Fear gives wings

A pigeon adamantly lay eggs in one of the empty Garden pots in my balcony, after many efforts to shoo it. We did not have the heart to throw the eggs away ,so we let it live and make a mess.
We risked the germs/ infection and let them coo.
Two young birds emerged..The mother fed, the father ran away as soon as anyone ventured into the balcony. The mother was, perhaps, sure that we would not go against her. Her kids began to exercise the legs to take the body weight. No! they could not fly or hop.
The vessel of water used to get dirty and it was replaced every day. It has been a 40deg+ Celcius everyday.

One day disaster strikes. As Ila ventured into the balcony, one of the chicks was slaughtered to deeath by a crow. The other one could not be seen but it stood underneath the iron frame, shit scared.Would not even chirp.
The dead sibling was dispersed. We kept a watch on the crows to avert the fate of the remaining one in our maternity home. Law of nature..Human intervention..We pitied the poor remnant.
Its parents came and went every now and then. To move the kid from its place meant sure death.

The kid started moving around the balcony. It tried to hop to the ledge, but was not strong enough. it probably forgot the peril or maybe it learned a lesson..Its hiding place was not safe.

One evening, I went to the balcony and the kid was not in the usual place. Ila told me that he had flown.
It was a great relief ..not to witness another massacre. God spared one, via Fear. Fear gave wings. The chick developed rapidly in 4-5 days to make the dared flight.

The mess was cleaned and we removed all empty pots. The guano was used to plant another sapling. No empty pots!  The mother came to have a look and I could see the surprise on her  face. She could not believe the transformation.

Few days ago, I looked at the parapet and there was a smaller bird peeking at me. Its feathers, were more fresh than others, not the strange black hair anymore.
It then showed off its flight.

Fear does give wings..The chick worked on it to be strong like the parents, it would not live otherwise.

The pot of water attracts birds. And yesterday a strange thing happened.

The crow was croaking with its legs at odd angles to the balcony grill. I was within a meter, but it did not budge. It looked at me with neck turned and again croaked. I was spell bound and I asked " if all was well. I have kept water for you."
The crow took flight..perhaps it had conveyed all that was there to talk about.

Perhaps, it is the same crow who warned me once of a Orange Fruit bat sucking flower nectar on one of the tall trees.
At least, it was as talkative and trying to get a dialog with me. yes .. This guy does try to connect!

Being (a rich) Human:

The more money you have.. the more you are inclined to capitalism.
Do not wash this feeling; It is not a guilt. Capitalism is the most 'natural' philosophy. Earn as much as you deserve.
What you do with your money, depends on your sense of life. If it is shallow, you will not enjoy full returns on your hard earned money.
What is shallow? No one can explain for you Its your past and your upbringing that decides.

If you attempt to feign being a socialist, driving for humanitarian causes, you are just satisfying the bit of pinch, that richness gave you. the glory that you get is not long lasting. But if you managed to change another's life, perhaps that would be rewarding.
(as long as you expect no return on such investment its ok.)

Whichever path you choose, you work for yourself. The more influential shall always rise the weaker perish.

There is still one path to personal satisfaction..which is ..to do the least harm to others, when you earn your dough. It may not leave you filthy rich in $$$ ..yet you will not roll in your grave for misdeeds or trampling another's aspirations.

...For humanity sake.. think about what you do as a human..not what religion asks.. ...For humanity sake.. think about what you do as a human..not what religion asks.. Religion is fake..based on what the multitude wants to hear, without argument. No rules and laws dictated..
Important that you live for yourself and do not go overboard..

(Not sure why I write such stuff. It just evolves around my current thoughts) so pl bear with the artist.... smile emoticon

Perhaps its the end of schindler's list that is deep set in the brain..With few more gold I could save few more?

or perhaps it is the empty bowl of water and grains that I left for the birds tells me.. When I am away they come and drink
I do not need to see them.. to vouch it has not evaporated.
I leave a bit more for the nest day to watch the spoils. I owe a bit of my earnings to the birds. They play no politics!

Note: I am for capitalism (since the days, when I had very less dough)..Just a odd man out..perhaps there are more

Parvati- Taljai cross country-..My most loved playground to train for the mountains

Probably, I may have been the pioneer, as I talk about 1989-1992 time frame. The place was a bit scary..I know at least one case of murder And lot of robbery.. A bit about my daily routine

"
It is almost 6:15PM, when theTATA motors bus reaches home. There is still time to do a hill run. I scramble up the dusty stairs to my room for a quick change of clothes. Dressed in a Cotton tennis T-shirt and cotton shorts size 9 Bata Power shoes I ride on my Ind Suzuki, to the Parvati Hillock. Ignoring, the (unofficial) guy who asks for parking ticket, I start with my usual warmup i.e. climb the stairs towards the temple. Snubbing the crowd, I run towards the backside of the temple and start the hill run. It has now been a routine for a month, as I prepare for an expedition.
The parvati watertanks towards my right are leaking water and I do my usual skip on the stones, without wetting my shoes. As I veer to my right, the small stone quarry I start up the slope of the first hillock. People are planting saplings. Few carry cans of water to the top. The hot wind rustles the few grown saplings and I wonder, will these guys keep up. The hill is otherwise just gravel and stones. I come to a slight descend in a col and then bounce up the second hill and then run towards the third. The sun has almost set on my right. The tin roofs of the slums shines in a pale orange, the river, shines, with a bleak claim, that it still has the right to flow through Pune. The hills beyond are darker.
I come to the third hill. There is a young man on the top, around his mid-thirties. I have seen him here often. He does not run or walk, but he sits there alone, observing the sunset. While he relishes on the diminishing light, I am challenged by the thought of running through darkness. At Waghjai temple I take left and scramble into Taljai forest zone. This plateau is bleak but there is a clump of greens higher up. I cut straight through the forest. There is some dirt track that loops but still under construction. I do bit of steeple chase through the trees and branches on this small narrow goat path. Something moves in the bushes by my side. A peacock ‘meaows ‘ deep in the shrubs.
Within the entire month I have noticed hardly 4-5 people in this area. There is no one today. Through this daily run, I trample upon all the negative feelings and focus on my performance. I exist alone and there is no one to beat. I should be very strong, as strong as needed for a climber to be. As I increase my speed up slope, gasping for breath I come to the taljai park. Few kids from the slum are around. I do some quick Swedish exercises and start on my way back through the forest. Something moves in the bushes. It’s a down slope and I gather more speed..Its Waghjai temple again.
Since its dark I cannot do the hillocks again while returning and I run along the shahu college track. Few other runners training for the marathon, give me a chase. I cannot give up to someone from a road race. The climber rises and I sprint to the water tanks and up the Parvati. I am in a BLAH mood. All the people have returned and this is just my time. The wall underneath the temple is virgin. I sneak up to half of it and do some traverse moves. It is a good rock. I get down as soon as I see thee watchman.
Jog back down Parvati to my Bike.
My routine practice can get hampered that even a 10 minute delay in my bus time can ruin my training. The return run is done almost in darkness, with the limited night vision that I possess. But never did I fall or even stumble.
"
Many years later I revisited Taljai. The place has drastically changed from the barren landscape to a dense shrubbery. A hill run at 7PM inside the loops may be bit risky without a torch. But we have quite a crowd on thiss hill now-a-days.
There have been other hill runs but nothing has ever been the same to my Parvati-Taljai- Ambegaon hill runs.