India 2/11/2016 - 2/27/2016

Monday, 2/15/16 - Adventures in Birdwatching

After a restful night's sleep, we woke up early this morning so that we could witness Mukul's daily bird-feeding ritual, which takes place at 6:45 a.m. We went downstairs to have a cup of tea. Though it seemed quite early to us, Mukul was dressed in a track suit and had already returned from a morning walk! After the tea, we walked up three flights of stairs to the roof deck. The birds start to call for Mukul each morning at dawn.

On the roof, Mukul spread millet out on his wooden bird tables on the roof deck. As he did so, birds started to congregate, knowing the ritual. We could hear their various calls. It's amazing how many different types of birds come into the yard (starlings, four types of mynas, barbets, kites, yellow-footed green pigeons, collared doves, laughing doves, rose-ringed parakeets, Oriental magpie robins, purple sunbirds, and more).

We had a view of the Taj Gateway Hotel next door, and a huge stage was being contructed on the lawn. Something big was clearly happening next door, and we wondered if it would keep us awake all night.

We continued to wait for the birds to begin to eat the millet that Mukul had given them, but they seemed to be shy in our presence. We ducked into the stairwell and watched them through the window. They would congregate in the trees and wires above the table, and they would then fly down onto the table and start to eat. We saw the four different types of mynas all present on the table at the same time. Parakeets started to gather in the trees, but they don't eat until the other birds have finished. It would probably be a while, so we went back downstairs. Mukul said that when everyone had finished eating, they would be singing beautiful songs with full bellies.

Sara woke up and helped Mukul to feed the fish in his koi ponds. Mukul tells her that the fish won't come unless she is quiet, and she takes it to heart. She let me pick her up, and she inspected my om necklace. Then she sat with us watching the birds. She gets very excited and points out birds and says "oooh!" every time one flies by. Her "Dadoo"(her pet name for Mukul, a corruption of the Hindi word for grandfather) is passing on his love of plants and birds to her.

The same sunrise which sparkles off of the gems embedded in the Taj Mahal peeked up over Mukul's brick wall, casting beams of orange light into the garden.

Sukumar and Sonam were rushing around getting ready for work. Sara slowed them down a bit, so we tried to help out wherever possible. The gate on the marble staircase was left open for a moment, and Sara made a run for the stairs. We know that she isn't allowed to climb them, so I ran after her and picked her up. She is strong - she clung to the bannister fiercely and I could hardly pry her off!

They left for work at the hospital at 8:30, and dropped Sara at Sonam's parents' house for the day. We will see them again this evening. For breakfast, we had wheat porridge, toast, and lychee juice. Sunita has a Hindu altar in her kitchen. It contains various sacred objects as well as murtis (avatars of Hindu deities which are used as an aid in worship). The murtis were small dolls. Since it is now wintertime, she clothed them in knitted sweasters and hats so they won't get cold. She placed a plate of food in the altar as an offering.

We went back outside to enjoy the morning birds. A white-throated kingfisher made his daily appearance, with iridescent turquoise wings, He perched above a koi pond, but was thwarted by a metal cage that Mukul installed over the pond to prevent him from eating the fish. It was so much fun to watch him up close! And the purple sunbirds (who resemble hummingbirds) and their green females flew around us, looking for a place to establish a nest.

We took showers, did a Facebook post, and then ate lunch: cabbage, chappathi, dahl with potatoes, and savories. Sunita insists on eating after everyone else, as is the tradition. She hovers over us as we eat, paying close attention to what we like, what we finish, and ultimately, what she can replenish on our plates. This can be a little intimidating at first, as it is not something we are used to in America. However, we quickly got used to it and viewed it as a sign of extreme hospitality: the desire to make sure that everyone enjoys the meal, and is offered more than they could ever possibly eat. Sunita's cooking is amazing, and we lovingly devour ever bite.

Mukul said that we would go on an outing. We assumed we were going to the Colonel's Brightland School, a philanthropic venture founded by his family and named after his niece's husband the Colonel. He had mentioned this as a possibility yesterday. Mukul drove us in the family car. It was the first time Mukul had driven us anywhere. We drove further outside of downtown Agra, so we realized that the school was not our destination. He was being coy and deliberately trying to surprise us, so we didn't ask questions. He made several phone calls, one of which prompted a sudden U-turn. Soon we were following a man on a bicycle. He was up to something, but we weren't sure what.

As usual, driving in the Agra area was a feast for the senses. We passed a nicely decorated bull. Mukul explained that it was a fortune-telling bull (representing Shiva's bull). A person asks it a question, and it answers by choosing one of the person's hands (right = yes, left = no).

