A quill of wisdom

Seeing the obvious is easy. What takes effort is seeing what is beyond plain sight. As one of my managers had once said, often, it takes talent to see talent. For true value often lies right in front, but garbed in the most unobvious and unobtrusive of ways. The example need not be restricted at the workplace. Go out in the wilderness, take any sample look closely, and you are sure to have an ‘aha’ moment. 

I had mine last weekend in Gerroa, a sleepy village on the NSW coast, with our simple but gorgeous stay overlooking the seven mile beach and along with it, a large swathe of wilderness, home to denizens of local birds. Cup of steaming tea in hand, seasoned with a whiff of indigo skies and drizzling rains, I looked out, trying to observe every little movement of the fauna. Not much later, I had a decent roster of Aussie birds - the overwhelmingly-coloured rainbow lorikeet, a majestic white bellied sea eagle (harangued unabashedly by the magpies), a sleekly terrific Nankeen kestrel, a honeyeater, and then, a wattle-bird, that kept flitting in and out of the banksia trees that it had made its home. It was then that I noticed a pair of pink and grey galahs, flying in the backdrop of the bluish grey skies, and just fell in love with the contrasting colours and the imagery. It was also then that I realised that the galahs are perhaps the most under-rated of birds in Australia.

Australia can be considered unofficially the land of parrots. While the Americas are home to statistically a larger number of parrot species, Australia ranking second, the diversity of these psittacines is far higher, down under. Many species are abundant in the cities, making it so easy to spot them, their plumage vibrant enough to secure top prizes in any colour competition. The rainbow lorikeet, as mentioned earlier, justifies its name, while the red and dazzling rosellas or the king parrots are no less attractive. In comparison, the underwhelming, all-white druid dressing of the cockatoos and corellas is far less eye-catching, but once these raucous birds open their mouths, or beaks, every single head makes a turn. The swooping magpies (are they notorious?), the chirpy miners and the softly cooing doves, all make their mark, if not by colours, then by antics. And then there is an entire family of magnificent but rare to see parrots - the spotted black cockatoos, the red and black gang-gang cockatoos, the green and yellow budgerigars, or the endangered but too-cute Major Mitchell’s cockatoo - all make for one long list, their rarity making them much sought after.

Which brings me to the galahs - pastel toned birds that do not top the charts of either sight or sound. Yet their sober contrast in pink and grey, along with their charming looks, make them the definite underdogs of the polly-populace. They are gregarious like other parrots, and hang out in large groups, but more often than not, you will spot a shy few foraging in the dewy grass in the early mornings, and taking to the skies the moment you take a step closer. They remind me of those great friends, not the besties, yet the ones who always hang around, pushing aside their own stories that they can cheer and jeer, and make others feel special. 

Standing on my wooden balcony there, these thoughts raced past my head, when the wattle bird scurried to a grevillea plant nearby. Black hued, with a few thin white stripes, I put my galah glasses on, and realised that even the wattle bird is beautiful in its own right. Well, so would the fairy wren, the magpie- lark, the crested pigeon or the fan-tail. 

I realised then, that all of nature is beautiful. It is we humans who love to force-rank individuals. It is us, who with a need to create superstars and champions, require a hall of fame where we can happily- and sadistically - segregate the winners from the losers. But then, the world outside has little need to gamify. A few nuts here, a bit of food there, and the day is good enough. For those empowered with wings to soar in the skies, how trivial must be the concept of relative looks and hues. I then laughed and added to my original thoughts, that even before recognising value, we must first realise and accept that everything has value - it just takes the right context to see it. If you can’t, more often than not, it is your own fault.  As Einstein is often quoted to say, everybody is a genius, it is we who are stupid if we judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.

As if to concur, a pair of galahs fly by and sit at the top of a towering Norfolk Pine tree…

26th Feb’ 2021
[Photos: Author's archives]