[Gulf Goans] Re: [Gulf-Goans] A Rare Spectacle - by Reginaldo Deniz

Fr. Seby Quadros, svd Wed, 16 Nov 2005 08:05:54 -0800

"Quadros" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:	A Rare Spectacle - by Reginaldo Deniz
To:	[EMAIL PROTECTED]

I enjoyed the rare piece of art! A rare selection and intervention from the nature and thus choregraphed it into a beautiful piece of literature! Who could do such a thing - only Mr. Reginald Deniz!

He taught us English (especially the poem -Daffodils) during my school days at Our Lady of Snow's Raia. He has a flare for nature. No doubt, he is a lover of nature par excellence. He also taught us French and, of course , sometimes Economics.

I wish and pray that Reginald becomes 'Tagore of Goa' one day!

Fr. Seby Quadros, svd

A Rare Spectacle

by Reginaldo Diniz in THE NAVHIND TIMES

SINCE my better half was at work in her office last Sunday as has been the case for the last twenty-two years of our married life I decided to admire the beauty of nature after she went to office. I did not want to while away my time. I thought of the famous English poet W H Davies who penned the poem Leisure. He had said stand and stare where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. So standing from the bedroom I was peering through the window at the `Cymbopogon Citratus (Lemon Grass) which in our Konkani language we call Gonjan. I tend to that plant myself because of its medicinal properties.

A strange activity and sight caught my attention at about 9 in the morning. The sight was that of the species, Aves, a bird. This peculiar sight made me to come out and stand in the verandah and have a close look at what was going on. There are two bushy clusters of lemon grass on either side in the garden inside the compound wall.

The tiny bird was unmindful of the homo sapiens and of the two canines Bruno and Pappu barking loudly at strangers passing along the road on the other side of the compound wall. Nor was the bird disturbed by the mechanics repairing the buses on the other side of the compound wall (every Sunday Antonio and his boys repair buses on the road in front of our house) and the roar of engines of heavily loaded trucks. The noise of huge utensils and crates and the movement of Tarun Lhauria and twenty-five other men who cook and supply food for Jan Shatabdi Express which leaves the Margao Railway Station at 10:30 every morning. They had to scrape past the lemon grass.

Initially I did not know that the bird had selected the lemon grass in my garden for its constructive activity. The to and fro flights of the bird from the lemon grass were at regular intervals like the take off and landing at an airport. The bird was coming and going every two minutes to be precise. At first I thought the bird was on an exercise making spree.

A closer look revealed the real purpose of the birds visit. The bird was feathering its own nest. The bird came and perched on the bigger cluster and was tearing thin threads of the leaves about half a meter long with its beak and flying in the direction of the Konkan Railway. After holding the lengthy thin blade in its beak every time the bird would invariably sit on the compound wall before making trips to its destination. This went on till 6 p.m. in the evening. In solitude my heart was filled with bliss. I kept the compound wall gate open after one of such flights. When the bird came for its material I started walking towards the railway station. To my great surprise I found the bird going on the second floor roof of Mewilton Apartments which is not far from my residence.

	Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

I tried to find out what type of bird it is. It was as small as a sparrow. But its plumage was nescafe on top and light grey underneath with a beautiful tail half the size of its body. Taking the book from the school library Compact hand book of the Birds of India and Pakistan (second edition) by the renowned ornithologist Dr Salim Ali and S Dillon Ripley I started rummaging through the pages and plates of the massive volume. At the end of it all it resembled brown leaf warbler (Phylloscopus Collibita).

http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=11078

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[Gulf Goans] Re: [Gulf-Goans] A Rare Spectacle - by Reginaldo Deniz

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