Small Things Bring Joy

I was sitting for some quiet moment in SKH, which is so full of pigeons. I was facing the queues marching towards the ornate marble edifice. Diagonally behind me to my left, was a pink arch divided by the magnificent white exit gates.

A momma pigeon had found a nice corner above the gate arch with a comfortable side wall to make a cushioned abode for the ones presently resting inside her. “Precarious spot!” I thought to myself; but I obviously did not have as much of a clear view as her.

image source: http://www.shutterstock.com

Perched atop, she panned her neck to see what could make the spot a home. Any and every string/twig-like object that was more than 3 cms long was targeted. I wondered “What sharp eyes!” The pigeon would fly down, pick it up, and fly back to the corner. And the most amazing part – this was an activity that went on through the day. Was she over-exercising her wings to make her kids’ home? But her love and anticipation was such.

A lil story in that story: They use nylon strings in SKH to demarcate the boundaries. When the crowd reduces to just a hundred or less, they wind the strings and wrap the bunch up. This momma pigeon saw the string, came flying down, and tried her best to pull the string out. She managed a few inches from the loose end. She tried to drag it. It was heavy for her. Yet she dint give up. In fact she managed to pull out close to a foot of the string out of the ‘wrap’. She kept trying until she felt convinced and then realized it was too long and heavy for her to carry.

Another lil story in that story that gave me a glimpse of BEING in the NOW: I had a pretty white rose that I wanted to offer. The stem had a couple of slender branches with leaves. I wanted to help this momma pigeon. I also wanted to see how fearless she was. So I cut a branch and left it on the floor, a short distance away. I waited eagerly to see if she noticed this branch. A few minutes passed but no sign of her coming this side, let alone of pecking at the branch. I wondered if the branch wasn’t clearly visible on the black floor. But she proved me wrong. After about 10 minutes, she glided down, skated on the smooth floor while she landed, and within a second flew back with the rose branch. She gifted me a smile from deep within. I wanted more. I plucked the only other branch remaining and left it a shorter distance away, maybe 2-3 tiles away. Again I waited in hope. I kept turning around to the top of the arch. Probably the woman sitting behind me might have wondered what I was up to. Finally a few minutes later, my lil inspiration came down gliding again, this time close to me. She held the branch in her little beak and flew back. I had a bigger smile this time. And since I was reading excerpts from the Power of Now, I was deeply touched by this experience, because while I was part of this small episode, I was completely present in just that!  I had absolutely no other thought and I was completely one with my surroundings. Bliss!

Small things bring joy but joy is not a small thing!