A  little white bird peeping into the kitchen from the ledge outside  began to be a part of my life in Chennai. I named her Dibby and every morning as I opened the door leading from the  kitchen to the wash area where I could see out to the ledge where she sat, became a moment of joy.Dibby would always be there.Sometimes she would be fast asleep and I would hurriedly close the door lest the sound of the mixer or the cooker troubled her repose.If I was lucky she would be awake and would blink dark , sharp eyes at me. 

She would fly away as soon as she awoke to explore life.

On rare occasions  she would hang around to try her luck with the other pigeons who would throng our window for the morsels we laid out.Then I would agonise over how frail she looked and how the Big Bullies would not let her even get a bite.Most days I would wrap up my day saying good night to her as she perched on her ledge.

Then one evening as I closed my door I did not see a splash of white at the ledge. Another pigeon  was there  and the contrast of the greyness of her coat went through me like a shaft.

"That’s my Dibby’s place .” I resisited ."Why has this grey one taken her place?"

I worried about Dibby losing her place all the time I was cooking breakfast. Then as I hung up my dishcloth in the wash area, A flash of white above caught my eye.  I saw someone peeping down at me..It was Dibby ,happily hobnobbing with the new chicks on the ledge above.

She did not seem to have a problem with her loss of place.Only my mind had identified with the bird.it  calling it ‘my Dibby’ .it had then projected on it  its  human tendencies -likes and dislikes and felt the emotions that the bird didnt know existed.While the bird ,free of a divided mind was merrily going its way hopping about in the place Life had assigned  her that moment, I was creating a drama of the whole thing!

The ridiculousness of the whole thing hit me and from that moment  I was able to detach and enjoy the bird as it appeared in the  field of my awareness .I liked to call her my Dibby but I knew she wasn't mine.She  was a piece of life having her own adventure and  I felt a wonder at her acceptance of each moment .If we could just be so accepting and in the moment, woudn't life be more wonderful?

Life had become very hectic after the Chennai floods.All Saturdays were working Saturdays to make up for the lost forty school days and I had never really found the time  to unwind.

There always was something that needed attention,school work to finish, the house to be cleaned up,mail to be checked- the list was endless. 

The Easter weekend came as a respite and on Good Friday I woke up to a leisurely cup of tea and a glorious sunrise. But soon my mind kicked in and I was caught up in the usual  rush to complete work,I finally got some time in the evening to sit  in the balcony over looking the lake . It was then that I saw a group of cows ambling on the way home at sundown.My impatient mind urged me on to go to the kitchen to rustle up some snacks,as it was used to a" get into the next moment' sort of existence  and could not bear to see me relax.

But there is something very soothing in the sight of cows going home at sundown.

Some of their serenity and beingness made me stop.They were in no hurry whatsoever.They just stood there, tails swishing, enjoying the end of the day, drinking in the moment-just being and going where life took them.

It took them a good half hour to move from the shed to the main road and another half to cross the road over to the fields at the other side. All this while I too remained at the balcony, still and intent.Something of their serenity rubbed itself on me and as I went in finally, I could really enjoy making my cup of tea.I could now understand why the Japanese have their tea ceremony!

I had always wanted to experience samadhi and that evening  I had been given a glimpse of it.

So the next time I need to unwind, I know where to look-at the cows!