Khalifa was lying in his bed and his eyes were glued to the phone his mother had given him a while ago, as he requested her to allow him some time to watch cartoons. So Khalifa was watching cartoons.

The room had a window on one side, which had a mesmerising view of the city. The only visitors to the window were the pigeons flying around and that was a daily scene, especially when the weather was a little warmer than normal. However, that day, it was quite pleasant and the birds were making a stop at the window railing again and again.

A green ringed neck pigeon came and started tapping on the window. Let us call the bird ‘Greeny Chip’ for his unique ringed neck. It seemed to be a male because of its size, which was bigger as is the case with male pigeons.

Taping on windows is not an unusual behaviour for birds since they always fight for their territory when they see their reflection in the mirror, thinking it is a rival bird and they try to protect their territory. However, this one was different.

Khalifa was intrigued by the arrival of this bird and wanted to see what the bird was up to. He put the phone aside and started observing the bird. Unaware of the presence of the boy on the other side of the window, Greeny Chip was busy in his act.

Khalifa was watching all its moves closely. Greeny lifted his leg and stayed in that position for a few seconds, as if he was trying to stretch his body like people do when they arrive back home from a long journey. Greeny was trying to mark this place as his territory and his getting comfortable was a proof of this. After that, he fluffed his feathers as if he was trying to remove some dust or dirt of his body.

This interested Khalifa as he watched the bird clean his body. Then, with very slow and subtle steps, the bird moved from one side of the window to the other, as we humans do when we are waiting for someone or thinking deeply about something. For Khalifa, it was like meditation and he was now lost in the act of watching Greeny’s meditation-like movement.

Birds do not stay longer at a place and that was why Greeny was doing everything so swiftly. Every act of his took seconds, and yet Khalifa was learning so much from him in such a short time. It was obvious now that Greeny was more relaxed, calm, cleaner and fresher then when he had came at the window a while ago. Finally, he spread his wings, gauged the window and the air space ahead of him. He looked inside the mirror one last time, and it seemed to Khalifa that Greeny did see him and bade him goodbye, which was very surprising. And with that Greeny took his flight and flew away from Khalifa’s window.

After the bird flew, Khalifa realised that the long consumption of the digital content, cartoons and videos, had exhausted him. He wanted to freshen himself like Greeny and not lay tired in the bed. He got up and looked in the mirror. He found himself looking tired and didn’t like that face of his. He raised his hands first and then his legs, stretched himself to release all the tiredness. Then he went to take a shower and got changed into fresh clean clothes. T

his created in him an energy which did not exist a while ago. He quickly went to his mother, smiling and energetic, and asked her if he could go outside to the neighbourhood park and play with his friends. His mother was surprised and happily gave him the permission.

The story of the pigeon teaches us that instead of finding comfort or ease by lying or sitting surfing on mobile phones, we should instead get up and recharge ourselves. We should meditate, regain our focus of life and its blessings. In addition, we should observe nature, which time and again teaches us how to stay positive and happy. Just like the pigeon helped Khalifa, nature helps everyone.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 19th, 2022