Sparrow In A Concrete Nest

picture credit :- shlok pandey

 01:00 pm, scorching sun was shining at the top of the head, when I returned home after completion of some work, stepped into my room and turned on the fan, while holding a water bottle I sat on the couch and when I was on verge to take a sip of water, "khhdddaaakkkk", suddenly a sound came into my ear and it was somthing which collide with the fan and  fall on a corner of my bed, I rushed but what I saw was totally undesirable for me. It was a female sparrow  who was in unconscious manner; I got little closer and grabbed her gently in my hand and started trying  to figure out what has just happened and all I could do was to see  her struggle to get her breath back.

By luck I belong to a nature lover family and inheritance worked so am I. The construction of my village house is in such a way that there is area of 1320 square feets in front part which has nothing but different trees of fruits and several flowering plants. Sometimes it resembles a mini forest within the boundary of my house, so it's very common to spot lots of sparrows and other creatures like squrriels, chameleon, tree frogs, butterfly and  sometimes even snakes ;) but the majority is of sparrows.

These all creatures live with us in peace and coexistence, but do we? Anyways it is mesmerising to see them in evening when all sparrows come back after entire day searching for food and all. Hearing their chirping sound and watching them fighting for their place on branches gives soothing vibe to the soul.

There are some unique characteristics of house sparrows that even though they live on branches but when it comes to lay eggs they look for places inside house or holes or overhanging fixtures to built their nest.

So a couple of sparrow was looking for a suitable place to lay eggs and fortunately-unfortunetely they landed up in my room where my climbing rope was hanging with roof. They reky the place and after couple of days I spotted them picking tiny straws and putting those on the junction of rope but as soon as they fly their entire hard work came down to floor, but their continuous efforts even without feeling demotivated or tired, they kept on trying.  Sometimes I used to ask myself why they dont look for some other suitable places as there are lot in my room, but somewhere inside I knew sparrows are one of such creatures that don't need any plan B or C rather they gradually increase their effort on plan A itself untill they achieve why they started for. 

Anyways after a lot of unsuccessful attempts I noticed that they completed the work, I was surprised how beutifully they designed that nest! It  seemed like work of an experienced professional architect, who designed every corner perfectly according to their need.

On a beutiful day I woke up and heard smooth chirping sound of baby birds coming from that nest and when I glanced up, I spotted two small beaks were peeking from inside and from the opening of nest mother sparrow was feeding something, while father sparrow was sitting at some distance from the nest resembling a guard looking after a precious thing. They both seemed so happy and excited, finally that moment arrived for what they were working for all the days and  nights.

But who knew this jovial moment was going to last very soon.

The very next day that incident happened when just one day old baby birds lost their mother when she was out getting something to feed them.

 I was holding her in my hand in order to palpating for injury, I found nothing but some feathers were chopped with a deep wound under her wings. That collision with fan may have damaged her inner organs and in next moment she became unconscious. I performed CPR by lying her by her back , open her beak to upward and little compression just beneath the chest cavity with two finger but all went to vein. There was no response, she might lost her battle.

At sudden my mind went blank when a thought just popped up. That baby birds! I quickly glanced up and there were two small beaks peeking out waiting for their mother who went to get something to feed them and to pamper them. But they were completely unaware of what had just happend to their mother lying on my palm. However something rare happened when I closely looked at the mother bird I saw tears rolled down of her eyes though she died. My heart wrenched looking at her, I was about to cry because somewhere I was the only reason for all this incident.

Anyways I took her to my backyard, dug a pit, put her in and covered with soil, praying god to make this innocent soul rest in peace.

I came back and wanted to get those baby birds down but i stopped hoping for their father bird to come but he didn't arrive for that entire day.

Now it was 18:00 so I decided to feed them. I brought a ladder and reached to the nest, as soon as I took my fingers nearby, both baby birds started chrirping, opening their mouth. Generally baby birds need to be feeded in the gap of every two hour in order to survive and grow but they haven't eaten any thing since afternoon. Definitely they were hungry but this time that chirping sound was not joyious or exiting instead sounded like mourn, full of pain.

 I put my hand inside the nest and carefully brought them down, they were just one day old so their eyes were still not opened, its wing feathers looked like tubes because they've yet to break through their protective sheaths. Generally it takes 4-13 days for a baby birds to open their eyes after birth, in some animals it may take longer as well.

I was unaware of how to feed a baby bird and a bird who was so small that only weights less than 20gm. So I took help from internet and got to know what and how can one feed them. 

1 day old

I fed both of them one by one with the help of eye drop bottle filled crelac into it. After engulfing few drops they stopped crying and slept on my palm. After few minutes when I tried to put them back into nest they again woke up and started crying, so I fed them a little more, only then they stopped crying.

