Tree Politics

My blogging friend , Sangeeta Khanna, who is a botanist, trekker, antioxidants researcher, gardener , nutritionist and photographer, captured this scene of two red whiskered Bulbuls, confabulating , seriously, in her garden.

Sometimes I think life in the bird-world, imitates something we see on television , in situations of "power".....

The whiskers,
once red,
now greying in his
approaching eighties,
he sits,
a learned observer,
on a branch,
which  vibrates
in sudden movement.

It's the other leader,
just arrived,
in a summer white saree,
with a dark jacket,
combining unusually
with the bright red sindoor.

So many new bird types,
some there because
of family power,
some, because
it is useful
to know how to hide behind the green,
some because
they navigate
through difficult
and crooked branches
so well,
some  because they see it
as a great opportunity
to build nests of convenience
in difficult but useful corners,
and some,
strangely,
because,
they like trees,
love birds,
and want to learn
from actual experience.

But these two
really worry ,
about
some who are so
indisciplined,
that they keep
flying randomly around the trunk,
throwing twigs and leaves around,
cawing and twittering
disturbing the peace
and
making life hell
for those sitting
below the tree,
seeking
solutions.

They confer,
flutter a bit,
flying to take a sip of water
from the
bird bisleri
and arrive back
to confer again.

In 2014
they have decided,
they will simply change the tree.