My memories.

 My memories.

Birds on a Stormy sky.

A monstrous cloud was approaching from the far western side to engulf the azure sky. On its footsteps, came a strong & gusty wind in a whistling sound. Storms are pretty enjoyable at the end of such scorching days (at Nagpur as the scorching temperature is generally 43 degree to 46degree centigrade), since they bring down the temperature by a few notches while inviting often a welcome shower. However, they’re also infamous to carry dust, powdering our rooms and corridors. I hurried fast to shut the doors & window so that no unwanted filth can enter the rooms. In the backdrop of the cloudy sky, I noticed a flock of herons flying towards the north braving the wild breeze. The sight was so strikingly scenic that I forgot my intention and stood standstill observing their flight. There is a distinct speciality in the flying pattern. At the front, there is single bird; behind it on either side, one bird each, third row contains four and next row eight, etc. The whole formation looks like the tip of an arrow of which vertex is occupied by the leader. Somewhere I read that this particular arrangement gives a scientific advantage to the winged creature. On an earlier occasion I observed that such each such block generally contains an odd number of birds and the tip is never occupied permanently by any particular bird. After some time, the leader goes behind & another bird comes forward to take its position. Commotion created in the air by the wings of the leading bird helps the bird in the second row to fly with relative ease. The air cut by the birds in second row is fruitfully utilised by those in the third row and so on. In the process, all the birds can fly hours together without getting tired. This arrangement of birds is also the most prominent example of aerodynamics. During war fare fighter jets, fly exactly in similar fashion to pounce on the enemy bases. With rapt attention, I continued to watch the flock flying. It is truly splendour in how disciplined and organised a manner these birds fly! The interval for changing the relative positions is perhaps fixed, as in front of my wide eyes the leader was changed twice after almost equal time gap. The strong wind disarrayed the pattern a few times, but the herons came back to form the arrow head again. This is not possible unless there is a marvellous understanding among all the team members. Suddenly, a queer thought came to my mind. Where do the birds come from and where do they go every day? This is not the season when migratory birds would come from cold terrain to warmer places. Moreover, such flocks are seen almost daily in the morning and evening sky flying towards the north. As such, two things appeared to be cleared in my mind,

1: The birds might have their nest in the north, 

2: The place may not be far off from the city as they come back the next morning and evening again. When the birds went out out of sight, I slowly closed the window. The storm was still continuing. I could see torn papers, plastic bags and dry leaves flying haphazardly in air. While puffing my face and hair with a layer of dust, the unseasonal storm had presented me a wonderful visual.