Befriending Nature
written by: Viji Narayan
I woke up to the whispers of
The Neem tree in my garden
I badly wanted to know what those whispers
Were all about.
As I prided myself on being a nature lover
I decided to get close to Mother Nature,
Though I had no clue how to do it!
So I started listening to the sounds of silence.
I listened to the sound of a falling leaf
Lie on my reluctant mattress
Listening to the cuckoo for hours,
Sat in the morning sun
Trying to understand the
Language of the parrots that came to
Feed on my guava tree.
Relentlessly, I spoke to my basil plant,
Sang to my jasmine bush
Danced in front of my banana tree-
Felt sure after weeks and months of eccentricities
That none understood my language.
Tired and hopeless as I slumped into my garden chair,
Then
A parrot started talking to me!
I felt like Keats and Shelly
Before they wrote about a Nightingale and a Skylark!
Here was I in the corner of my Coimbatore home
Talking to a parrot!
I thought it was the same parrot who would
Feast on my guava fruit every day, so
I told her, “Welcome beautiful lady.”
To which the reply came, “I am not a lady and
I have not seen you before.”
I was not convinced but did not want to lose the conversation with a talking parrot!
He continued with a what I thought was a derisive smile,
Do you humans ever try to connect with anyone but your race?
Just as no two humans are alike
No two parrots are alike
We have our likes and dislikes
Some of us like fruits
Some of us like nuts
None of us likes a cage!
Have you any idea how many varieties of parrots there are?
Stop generalizing
And
Come to me with an unconditional love for parrots
I will teach you
The language of Nature
That of parrots, too!
He flew away and
I prepared myself for my next dose of
Parrot linguistic!
- Befriending Nature - September 29, 2025
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- The World Knocks at My Door - January 17, 2025