The man on the bicycle pulled over onto the side of the road, and Mukul followed suit. When we had given Sara her stuffed owl, Craig had casually mentioned that we both like owls very much (they were my favorite bird as a young child, and before I was able to pronounce "owl" correctly, I called them "yo-di-yo"), but that we had never actually seen an owl in the wild. (The closest we had come was actually with Mukul in Rajasthan in 2009, when Mukul had spied a scops owl in the hollow of a tree at the Gajner Palace at twilight. The light was so dim that it took a trained eye to see him. We could not distinguish him from the tree barj surrounding him. This revelation was a call to arms for an avid birder like Mukul, and he contacted some of his birding friends to see if any of them knew of the location of an owl's nest.

His cousin's son Ankush (aka Chinoo), Mukul's birding protegee, knew the location of an owl's nest, and had led us right to it! That was him on the bicycle. The nest was in a tall tree right along the main road. We could see the top half of an owl's head peeking out of the nest. Its yellow eyes watched us, and that combined with its ear tufts made it look cat-like. It was amazing! We took some photos and attracted a lot of attention from locals wondering what we were finding so interesting.

After that, we went to Ankush's house. We met his mom and dad, and Ankush showed us some of his amazing bird photographs (including grus antigone cranes). They served us cappuccino and petha sweet fruit snacks. Two of Mukul's distant relations (one of whom is a holy man in charge of a very important temple) stopped in as well. He showed us a photo of the entire family at a wedding in 1959, including a cute 5-year-old Mukul. It was nice to meet these family members, and they were very hospitable to us.

On our way out of the suburbs, we stopped to take one final look at the owl.

Next we stopped in to visit Mukul's sister, her daughter Dipika, and Dipika's husband the Colonel. It was nice to see them again. We enjoyed cinnamon tea and appetizers. Mukul's phone rang, and it was a frantic Sunita saying that Sara had burned her hand in boiling oil. She is incredibly fast and mischeivous/curious. Even though she is highly supervised, she moves quickly and gets into things she shouldn't. Mukul rushed home, and we were all quite worried.

Dipika and the Colonel kept us distracted and entertained. They told us about how much the school had changed since our last visit. The Colonel relayed an anecdote of their visit to Lichtenstein. They visited a school there, and were exchanging notes with the administration. Dipika told them that the Colonel's Brightland School now has 3100 students. The administrators were amazed, as this is more than the student population of the entire country of Lichtenstein!

At dusk, we heard some bird calls from outside. Dipika jumped up. "Thye owlets!" She and the Colonel led us outside to admire four spotted owlets that reside in their yard. We had never seen an owl in the wild, and now twice in one day! Once again it was twilight, but we were able to see these little guys. They were small owl-shaped silhouettes projected against the indigo sky. So many amazing bird encounters today!

After enjoying the owlets' evening calls, the Colonel ad Dipika drove us back to Mukul's house. We were all anxious to see how Sara was doing after her injury. Luckily, the burn was not serious and although it hurt her for a while, later she was using her hand and there was no visible sign of damage. Thank goodness!

Dinner was chappathi, green peppers mixed with potatoes, vegetable koftas, and a sweet dessert made of saffron and spongy cheese. We could tell that Sara's hand was not too badly injured, as she was voluntarily using it. We showed her the photos of the owls from earlier today. She was quick to fetch her owl. Much like me at her age, she can't pronounce "owl" yet. She calls it "A-oooooo". So cute!

But poor Sara was still having a bad day. During dinner, she took a header off of the chair. Sunita was quick with the reflexes and caught her before she hit the ground, but she bashed her chin on the way down and bit her lip so that it was bleeding. Poor little girl!

At around 9 o'clock, loud music started shaking the windows. The huge stage on the grounds of the Taj Gateway Hotel was complete, and a huge Bollywood-style show was taking place only 25 feet from our bedroom. We went up to the balcony to take a look. Search lights were flashing, music was blaring, bass was thumping, people were dancing, confetti cannons were being fired, and flames were shooting up from the stage. We had a birds' eye view of the action, and the moon was shining overhead.

Subsequent numbers featured showers of sparks, a guy riding around the stage on a motorcycle, and people playing fake guitars which shoot flames like a flamethrower. All the while a drone was flying overhead (resembling one of those cute little flying things from the movie Batteries Not Included) apparently filming the whole thing. Talk about surreal!

When the mosquitoes started to come out, we pried ourselves away from the action and retreated to our room. Not that the noise was diminished at all! Craig somehow managed to fall asleep within minutes, another testament to the power of earplugs! By midnight, the show had finished. Phew!