All World
Gayatri Pariwar

In the sphere of love, family relations, social interaction etc. living beings other than humans, present a strange picture. Among some animals the love between the pair is so deep that in the event of one partner’s death the other dies of grief. The pigeon is cited as the role model of fidelity. A quotation from Yajurveda says “mitravarunabhyam kapotan” (Meaning: May we have the same friendship and affection as seen in pigeons). It is said about swan that in the event of its partner’s death the other one is terribly overwhelmed by grief. Similarly, when the female dove loses her mate she wails continuously clinging to the dead body of her mate. Our hearts melt with pity to see such inconsolable grief and we think how happy a man’s life would be if such fidelity and love were found in human beings! To fly into a temper and run into a huff over trifling matters is part of only human behaviour. Other living beings display anger only when checked or attacked otherwise their lives are worry-free and full of cheer.

This fun loving nature of birds or animals is clearly evident. The penguin indulges in antics to keep its partner cheerful. A Cuban lady, Madam Abro had a chimpanzee of a very playful nature. Chimpanzee was always close to its female partner and did not mind when Madam Abro was near the female, but always tried to keep the female safe from males. The onlookers got pleasure out of chimpanzee’s antics of mistrust and derision of human beings.

A penguin is very fond of playing the sliding game on ice. Ducks also indulge in aquatic games and display their playful nature. Likewise, a cuckoo sings and a parrot imitates human speech to entertain itself, sparrows engage themselves in mock battles. It is observed that the male of the bird species is more playful in nature.

Birds are more hospitable and friendlier than humans. They are more trustworthy and dependable in sharing their belongings with others. On the other hand, when human beings are in a generous mood only then they participate in activities that benefit other individuals. But it is regrettable that humans in general are averse to this commendable behaviour trait.

Proof of the friendliness of birds is seen when visiting the barren, ice-covered Polar Regions. However forbidding the terrain may be, the birds and animals that inhabit these regions are very hospitable towards visitors. A flight of warbling birds will welcome you to the region. Man, however, is capable of betraying any trusting bird or animal. In spite of this, polar birds approach travelers with a friendly demeanour.

The ostrich is known for its large size and swiftness. It provides a good example of the friendly nature of birds. Although, zebras are the favorite friends of ostriches, the ostrich also allows other animals near its abode. An ostrich is an unselfish friend to all, it warns zebras and other animals when hunters or predators are close by. Man, on the other hand, will tend to be selfish and will not sacrifice so much for his friends.

Birds and animals travel thousands of miles in their quests for beautiful places and thus convey their love for nature. The stilt is known for its fondness of travel. Its journeys take it as far as the poles where it spends a lot of time.

Sparrows migrate from North to South as weather changes. The marshy regions of the Kutch desert have become an abode to thousands of migratory birds. Siberian birds take resort at the lakes of Bharatpur. It is an ideal place for bird lovers to observe and study birds. This migratory pattern of birds conveys an important message to human beings which is: not to bind oneself to a place for a lifetime. Life’s needs change and it is not meant to be wasted away by the staleness of one place. Life is lived by embracing change, having variety in life, while enjoying and preserving the beauty of nature. Moreover, the younger generation needs to learn that life is to be treated as a joyful sport rather than a burden.

Man would have been much happier if he possessed the same extent of friendliness, kindness and selflessness as birds, but he lives in the false pride of his knowledge and thinks that he can live happily even if he disregards these qualities. This is not a wise attitude. What is the use of knowledge if it doesn’t make a man wisely compassionate?

Again, man is wrong in thinking that only he has the sole monopoly over knowledge. In some aspects, birds and animals display greater knowledge than man. An ant-hill is a revelation of the skill and intelligence of these tiny creatures. The holes in an ant-hill are connected very cleverly to an underground tunnel. There are hundreds of compartments for different purposes, such as store houses, barracks, servants’ quarters etc. The queen ant’s compartment is kept comfortable in every way. If an ant lacked knowledge how could it have displayed such amazing architectural skills?

The white-ants’ nest is constructed in a way that it is always weather-proof. Moreover, ants and the white-ants are very clever meteorologists. When ants sense rain, they store their food at safer places in advance. A machine may fail but these creatures are never proved wrong about their weather forecasts.

Anatole Bikonava, the chief executive of a big engineering plant had read about the wonderful memory of birds. He wanted to use their memory skills to his advantage. He trained some pigeons in a way that they knew the parts of certain machines very well. Whenever a machine stopped working, a pigeon would identify the defective part. This experiment with pigeons brought good results. Although the pigeons were trained only for a few days, they remembered what they had learned even after several days of not practicing their skill. The trained pigeons saved a lot of time. They could also differentiate between colors and fingerprints. This experiment was an ample proof of the keen intelligence present in the birds.

In 1941, two scientists experimented with bats. Through their experiments and observations, they realized that bats were living radars. Radar works on the principle of sensitivity to sound waves. Acoustic waves travel from a sound source. A receptive radar screen, which detects these waves, will indicate the size, distance and speed of the object that produced the sound. But the radar’s capability is limited to tangible objects.

Not all substances on earth are static. They move perceptibly or imperceptibly. Sound waves result from their movement. The sound waves, however, are so faint and subtle that even a super-powered microphone fails to trace them. A receptivity of very high magnitude is required to detect such subtle sounds. A bat has this rare receptivity and can respond to waves of very high frequency. As a result, if a bat is let loose in a closed room interwoven with strings, it can avoid them in its flight. The bat is able to do so because of its superior ability to detect sound waves. It has been a challenge for man to equal a bat’s capabilities even with all his scientific knowledge and tools.

Herr Keallar, a German, conducted an experiment on a chimpanzee. He proved that a chimpanzee is more intelligent than a man of his age. A chimpanzee thinks very carefully before doing anything and is not as hasty as a man. For the experiment, he put the chimpanzee in a cage. Outside the cage, he kept a banana hung far enough in such a way that the chimpanzee couldn’t reach it with its outstretched arms. He also provided two pieces of sticks with fitting joints in the cage. When the chimpanzee found that the banana was out of its reach, it picked up the sticks, studied them, fitted the joints and got the banana with the help of the joined stick. Chimpanzees in the London zoo could type, draw, and play on a musical instrument.

Man is capable of going without food for an extended period. He can manage without food for a maximum of eight days; the time limit of an average man is two or three days. But the penguin has the strange capability of going without food for 120 days at a stretch.

The various accounts mentioned so far show the superiority of animals and birds over human beings and also show that a man can learn so much from other species and use his capabilities for the benefit of others, which in turn can give him peace and happiness.