Unswayed

Just like every day Chetan was arguing and lecturing his mom for throwing the leftover food under the mango tree in an empty plot next door. He was super annoyed with her mom for such an unhygienic act that could invite disease-spreading germs and flies inside their home. He decided to clean it up by himself and went inside to bring a dustpan and broom.

On his arrival after fifteen minutes, he noticed a group of weaver birds pecking on the food. At some time they were accompanied by woodpeckers, doves, pigeons, crows, and squirrels. It appeared as if these birds chirped to call their friends for the delicious food which was perhaps leftover from us. Amazed by this sight he sat in his veranda watching them and clicking their pictures. As their little stomach had gathered enough stock to fill themselves, they moved away perching on the branches of the mango tree, for that matter all the nearby trees.

Then came a limping dog eating rest of the food as birds flew away. The place was clean in a matter of two hours. Later that noon when he came out to get a close look at the mango tree that was flowering, he noticed tiny insects feeding on the crumbs of leftover food, the soil seemed healthy with all necessary ingredients for the tree’s growth. There were bees and butterflies pollinating hovering around the flowers

He was fascinated by new learning that nothing ever gets wasted away in nature. It’s a cycle of the symbiotic relationship of how his mom put the leftover food there, birds & animals feeding on them, their excreta manured the tree and the tree, in turn, was home to many birds, insects, gave shade for animals to rest under and yes, the tasty mangoes that people plucked to eat.

The next day morning when his mom stepped out to leave the food, Chetan also accompanied her. He said “Mom am sorry for being so rude always on this topic. I learned yesterday what being a mother in true essence is. The way you nurture and feed us, so does all the tree, birds, animals. We could not exist without them nor they without us. In true essence, everything manifests as a mother within and around all of us. Mother is not just a word but it's an emotion, a feeling, the very being that exists in all of us unswayed to nurture several children on this earth. However, having said that keeping things neat and clean in our vicinity is also important, so let’s find better ways of managing our leftover food “