Standing at the balcony of my apartment, I watch the day end. I wait to witness the scenery of a beautiful sun set.

It is that time of the year when I can view the perfect sunset between towering skyscrapers of Sharjah. In all its fading glory, the sun would sink in the Persian Gulf, and I realize that I have the time to see yet another day, pack by.

Just a small tilt of my head downwards, and I can view the busy street below; honking, growling and swearing to make their way home after a tiresome day.

‘These are contrasting scenes,’ I think to myself.

But the contrast quickly fade away, as I see a young Myna dash across my balcony, and fly away upon spotting me, standing like a scare crow (if that is what it had thought of me).

In its flight trajectory, I see a flock of birds, mostly pigeons and parrots perched in a solemn way on a rooftop of a nearby building. The sight of birds relaxing after their equally busy day, calmed my nerves. The sight was almost spiritual. How these gentle beings abide to the laws of nature is beyond my explanation.

It is written in Ayurveda that the nature divides a single day into Vata, Pitta and Kapha hours. It is divided beautifully, one set occurring during the day and the other set occurring in the night. These elements (Vata, Pitta and Kapha) governs and balances our physiological patterns, which in turn set our different moods on a given day.

Our ancestors were brilliant, because, they followed the nature. They understood that this human body (or any living body) is made up of nature, and will return to the nature when it expires. So, one needs to follow these elements for our general well-being. Following nature and thereby, relaxing at dusk was a common practice during those days, and this is exactly what these birds were doing now.

But, things have changed so much since the industrial revolution, that today, in the information age, we tend to scratch our so called brilliant heads and laugh at this ancient knowledge, and say our short term and ever change technology is everything. If that was a fact, then why are we unable to contain the pandemic? This nature is not an underrated element. Say, who is the boss?

Looking at these birds, I wonder who had taught them these principles of nature. You don’t need a bird’s eye to view and understand that they seldom break a law. If they do, they would perish. So, are these the gentlemen on this earth?

Why I preferred to call them as a Gentleman, can be best quoted with a couple of examples.

I had a parrot by name Apputtan. We raised it since young, and it was close to our family. It was a playful little thing and its tantrums were quite likeable.

Once a cat entered our house, probably thinking it could have a piece of chicken looking at Apputtan (rather it underestimated Apputtan’s vocal abilities). The bird, obviously sensing the feline’s predatory instinct, raised an alarm. I was seated nearby playing on the mobile phone, and irritated by its constant crackle, I threw a ball at its cage. Suddenly, everything was silent, and I felt something was not right. The cat frightened, ran for its life. But the bird was noticeably shocked. It was looking at me (for a long time) as if I was as funny as Don Quixote, perplexed by my lack of sense. Apputtan had the feelings, and it understood that I was wrong. When I regretted it, I called it by its name and it let out a gentle noise in response. It forgave me in an instant. This is what I call as, ‘living in the present moment’. A perfect example of abiding nature’s greatest knowledge.

Even, if I had to playfully pull its tail, when it is perched on my head and nibbling my gelled hair, it would sound irritated (I still don’t understand why the tail is a bird’s pride). Yet, it would just hold my finger with its beak and push it aside carefully, as if its action might cause a serious damage to my finger. Such care would it administer that I sometimes believe that the bird was unique.

Although, we lost Apputtan in a freakish, chaotic moment that it flew away, lost in its flight (it still pains me), but, when I see these birds, I feel that my Apputtan has travelled all the way to see me. And from this close I can truly let these wonderful beings relax after a rather tough day, not complaining, but, probably discussing what they have to do the next day.

I experience a sudden bliss and I say to myself, ‘You can rest now, my friends, and no one can challenge your principles, and that is an assurance from a human being, who can only dream of having a free life as you.’

I realized that I had missed the sunset, but, had the chance to understand these gentlemen or should I say? Winged angels.