Last morning C brought home an owlet, which was initially mistaken for a baby eagle. Bringing this new being into the house, triggered humongous excitement among everybody as the children woke up one by one to our zest of making it comfortable, keeping our curious cats away and our discovery, 'its a baby eagle - no it looks like an owl'. A huge part of us wanted the children to be involved and present with us in our experience of this beautiful yet vulnerable creation of nature. The little baby, probably scared and tired from the impact of falling down from its nest - simply gave itself to our mercy and probably was just happy to find a place - made all soft and cozy by us to sleep. (Owls are nocturnal you see and need their sleep during day time.)
As we all quietened down...we faced the question that was present all through out our excitement - 'What should we do with it?' especially as we had no clue about how to take care of it. Google came to our rescue with each one of us typing in what should we do with a rescued baby owl? Members of a Whatsapp group that are used to living in the wild were also consulted.
My daughter took on the role of a pet mother and kept pleading to us to keep it. Her innocent mind felt that our home was the safest place for this little thing and we were equipped to look after it. She felt very sad when we told her that we would have to leave it back where we found it...and after many tears and a huge vent out, she cooled down and said she was okay about taking it back and wanted to accompany us when we did so.
Later in the evening, just as advised by google and this Whatsapp group, C took this baby back to the spot he found it. Just as shared on google and much to his relief the little bird started climbing up a tree and was back into its natural habitat.
As I was soaking in this eventful day...many thoughts and questions arose in my mind. Nature has created a circle of life - were we tampering with it - by bringing this owlet home? Should we have just trusted nature to take it's course - maybe the baby would have found it way back to its nest as soon as it recovered from the fall. Or maybe the Owl parents would have found it and taken it to safety. Or it could have become a snake or some predator birds meal, or it could have simply died by the impact of the fall...
As my thoughts wandered around the ways of nature, I saw a message stating that the lockdown has been extended for a few more weeks. The question - should we simply let nature take its course here? Or should we simply abide by the rules laid down by our government and not step out for a extended time period? My thoughts moved on to an article I read about the collapse of our economy and how tough it is going to be for life to get back to normal. I worked my logic around this - would I feel comfortable going out when I knew that I could get infected (my area has many covid positive cases). Would I want to suffer and probably die because of a tiny virus especially when my dreams and aspirations haven't yet been fulfilled? Do I believe that I have a strong immunity to fight the virus in case I got infected? Would I push myself into fire and rely on my fate to take care of me? Or would it be wiser to just be at home...its just a matter of a few more weeks.
It is possible for me to stay at home for a few more weeks. What about the others? The people living with space constraints? People living off charity? People with mental health issues, people with addictions? People feeling insecure about their future? Women and children subject to domestic abuse - both physical and social? Is the government thinking about them? Has our society been brought down to the 'survival of the fittest' kind of situation? Are we in a situation like the character 'Amu' faces in the movie 'Thappad' - are we going to neglect the dignity of many such vulnerable people - and expect them to 'let go' and 'move on' as though no harm was caused to them?
What about the doctors and the policemen - all our frontline workers who are working tirelessly in absolute unbearable circumstances? They are risking their lives everyday in performing their duty. Are they getting a fair deal here?
While I read and listen to stories of our Samaritans working round the clock ensuring that the needy get food and the essential services do not stop - I am yet to read a story of a politician or super rich people leaving the comforts of their home to feed people and make alternate arrangements for them to live. I am yet to see them visit hospitals, take a walk on our streets, visit space crunched areas and witness the dire situation of people who have brought them to power...I am yet to see them turn into Samaritans.
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PS: The owl is fine. 'C' captured it on our DSLR ...it was perched on a tree branch this morning. As I gave a sigh of relief, I am yet to give a bigger sigh of relief - which would come when I get to know that our elected ministers have taken a vow to keep every single citizen from their constituency safe and secure. When our Government comes up with measures to look after every single person in our country and ensure that all have food to eat and a decent place to sleep...
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