As I sat on our balcony watching the sun rapidly setting behind the surrounding hills, a flock of bright green parrots flew past and landed in the tree below. What a sight! Never have I seen such colour flying around me, and in such numbers. We saw these parrots (which are more the size of a large budgerigar) from the rooftop of our Delhi B&B our very first morning in India, and we have continued seeing their flash of green all the way through Rajasthan.
As I watched the parrots I thought I saw the distinct wing span of an owl land in another small tree nearby. Quickly finding the binoculars I discovered that it was indeed an owl, but the smallest one I've seen in the wild.
Such an array of birds we have seen in India. Many we do not recognize, and their calls are often loud and tropical sounding. Their markings are distinctive, and we have often seen a brownish dull looking bird on a branch, but when it spreads it's wings to fly away it's secret beauty is revealed. Of course, India's star of the bird world is it's national bird, the peacock. They roam wild here, their call not matching the beauty of their plumage.
Our guide at the fort yesterday (who talked about way more than just the fort!) told us that Indians live very close to the land and their animals. This seems to be true, from what we have seen in the rural areas. The sacred cows wander everywhere and are totally tolerated when they disrupt traffic by laying in the middle of a highway, or ambling down the narrowest alley taking up most of the width of the street. When we first saw this odd (to us) sight, I snapped pictures quickly. But, how quickly our eyes become accustomed to new sights! Now, I only reach for my camera if a cow does something spectacular, like eating the cabbages from a nearby stall (seen in Bundi) or are decorated with flowers to celebrate a festival. I asked our driver one day if anyone owns these seemingly free cows, and he assured us they did. But, we could see no obvious markings on most of them. Most of the cows we've seen here look very well nourished, and our fort guide assured us they are fed by all the locals. (Indeed, he added that when his mother goes away she calls every night to make sure he is feeding "her" cows!)
Unfortunately, the dogs we see everywhere are not as well looked after. Just as we saw in Thailand, they all seem to be similar of a generic breed of mid brown in colour and mid-sized. Also, as in Thailand, they are a sorry sight. Mangy coats, pitifully skinny, many limping from collisions with traffic, and with rabies rampant in India we keep our distance when we see them snarl and bark hysterically at one another. Small puppies are everywhere, and each bitch we see has enlarged teats. It's a sad sight ... but, with a country of one billion people, and an ever-growing population of homeless people, I suppose the dogs are very low on the priority list.
Camels are a welcome sight pulling their carts along, oxen too, huge black buffalo, wild pigs with long wiry black hair roaming the streets (apparently people cut this hair periodically and use it to make brushes), goats along with their herder ... all these scramble for space on the narrow streets here ... it's amazing, it's all so fabulously alive!
To be continued ...
As I watched the parrots I thought I saw the distinct wing span of an owl land in another small tree nearby. Quickly finding the binoculars I discovered that it was indeed an owl, but the smallest one I've seen in the wild.
Such an array of birds we have seen in India. Many we do not recognize, and their calls are often loud and tropical sounding. Their markings are distinctive, and we have often seen a brownish dull looking bird on a branch, but when it spreads it's wings to fly away it's secret beauty is revealed. Of course, India's star of the bird world is it's national bird, the peacock. They roam wild here, their call not matching the beauty of their plumage.
Our guide at the fort yesterday (who talked about way more than just the fort!) told us that Indians live very close to the land and their animals. This seems to be true, from what we have seen in the rural areas. The sacred cows wander everywhere and are totally tolerated when they disrupt traffic by laying in the middle of a highway, or ambling down the narrowest alley taking up most of the width of the street. When we first saw this odd (to us) sight, I snapped pictures quickly. But, how quickly our eyes become accustomed to new sights! Now, I only reach for my camera if a cow does something spectacular, like eating the cabbages from a nearby stall (seen in Bundi) or are decorated with flowers to celebrate a festival. I asked our driver one day if anyone owns these seemingly free cows, and he assured us they did. But, we could see no obvious markings on most of them. Most of the cows we've seen here look very well nourished, and our fort guide assured us they are fed by all the locals. (Indeed, he added that when his mother goes away she calls every night to make sure he is feeding "her" cows!)
Unfortunately, the dogs we see everywhere are not as well looked after. Just as we saw in Thailand, they all seem to be similar of a generic breed of mid brown in colour and mid-sized. Also, as in Thailand, they are a sorry sight. Mangy coats, pitifully skinny, many limping from collisions with traffic, and with rabies rampant in India we keep our distance when we see them snarl and bark hysterically at one another. Small puppies are everywhere, and each bitch we see has enlarged teats. It's a sad sight ... but, with a country of one billion people, and an ever-growing population of homeless people, I suppose the dogs are very low on the priority list.
Camels are a welcome sight pulling their carts along, oxen too, huge black buffalo, wild pigs with long wiry black hair roaming the streets (apparently people cut this hair periodically and use it to make brushes), goats along with their herder ... all these scramble for space on the narrow streets here ... it's amazing, it's all so fabulously alive!
To be continued ...
2 comments:
Thank you so much. You are taking us on such a wonderful journey through India. Although we may be at our computers, your writing is so descriptive and gives us such a great look at India through your eyes. Thank you.
Hi Pauline,
Your travel journalling is so enlightening, educational and informative. We talked about your blog in class today and those who are hooked into it are hooked on it! Miss you but we are anxious to read more about your trip. Best wishes from your Wednesday Morning Writing Buddies.
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