Monday, October 4, 2010

Hospitality..

I had posted earlier about how my mum is good at making friends wherever she is. And she had given me a tip - to offer food, which also means offering time, space, security, and companionship.
And so every morning, I keep food out for the birdies that visit our terrace. Watching them is pleasurable and their antics a great source of merriment. Mian and I had begun to identify some regulars- the babbler that sat in the bowl and refused to share, the aggressive bulbul that even the mynahs were scared of. The time a squirrel came to the birdfeed was the highlight of the week for us.
And then one day, he came to me bursting with suppressed excitement. 'You've got to see this'. I went obediently, expecting to see another squirrel.

Not quite.









I don't really have the heart to shoo monkeys away. Poor things, they get chased away from everywhere, denied access to everything, and then labeled as criminals. But at the same time, I am a wee bit scared of them. So I stopped putting cooked food out.

And now they've started bringing their own packed lunches.

4 comments:

Jo Chopra McGowan said...

HA Ha - love it! Some day I will re-enact a monkey visitation which occurred in our garden in which said monkey (at least four feet tall) scared Mummy, Anand, Cathleen and Moy away from their al fresco lunch and into the house. When Anand returned to try and shoo him away (the criminal!), the monkey turned and glared at him, stuck his bum out and gave himself one slap on it - as if to say "Just try!"

gina said...

the first time i laughed today, thank you C and your Mian, and the previous commentator, for making me laugh.

nadi said...

i would too.

to inhale a bit of the love and wamth in your house.

i wouldn't mind bringing a packed lunch

GrumpyGranny said...

I, too, am rather scared of monkeys, but I think watching them in the yard would be fascinating. Your mum and mine would have got along famously--she was always feeding people.

;-)

GG

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