby birds — chujas.
Just as in the world, the duty of women is to take care of their babies and children, so is this feature essentially duplicated by the female birds to take care of the baby birds for nutrition and keeping them warm and comfortable.
Do other creatures always take care of the babies ? Yes and No. Sometimes the mother creatures destroy some of their babies so that other babies can be taken care of properly. Interesting but necessary for the non-human family to survive properly.
Life that we see around us is interesting and full of movements and spirits. This is how life used to be earlier but today it is weighed down by politics and consumerism . Every item is measured in terms of its cost and thereby its uniqueness is lost or at least submerged under these factors. Let us look at the unique features of items — some are bright and dazzling, some are sedate and sober. This is how we perceive objects that we come across.
How do they acquire these qualities? Difficult to answer but we must appreciate the delicate differences between them and try to emulate these qualities in nature . These features are found not only in inanimate objects but also in living beings. Life is full of challenges that make us act with care and resilience. And that is how life is aglow with novelty and variety.
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Dr Ravi P Bhatia is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, an educationist, Gandhian scholar and peace researcher. Retired professor, Delhi University. His new book, A Garland of Ideas—Gandhian, Religious, Educational, Environmental was published recently in Delhi. ravipbhatia@gmail.com
Tags: Delhi, India, Rain Forests
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 6 May 2024.
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