Next morning 5:00 am, I woke up I glanced up it was definitely relaxing moment, father bird had arrive after an entire day. But he was unaware of what has just happened to his partner and his restless behavior, flying from here to there making harsh chirping sound seemed like he was looking for her partner but there was no way back for her.

 

5days old Baby bird 

Days passed by and now those baby birds opened their eyes and also grown small wings although those wings were so small that it couldn't support them to fly yet but soon it was going to be the most precious gift for those baby birds, once it's fully grown in order to explore the outer world. After few days they started coming outside of nest in absence of their father jumping here and there and within 10-15 days the day arrived when they were going to learn how to fly.

Initially it was so funny watching both baby birds sitting in a position like a stubborn kid who refuses to go to school on his first day of schooling. Whatever, that initially funny moment turned to be mesmerizing and inspiring when one of that baby bird suddenly jumped, open her wings and landed successfully on the other part of the wall while another one still not in the mood to fly so her father approached to her and after few moments she also jumped, open her wings and started flapping but she was not able to land anywhere so she kept flying randomly and confused, father bird again approached her and helped her land on floor. After few hours of intense training father bird seems quite satisfied so he took them outside of my room and now all corner of my house became their open sky to fly in.

It was mesmerising to see how a father took the responsibility and grown his kids. Sitting on a corner he was enjoying patiently looking his babies flying with joy here and there forgetting what has happened to him just couple of days back. Eventually they survived that matters the most at that moment. But this moment was not going to be last longer. There was something more worst god has planned for those baby birds.

9:00 am same day, everything was going in right direction untill father bird flew into my brother's room where he was studying and the fan was moving in its high speed.....

to be continued...

Mountaineering courses in India

 work in progress..⛔

Journey of finding the place, where I belong

Himalayas are one of the newest formed fold mountain range of the world they say only 50 million years old, quite young no? :D There are other mountain ranges in different parts of the world but when it comes to the spiritual vibrations and certain purity, there is no place that can match the divinity that runs through the valleys of Himalayas. There were many great saints who were said to be meditating in the laps of Himalayas for thousands of years in the search of divine energy and inner peace. And as I have been there for a while, I can say that the Himalayas offers a unique and unexceptional form of energy and peace. 

From my very childhood I was leaning towards spirituality and was practicing meditation that could be the reason I feel denounced with the materialistic world and found no joy while trying to mix with friends and other people. This sparkles a desire in me of finding the meaning of life, and this desire kept growing day by day and soon it got converted in a burning desire, that took me to the mountains, here I am going to share what it feels like being in The Himalayas.

In midnight, putting warm sleeping bag aside, coming out from alpine tent in deathly quiet night, temperature touching -10°C on scale, to have a glance of  sleeping mountains but as you come up you became speechless. The mountains at night appears much different from the one you saw in sunlight, the reflection of white light of moon on snow caped peaks shining as if they are showing the mightiness. The stars that is glowing brighter than usual due to less pollution out there and clear view of milky way resembles as the pearls are embedded all over the sky. This mesmerising view would take you to the world of serenity. You can even hear you heart beat that starts becoming slow and calm, and at this moment you will be entering in the stage of inner peace the same, a saint achieves through intense meditation after a lot of practice. 

But as soon as you close your eyes and shift your focus to the sounds from the surrounding, you will feel entering into a whole new world where you will be assisted by the sound of small streams flowing downward just few meters away colliding with rocks and running resembles ‘a few month old baby, who just learn how to walk, running toward his mother with affection’. In hurry and excited to explore new places, unaware of how we so called civilised people, have ruined her mature stage here down in plains. Anyways, the sound of streams, the feeling when freezing cold Himalayan wind silently passes tickling your cheek don’t bother you, but you would be ended up with the moment when you are aware but not thinking, the state of zero thought. And believe me these moments are blessed. The twenty-six letters of alphabet are not enough to express that feeling and only those who have lived it, understand why we keep on going back to mountains for more. 

I was there for few weeks embracing all those moments but leaving the track came to the road head and approaching towards city life was the hardest thing i had ever experienced, my eyes couldn’t resist rolling tears, it felt like I have left my heart out somewhere on the trails and at that very moment I realised this is the thing I was craving for and this is the place where I really belong to.

This is one aspect of going into mountains  but when it comes to mountaineering as an adventure sports, one needs to remember there is no shortcut to the top of the mountains and should never try to undermine its rule. There is a saying  about mountains “ Don’t be GAMA in the land of LAMA” and it is true, mountain calls with its open arms but never promises to let you go. Mountains don’t have voice but they can speak, their nature is hostile but they don't get angry for no reason. Other than the locals it is the mountaineers who somehow try to learn how to listen to the mountains and if they don’t, they got to pay a huge price. 

