The birds wake you up every day with excitement at the first rays of the sun charged for the day filled with opportunities to find food and feed their young ones.
We often wake up with silent thoughts at times scanning through the dreams, on other days reflecting on yesterday, on most of the days probably thinking about things to do and we cannot rule out worrying either.
But look at the birds — they wind down their day with the sun and begin with its rising. They have learnt to innovate too. There is a pair of mynas at the Qurum traffic light who have learnt the intricate details about the traffic lights. They have learnt that vehicles wait for certain duration and this is their opportunity. They fly down and calmly walk on the road picking on whatever is edible that has popped out from vehicles or they could be dead insects from the windscreen. When the drivers raise their engine to move as the traffic lights change the mynas fly up to perch on the signboards and at times on the traffic lights until the next set of vehicles stop again.
They are even happier when the open trucks arrive because there is so much more to explore in trucks. Mynas are considered territorial at the same time aggressive and most significantly intelligent birds. They have adapted themselves to the urban environment and in the process incorporated roads and traffic lights into their lives. They probably have their nests nearby the gardens or won’t be surprised if they have their home located somewhere under the Qurum flyover.
If birds can adapt, why not us, humans?
I am sure the mynas had noticed the lockdown and how we had slowed down in our traffic as most of us were working from home. There might have been fewer insects on the road and the limited number of open trucks that went by in those ten months. The mynas must be really pleased that everything is back to normal. They have after all opted to stay away from their normal environment.
How did they come up with the idea?
Mynas feed on insects and fruits and this pair has adapted to the city life but it is the appearance of the dead insects that probably gave them the hint to settle on this site. A few minutes wait at the traffic lights by the vehicles at regular intervals gives them enough time to clean the surface of the road by finding their food. They are calm while they are at it indicating that they have understood humans at traffic lights. They successfully saw the opportunity and converted it from potential to reality.
In the new norms when people are just picking up pieces after the struggle with the pandemic and its impact on the economy, which has brought in the next challenge with a new strain of COVID-19. While we fight uncertainties at different levels let us learn from the mynas to think differently and be bold with an understanding of the environment, conditions and possibilities and most importantly accepting the situation.
The mynas thought outside the box, it seems their instincts carry logic gathered and absorbed for generations.
We on the other hand seem to always think of the problems first and somehow manage to connect with fear and only when it is left with no choice do we decide to jump out of the comfort zone.
There must be new opportunities lying here and there just waiting to be explored. It is time to evolve and adapt. Entrepreneurship in 2021 means to choose a field one has flair in and has confidence in executing the work that is needed on his/her own. Many businesses decided to wind up due to the losses they incurred while many of them are trying to make a comeback.
Of course an expert would say the first step to take would be to know what the society needs. Now how about creating a need? Innovators and trend setters have always done that. But an important lesson is what the pair of mynas is telling us. Understand the reality and go for it.
The mynas don’t have time to complain and cry. They mean business and they are thriving.
Lakshmi Kothaneth
lakshmiobserver@gmail.com
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