Monday, May 19, 2008

A Hot Sunday and A Crow's Nest

Yesterday it turned out to be a very hot day in Hyderabad with the temperatures shooting above 40 degrees. It could have been around 42 degrees or even more given the way it felt like being inside an oven. One reason for the unusual heat could be the increasing concretisation and the felling of trees. One newspaper reported that the 'intelligentsia' in Hyderabad were very concerned about the felling of trees and the vanishing green cover. There was a meeting about it, the paper said. We are great talkers I guess and don't do much about anything other than talk endlessly. However, three years ago I had planted two Millingtonia trees in the open space before our house on the occasion of my kid's and my niece's birthday.


Now the trees have grown quite tall with branches spread out in all directions. I had chosen the Millingtonia for its straight trunk that shoots up into the air regally. But our Millingtonias seemed to have a different mind of their own. The trees offer welcome shade and visitors to our neighbors park their cars under the trees much to my annoyance. The other day I was surprised to see a pair of crows hanging around the trees which was a bit unusual. Usually the crows have their morning meetings on the roof of a neighbors house. But these two seemed to be doing something else.


I looked closely and was pleasantly surprised to notice that they were building a nest on one of the Millingtonia trees. The crows flew about with twigs in their beaks and built that nest. It isn't yet complete and I think they are getting ready to lay the eggs when it begins to rain. Which makes me wonder how they will protect the eggs in the rain? It is going to be an interesting time ahead what with the nest getting ready. I hope they build a good nest and have their babies on our Millingtonia tree. I would feel really happy that the trees I planted would have served a purpose for which trees exist in nature.

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