E-Paper
Spice of Life | Real-life encounter strikes chord in concrete jungle
As I stepped out of the air-conditioned zone of comfort to buy groceries, I was in for a surprise. A koel sang somewhere from the canopy of trees above.
City life, these days, is filled with unmelodious honks of trucks, the disconcerting din of loud music playing in cars, sudden screeches of brakes, and the monotonous tones of smart phones travelling with us in our pockets. The tall stately trees that once lined the streets are slipping into the pages of history, with swanky malls and ultra-modern hotels taking their place. Is it a change for the better? Is there another facet to this relentless march of urbanisation? Such were my thoughts as I made my way home on a hot afternoon.
As I stepped out of the air-conditioned zone of comfort to buy groceries for home, I was in for a pleasant surprise. A koel sang somewhere from the canopy of trees above. I had read and heard countless times about the mesmerising melody in the songs that the koel sang. But, the spontaneous “live performance” of the koel, could not be put into words. For those precious few minutes, the honks and the cacophony of human activity just melted away.
For the next couple of weeks, I made it a point to stop my car under the same tree, and, lo and behold, the koel would burst into its magical song. Passers-by would look at me in surprise seeing me gaze at the canopy of trees above and then drive off without venturing into any of the trendy showrooms that lined the street. Was I not in sync with the times? For once, I did not mind being old-fashioned.
I was dismayed to find a crane at work at that very place a few days ago. The “men at work” were busy cutting off branches of the tree which, apparently, were coming in the way of the overhead electricity wires. What had happened to my “melody queen”? Was her nest safe? I searched among the branches of the tree but there was no sign of the koel. I felt sad. For a few days, the silence that pervaded the trees was deafening.
Then one fine afternoon, as I slowed down the car at that spot, I thought I heard the same melodious song. Excitedly, I got out of the car. There it was! The koel’s live performance was back with a bang. The koel had somehow survived the human onslaught. A real-life episode can also have a cinematic end. Nature had triumphed. The proverbial island of nature lives on in the hustle and bustle of our city.
The writer is a Jalandhar-based psychiatrist and can be reached at gulbaharsidhu@rediffmail.com.
