In & Out

I am not a big fan of changes. I was not quite happy when monotonous Doordarshan gave way to jazzy and colourful cable TV. Even changing wallpaper of my desktop takes a great deal of effort and procrastination, mainly because of the love of the old one. But when it comes to a big change i.e. moving home, I am usually looking forward to it. Probably because changing locations every few years is a way of life since I was a kid.

 

Packing everything and moving into a new home is a great phenomena. It is a lesson in philosophy if you give it a good thought. You get a chance to go through all the stuff you have been meaning to go through since long. Stuff is separated in 'to keep' and 'to throw/give away/sell' piles.

It is a great opportunity to sort your papers and get reminded about whereabouts of important receipts and documents. Old clothes pushed deep into the closet get another hearing.

Then, when you reach your new home, the process changes into a creative, imaginative and spiritual journey. You discover new corners where you will get cosy in winters and new ways to decorate the same old furniture.

You find out positives and negatives of the new place and compare it with the old one to your heart's content. You have a shot at changing what you did not like in your old home. In a day or two you get familiar with the nuances of the new place, doors, windows, taps and electric switches. Oh! The joy of sipping morning tea in a new home, planning the new set up. You visualize it sitting amidst the mess of half unpacked boxes and from this mess emerges the new abode of your dreams.





(My previous home)

You admire your own work a few times and start getting accustomed to the newness of the decor. Freshly laundered curtains and sheets, crisply ironed, look as alert at their new places as if they are newly appointed policemen. Carpets and doormats look new by sheer newness of their placement. In this way a few days go, filling the time slots of homemakers and their families.

On my recent moving in, apart from all of the above, something new happened too. I got a little surprise, a beautiful one, with nature's blessings. Something that I had missed completely amidst all the coming and going, moving cartons and arranging stuff.

 

There it was, on one of the bathroom windows in a corner. A pigeon which got startled when I entered and flew away. Then I saw her nest, and two lovely little eggs carefully placed in the nest.

 

After the first encounter, however the pigeon did not fly away. She stayed sitting in her nest, as she knew we were no immediate danger, nevertheless she never looked away, always on her guard. No matter which angle I chose to photogarph her, I could always see her looking with alarm.

It has been more than 10 days here and I see the mother pigeon everyday, sitting on her eggs and looking at me. I want to click the eggs' photo but she never seems to leave her nest. Great Mother Nature! You have created mothers with such strong will, that even the most gentle pigeon has the courage not to fly away out of fear of humans, but to stay and protect her eggs, putting her own life at stake.

 

The pigeon is waiting for her chicks to come out of the eggs and so am I. I am so excited to see little pigeon babies up so close and to photograph them. I wish Coco was a big enough to see and understand too. I guess I will show him these pictures when he grows up. Who knows one day Coco will have his own little birdie tale to tell the world.