Nurungukal…….

      I always used to hesitate to take a phone call early in the morning. Because nowadays often it would be from the secretary of our milk society seeking help to shoot a problem from one of the collection units or a relative to convey a bad news. But this time it was from my friend who is a known ornithologist. I was fascinated by his enquiry  as to whether squirrels are frequenting my premises now or not. I said yes and wanted to know about his intention. I was still more surprised when he said that a student from a Tamil Nadu University is  here to study about them as part of her Phd studies.

    She was just out of her teens and almost gate crashed into my court yard in a scooter, which she managed  from a local friend. It was about eleven a.m., a time when usually squirrels hesitate to roam about, especially now when the mercury is much above the normal. My  first question was why did she choose this subject. She answered without hesitation that squirrels have an important roll to play in seed distribution. I was convinced and lead her to places in my compound where they frequented and left her to carry on her job.

         As I returned home humming ‘annara kanna va …….’ I tried to visualise a very old incident.  After a chase to catch a squirrel which fell from our roof I could manage to grab its tail and to my dismay only the  furry skin of its tail remained in my hand and it escaped unhurt. Much later in my life I knew that squirrels shed their skin as a defence mechanism to dodge from  predators.Similarly all of us might have noticed how agile they are to escape from the clutches of a charging cat, by taking refuge on a coconut tree followed by a shower of agree chatter.

    I know him only as my childhood friend who brought down ripe mangos from a towering granny tree. Many a time  ripe mangoes fell from their tiny hands, which would have otherwise remained out of reach to our watering mouths. looking at their despair and agree face for loosing the catch, reminded us about the proverb ‘andi poya annan’. 

      Their tenacity to build a nest with balls of coir fibre is a lesson to us. In pairs they move around to collect the fibre. After meticulously rolling it into balls they carry them to the selected place in their small mouth and arrange a nest with the dexterity of a trained craft man. In the case of humans a strenuous schooling might be needed to accomplish such tasks.  But here its only a gift of the nature.

    Above all what made me admire this small animal was its  roll in building a mighty bridge to help Rama in his endeavour to retrieve his beloved. Whether the three strips on its back is a mark of gratitude by Rama for  the voluntary gesture  or an impression of  truth in the proverb ‘annara kannanum thannalayathu’ is left to our imagination. The fact remains that it is not the size but the intention and magnitude of the service which has to be acknowledged.

        Nature has bestowed upon on him an important responsibility of propagating seeds , which he is doing relentlessly without expecting a reward or award. There are many like him carrying out a silent revolution to help the humanity. Yet many among us crave to be known as cultivators, conservators and saviours. I wish the study of this budding scientist from Tamil Nadu would help us understand better, our roll in saving Mother Earth and how small is our wisdom and effort in that matter……