Part VI: Better Together

Ram

Have you ever tried to do everything alone… and just got tired?… Arre, you're not meant to. Today, nature shows us how to do it together.

Ram

Namaste dosto! Welcome back to Hey Nature. I'm Ram. Today we open Part six of the book. Hey Nature: 100 Gurus Hiding in Plain Sight. By SuRa Mukkavilli. Part six is Better Together. Trust, teamwork and belonging. And Priya is with me. Priya!

Priya

Hello, Ram. Fifteen lessons in this Part. And every one has at least two heroes.

Ram

Two heroes! Okay. Start with your weaver ants.

Priya

Picture a mango tree. Two leaves hang a little apart. The ants want to join them into a nest. But the gap is too wide.

Ram

So they give up?

Priya

No. A line of red ants reaches out from one leaf. Body holding body. Into the air.

Ram

A living chain?

Priya

A living bridge. It reaches the other leaf. And slowly, together, they pull the two edges close.

Ram

Wah. And then? How do the leaves stay together?

Priya

Other workers hold their larvae against the leaf edges. The larvae give out silk. And the silk glues the leaves together.

Ram

So the babies are the glue gun!

Priya

Exactly. When there's a gap at work or at home, we wait for someone else to build a bridge. The weaver ant becomes the bridge.

Ram

And holds on until the job is done.

Priya

Be the bridge. Hold until it's stitched.

Ram

Okay. What's next?

Priya

A true story from Brazil. In a lagoon called Laguna, fishermen stand waist-deep in murky water, holding nets. They can't see the fish.

Ram

So how do they know when to throw?

Priya

A dolphin tells them. Wild dolphins push fish towards the shore. Then one gives a sudden dive. That's the signal. The fishermen throw.

Ram

No way. The dolphin signals the fishermen?

Priya

For generations. And the dolphins catch the fish that scatter from the net. Scientists tracked them with drones and sound recorders in 2023. Both sides catch more.

Ram

Two completely different species… working as one team.

Priya

We often work only with people like us. These two found a way to read each other. Two kinds, one shore, one catch.

Ram

Okay, Priya. Something closer to home now.

Priya

Your kitchen. A spoon of bright yellow turmeric in a steel bowl. Add a pinch of slaked lime, a little water, and stir.

Ram

I know this! It turns red. That's how kumkum is made, no?

Priya

The traditional way, yes. Turmeric's colour comes from curcumin. In an alkaline mix, like one with lime, curcumin turns red.

Ram

Same turmeric. But a new colour.

Priya

Because of the company it keeps. The right company doesn't erase who you are. It brings out a colour you didn't know you had.

Ram

Arre, that's beautiful. Same turmeric. Different company. New colour.

Ram

Okay, quiz time. Three quick ones.

Priya

Go. On the sea floor, a shrimp digs a burrow. It can barely see. Who keeps watch?

Ram

Another shrimp?

Priya

A fish! A goby sits at the door, eyes alert. The shrimp keeps one feeler on the fish. When danger comes, the goby flicks its tail, and both dart inside. You dig. I watch. We both live.

Ram

Partners. Nice. Next.

Priya

Break open a ripe fig. Inside, hundreds of tiny flowers. No bee can reach them. Who pollinates them?

Ram

Ants?

Priya

A tiny wasp, smaller than a grain of rice. Each fig depends on its own wasp. Without the wasp, no fig seeds. Without the fig, no wasps. Nothing without each other.

Ram

Wow. Last one.

Priya

Lie in some forests and look straight up. The treetops don't quite touch. Thin lines of sky between them. What's it called?

Ram

No idea.

Priya

Crown shyness. Scientists are still studying why it happens. But it's a lovely picture. Grow together. Leave a line of sky.

Ram

Arre, my wife needs to hear that one. I'm joking!

Ram

What else is in Part six?

Priya

An egret that walks beside a buffalo. Langurs that warn deer about tigers. Twenty-one leaves offered on Vinayaka Chavithi. And cows who keep their old friends close.

Ram

Okay, I need all of those. Priya, sum up Part six for me.

Priya

Be the bridge, like the weaver ants. Work with someone different, like the dolphins and fishermen. And choose company that brings out your best colour, like turmeric.

Ram

Nice. But how do these stories actually help us belong?

Priya

Each one shows a different kind of together. The ants show sacrifice. The dolphins show trust between strangers. The goby and shrimp show partners who play to their strengths. The fig and the wasp show deep need. And the trees show respect, even when we're close. Belonging isn't about being the same. It's about holding on to each other, and leaving room.

Ram

And one thing to try today?

Priya

Think of one gap in your team, or your family. Don't wait for a bridge. Take one step and become it.

Ram

Love it. Next time, Part seven. Caring and Protecting. Shielding the young and the weak.

Priya

We'll start with a lapwing. A bird that pretends to be hurt to save its eggs. Would you draw the danger towards yourself… to keep others safe?

Ram

Thank you, Priya. And thank you, dosto, for listening. All fifteen lessons of Part six are at heynature.in. Till then… be the bridge. Your next teacher is closer than you think.