Toast to the humble bulbul

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence…" said Robert Lynd, and rightly so. I had woken up one bright spring morning and stepped out for my morning constitutional, when I apprehended a reverberation like no other…

A liquid warble rang out into the ether causing me to pause and ponder. Which bird, indeed, was responsible for this beautiful resonance, methought. I searched high and low till I finally located the source. It was an ordinary looking bird in black and white with a tinge of red... yes, the humble bulbul!

A plain old bird yet with a distinct voice, it reminded me that often the ordinary can outshine the extraordinary by virtue of its superior talent. I was reminded of John Burroughs' words, "To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life.''

In rejoicing in the beauty of nature, be it by virtue of the song of the skylark or the nightingale or the bulbul, we are fused as one with the universal spirit, finding ourselves at heart enlarged and expanded into infinity. And, once again, we realise the truth as Ralph Waldo Emerson says, "Nature always wears the colours of the spirit.''

Yes, it takes but one song to open up our hearts to the world inside, to realise for ourselves the beauty within as much without. So often, we neglect the plain, the ordinary, the unvarnished, not realising that even the rarest of gemstone found upon the banks of the river is but a rough-hewed stone till it is polished ceaselessly to shine like burnished gold.

All this and more did I ponder upon as I listened, spellbound, to the melodious notes of the bulbul. I felt myself twice blessed for being in the presence of such beauty and resolved in future never to underestimate the ordinary in appraising the supraextraordinary.

Yes, in listening to the joyous burst of song of that dear little bird, I perceived innumerable truths. I felt blessed a million times and humbled in a hundred different ways as I walked away that glorious spring morn, feeling as Albert Einstein did when he said, "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

What more, indeed, can you want when these simple joys of life seal your life with a kiss of bliss, wrapping your moments and memories in colourful ribbons, gaily colouring your days to come? Sometimes, the sweetest songs are those reverberating from the plainest of hearts and they touch us like nothing else.