Places impact you for a variety of reasons. And the same place impacts different people in different ways. This is especially true when it comes to spiritual experiences, where every single person’s experience is unique. And personally, every spiritual experience is unique, the same person can have different deeply spiritual experiences at different places, at different times. This thought has emerged because of my own experiences over the years, but especially so this year, with different and unique experiences at various places I have visited recently. I began this year with a visit to Baroda (Vadodara) with friends. It was meant to be a relaxed trip, a touristy trip, with our sons. We enjoyed ourselves to the hilt, but the highlight of that trip was a visit to the Lakulisha temple at Pavagadh. It was the iconography of the temple that I connected with, and I spent a few hours simply lost in the details of the figures carved around the temple. There was an indefinable connect with
I see them all the time, soaring above the trees, their screech audible as I sit typing... or trying to type :) This is that time of the year when their screeches become shriller, and they build their nests atop the coconut trees. These are the Black Kites which nest in our colony, year after year...
These are birds of prey, and may seem to rule the skies. However, at least in our area, it is the crows which rule the roost, and make lives difficult not just for the smaller birds, but also the bigger ones like these.
I already see the crows chasing the kites away, not allowing them to perch longer than a few minutes on the bigger trees, and I know the sight that will greet me in a few weeks... of the female kite perched on the coconut tree, near her nest, her shrill cries rousing me from my work, while the male kite tries to chase the crows away.
For now, I indulge in the pleasure of seeing these birds often, perched in pairs atop trees and poles, calling out to each other, and soaring beautifully overhead, as I happily leave my work aside to watch them!
Incidentally, do any of you know why these birds are called 'Black Kites'? I think they are more brown than black.. don't you? Someone told me once that its because they appear to be black from a distance, but that can be said of many birds, right?
I live in Mumbai, in a colony lucky enough to still have plenty of trees and open spaces. The best part of living here are the birds I see from my window, every single day. "Birds from my Window" is a series, where I regularly feature photos of birds I see from my home. To see all the posts in this series, click here.
I live in Mumbai, in a colony lucky enough to still have plenty of trees and open spaces. The best part of living here are the birds I see from my window, every single day. "Birds from my Window" is a series, where I regularly feature photos of birds I see from my home. To see all the posts in this series, click here.
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