Part VII: Caring and Protecting

Ram

Who protected you when you were small… without you even knowing?… Arre, think about it. Today, nature shows us what real care looks like.

Ram

Namaste dosto! Welcome back to Hey Nature. I'm Ram. Today we open Part seven of the book. Hey Nature: 100 Gurus Hiding in Plain Sight. By SuRa Mukkavilli. Part seven is Caring and Protecting. Shielding the young and the weak. And Priya is with me. Priya!

Priya

Hello, Ram. Only four lessons in this Part. But I think they're the most tender in the whole book.

Ram

Four. Then let's take our time. You promised me a lapwing.

Priya

Picture open ground. A few speckled eggs lie in a shallow scrape. Almost invisible among the pebbles.

Ram

No nest? Just on the ground?

Priya

Just on the ground. Now, a dog comes sniffing near. Closer. Closer.

Ram

Oh no.

Priya

Suddenly, a bird runs out in front of the dog. Crying. One wing dragging, as if it's broken.

Ram

The mother is hurt?

Priya

That's what the dog thinks too. It follows the easy prey. Away from the eggs. Further. And further.

Ram

And then?

Priya

Then the bird simply flies off. Unharmed. It was acting all along. Scientists call it a distraction display.

Ram

Wah. She drew the danger towards herself.

Priya

To keep the nest safe. Parents, teachers, leaders, friends do this quietly every day. We just don't see it.

Ram

Hmm. My father did that. Took every hit, so we never felt it.

Priya

Then you know this lesson already. Limp away in plain sight. Keep the nest safe.

Ram

Okay. That one got me. What's next?

Priya

High in a forest tree, there's a hole in the trunk. The opening is plastered shut with mud. Only a narrow slit is left.

Ram

Who's inside?

Priya

A mother hornbill. She seals herself in to lay her eggs. Inside, she sheds her flight feathers. She can't fly out for weeks.

Ram

Weeks? Then who feeds her?

Priya

Her partner. A big bird with a huge curved bill lands at the slit, and passes in a fig. Again and again. For her, and later for the chicks.

Ram

That's commitment, yaar.

Priya

Sometimes one partner has to stay inside. Sealed in by illness, a newborn, a hard season. The other keeps coming back to the slit.

Ram

Through the narrow slit…

Priya

Keep feeding love. And here's something lovely. In India, villagers now protect hornbill nests, in a programme run by conservationists.

Ram

Okay, Priya. Something surprising this time.

Priya

A crocodile.

Ram

Arre, a crocodile? In a Part about caring?

Priya

Wait. On the bank of an Indian river, a mugger crocodile lies beside a nest of sand. Squeaking sounds come from underneath.

Ram

The babies!

Priya

She digs them out. Then she lowers those great jaws… and gently scoops the babies in. And carries them down to the water.

Ram

But a crocodile's bite…

Priya

Is one of the strongest in the animal world. The same jaws. Used with care. She carries them without hurting them.

Ram

So strength and gentleness aren't opposites.

Priya

Exactly. They're the same power. Jaws that break bone. Jaws that carry babies.

Ram

Okay, one more. The fourth lesson.

Priya

Night falls on a lotus pond. The air turns cool. Inside a closed lotus bud, a few small beetles have gathered.

Ram

Hiding from the cold?

Priya

And here's the magic. Inside the bud, it's warm. The sacred lotus can warm its own flower. To around thirty to thirty-five degrees. Even when the night is much cooler.

Ram

A flower that makes heat? Seriously?

Priya

Scientists measured it in 1996. The insects stay warm. And as they move, they carry pollen.

Ram

So the lotus is a good host.

Priya

A host who expects nothing back. It warms its guests through the night, simply because they came. Keep the flower warm for those inside.

Ram

Atithi devo bhava. The guest is God.

Priya

The lotus knows it well.

Priya

Okay, Ram. No quiz today. Instead, a memory test. Which one drew the danger away?

Ram

The lapwing!

Priya

Who fed love through a narrow slit?

Ram

The hornbill. And the strong jaws that carried babies… the crocodile. And the lotus kept its guests warm.

Priya

Full marks. So, how do these stories help us care better?

Ram

You tell me. That's your job.

Priya

Each one shows a different shape of care. The lapwing shows courage. The hornbill shows loyalty, day after day. The crocodile shows that real strength is gentle. And the lotus shows care that asks for nothing back. Caring isn't one big act. It's choosing, again and again, to protect someone who can't protect themselves.

Ram

And one thing to try today?

Priya

Think of one person who protected you quietly. Call them, or message them. Just say: I noticed. Thank you.

Ram

Love it. Next time, Part eight. Giving Freely. Giving without keeping score.

Priya

We'll start with an ant, and a grain of sugar on the kitchen floor. When you find something good… do you go back and tell?

Ram

Thank you, Priya. And thank you, dosto, for listening. All four lessons of Part seven are at heynature.in. Till then… keep the nest safe. Your next teacher is closer than you think.