Snow Art: I leave crumbled bread out -for the birds every morning. Next morning I replace the old plate with a new one. On the nights it snows, I often get to see beautiful fluffy snow resting on the plate from the day before!--somewhat like a snow art...
Finally, its all mine!!
Ok, you eat first, and I will take the rest!!, says she as she waits for her best friend to fill her stomach.
PS-I have a stack of these plates btw, bought them years ago with an idea of having a children's party....but now I use some of them for these birds....
According to Indian tradition we must feed a few beings before we eat ourselves. Usually it is our own pets, street dogs and street cats, ants, birds, cows and in rural areas, even snakes. Yes. even snakes. (There is a snake feeding farm in Thailand).
All of us grew up with our mothers making the first chapati of the morning for the birds. She would scrunch it up when it was still warm, her hands alternating to dissipate the heat from the fresh bread, and tear it into pieces and then throw it over the low roof of our kitchen, which according to old style houses was in the backyard.
Those were perfect kitchens, we did not need exhausts, or fans. The smoke went up but not up the chimney and instead out the door. And there was a kitchen window often connected to the dinning room for serving food directly. But the kitchen door lead to the yard and not into another room. Yes, there was a kitchen door. Something that modern kitchens have done away with, since they are designed the way western kitchens are designed today. As a part of a large living area.
Kitchens in India were family rooms, and often there was a sitting area on the floor. Its quite warm --for the most part....remember? Furniture would take extra space and mess up with the massive cleaning of the floor which was done on a regular basis with soap and water. But also, eating while sitting on the floor is healthier since allows a certain posture and prevents overeating. Ofcourse, not really recommended in cold countries. Believe it or not, in Sweden we have heated floors. We need them, but then those areas are generally small and not meant for large gatherings. For example, the patch at the entrance where one must leave snow laden shoes, bathroom patch where one steps out of the shower and kitchen floors which allow us to not have a carpet or shoes inside the kitchen.
When our great grand parents --became urbanites, they held on to this habit of feeding 'beings' before feedings ourselves, but only half of it. Technically you are supposed to feed seven beings. And in a warm country, there are many beings that cross your living space on a daily basis. And what I love about Hinduism is that the kindness is not restricted to human beings but to 'BEINGS.'. So, for us the common thing was birds and cats and dogs and cows. Yes, mother would make these chapatis and ask us to look for stray animals and cows to feed them. We would open the back door and often find a cow, and she'd be happy to get a freshly greased chapati.
People usually think its crazy that our gods can take shape of animals and trees and half-humans. But these are all metaphorical and they evoke so many feelings of love, awe, wonder and mystery in us. They keep us connected to the world, and also to see the beauty in what on the surface does not belong to 'our human world'. Our stories link us to both plant and animal kingdoms around us.
Kolam or Rangoli or Alpana are floor decorations that were made outside of every Hindu home, and are even today in the rural areas. Traditionally, the decorations were --1. made of rice paste or wheat flour so that they would become food for ants. 2. representations of our cosmos. The designs made are intricate, that sometimes resemble celtic knots. but these designs are actually replicating formations of the universe, and are often mathematical in nature. 3. also protective measures. Other than being food for ants, the complex formations were supposed to confuse evil spirits who then got lost in the formations and never entered the dwellings.
I tried to keep up the tradition in Botswana, where it was warm and I lived in a house. Then years of living in an apartment, I lost the habit, even though occasionally I would gt back to it. Tried it in Fiji, but could not keep up.
So, I started doing this again sometime ago. As a way of gratitude and as a way of connecting to beings around me. I started leaving some bread for the birds. Now they know, so on the days I am late, they chirp louder to remind me. I have tried different breads, they prefer white bread. Also, sometimes I do make chapatis and leave it out. They like it better if the chapati is bit old and dry, so it is crunchy.
However, we are surrounded by different kinds of birds. Lucky us, ravens, magpies, a certain kind of nordic crow and small ones--sparrows and yellow breasted birds...we have a range. We also get to see hedgehogs and weasels in summer. If you go walking in the woods, some days a young deer might stare at you through their doe eyes....
But nature functions on a rule. We call it Matysa-Nyaya. The rule of the fish. You know, the big fish eats the little fish, lion eats the lamb....that's nature. No judgement, no meanness, just is, following 'their own' nature. And yet getting respect from us, for who they are. Snakes are revered in Asia, by the way. Why? They shed off their skin and therefore represent the wisdom of throwing off the past. And a reminder that nothing ever stays.
Heard/saw a few weeks ago on social media that a snake had died in a suburban area and a woman was seen feeding him water towards the last minutes of his life. But also that they asked a priest to perform his last rites. And he was buried with proper honour. Does not mean that you do not fear him or are not careful around him. A snake is a snake is a snake. But as snake is also being, important to ecology and a symbol of wisdom. According to Hindu cosmology Vishnu the God who incarnates most often, associated with preservation of his world, also incarnates with his companion, the hooded cobra. Both --often take a human form.
So back to my bird-feeding. According to the Matsya nyaya-the large birds come swooping down and the little ones get only the left-over crumbs. Story of this world. But the above picture of the small one was taken when I saw how she sat on the plate, almost owning it, 'Ok, now its my time to feed'. Felt sorry for her, but was happy that something was left for her and the fact that her stomach was not too big.
So nature takes care of things in its own way. Ah so important to have nature as a part of our religion, so that we see everything as an extension of prakriti--nature.
Ever think, that the word nature is not just for the nature, but actually also 'our natures'? What is natural, self-occurring, how can we ignore it. And imagine if we had not ignore it, where would the environmental health of our planet be?
So ending with a good news. Iceland has officially started to worship 'Thor' and there are similar incidences in Norway and some African countries (they worship their own gods). Geography can only be local, and reverence for nature and the natural should be based on that wisdom.
That's how you return to nature after all---by being rooted in the land, in the local...
And when you know that, you understand everything from the way water moves in your area, and the way the birds chirp, you have a relationship with, you think of stray animals and trespassing birds, and lurking snakes and tiny ants---for they all contribute to the health of this planet ---and ours of course....
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