They are massive creation of mother nature and they have their own rules, Mountaineering is a kind of sport very few comprehended, where you are in the role of the player, the opponent, the cheer leader and same time the spectator; one can only embrace the mountains if they have accepted the risk and responsibilities that accompanies it. 

No doubt it is hard enough to get to the top but once you get there you will come to know about your strength, your breaking point, the feeling of being alone in a county of more than 1 billion people and gradually you would realise that fine difference between the life you've been to and the one you are going in.

In order to test one’s limits one need to get out of his comfort zone and Mountains are the place that test your limits at every step; howling winds, freezing temperatures and sideways snow make even a simplest task difficult, at certain height, lets say when oxygen level starts to decrease and air become thin, every steps becomes harder, The snow which you used to love once, now you will hate it when you come across the carpet of snow and ice, no single sign of vegetation or wildlife except some mosses on rocks and few shrubs that could be more than 4 times older than you are now, but their spirit of surviving and standing still in even worse circumstances teaches a valuable lesson that always encourage you to keep moving coping up with any circumstances. 

Every human being born with different physical strengths and to be in mountains one needs to go through proper acclimatisation that requires patience, persistence and proper training. There are some mountaineering institutes in India that offers mountaineering courses, here I've listed some of them:- 

HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINEERING INSTITUTE, DARJEELING 

NEHRU INSTITUTE OF MOUNTAINEERING, UTTARKASHI 

JAWAHAR INSTITUTE OF MOUNTAINEERING, PAHALGAM 

ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE INSTITUTE OF MOUNTAINEERING AND ALLIED SPORTS, MANALI

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MOUNTAINEERING AND ALLIED SPORTS, DIRANG

you can go through their websites for availability of courses and further details.

check another post for course details..

Reference

 pictures credit Shlok pandey, for more such images visit 

https://www.instagram.com/khanabd0sh_/ 

Behind every smiling face....

We see many faces daily some fain, pained some people having flaunt smile some open hearted. Each of them have a story behind their expression but our curiosity is to only knowing the story behind the smiling face.there is always a story behind a smiling face. So come with me and lets go for a journey to find the stories behind them.

Lets start

Sometimes Life teaches us invaluable lessons and sometimes get stucked. Here we learn how do you keep going when all the odds are stacked against you?  Before I teach you all the motivation hacks look the  facts what pull you back..

What are the must important skill to learn if you really want to achieve your maximum potential.

1. Have a dream

2.Don't listen dream stealers

3.Just begin

4.Never giveup

5.know youself

6.commit to fail

7.find a good guide

8.motivate your self

9.much is given much is expected

10.time to celebrate the success.

1.Have a dream:- in life it is hard enough to reach your peak when you know where you want to go; but it is hard enough to reach those heights if you don't even know where the mountain range is.-Bear Grylls

  'Dream' no no wait I'm not talking about the sort of fantasy dreams which you see from your closed eyes,I'm talking about the dream which not let you sleep:) . 

  Ok now, there are plenty of dreams right! But how to choose the right one beacuse its human nature when we see a player we wants to be like them suddenly our mind get changed when we see a film star's life. So here it becomes very necessary to choose which dreams are right for you.

  So take sometime, go for a long walk and think big, think what makes you happy, what excites you choose a dream that you really prepared to sweat for in order to make it become your reality. So you must have a dream and must have a clear goal.

2. Dont listen dream stealers:- 

In life, we will never be short of people who want to knock our confidence or moke our ambition, because they’re a little jealous that you want more out of life than they might hope for, or they’re worried your success will make themfeel inferior. It might be that their motives come from a better place and they just want to spare you the failure, heartache and tears.

   Remember, the key to your future success is going to be embracing the very same things those dream-stealers are warning you about: the failure, the heartache and the tears. So when this all start happen stay cool,keep calm you are in right direction.

3. Just Begin:- 

Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.-Martin luthar king

Great things always begin from inside. 

Imagine, this is the 1st jan.starting of a new year and we started making lots of resolutions on our new diary but after some time when we open that we found 80% of that resolutions not completed because we didn't even begin to work on them. Again new year again new resolutions bla bla bla and this will never completed because we lack the courage to take the first step. And there is never a shortage of good excuses: it’s not the right time; the odds are too stacked against me; or no one like me has ever done it before.

   You know what the sad thing is? It’s that most people never find out what they are truly capable of, because It is easier to look down than up.

If you can just take that first step towards your own dreams new possibilities open up before you; this is the magic of beginning, things start to happen.

4. Never giveup:- ---------------

(Coming soon)

I'll be back with other left stuffs..