Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

When birds sing

1531416
1531416
minus
plus

What does the lonely bird out there say to us? Created by the culturally enlightened Omani artist Hassan Meer, the bird (oil on canvas) gives us a philosophical discourse on life and its incoherent dimensions; of course, from the point of view of a winged being.


How birds assess us humans and our existential struggles may never be revealed to us, though we can connect with them and better our understanding of life and dreams, for instance. To put it succinctly, as far as birds are concerned, sky is the only limit.


Not all of us are ornithologists, and only a few of us are birdwatchers. Yet we encounter them in our daily lives somewhere. Whether one pauses to communicate with them is purely matter of individual choice, dictated only be how deeply one relates to nature. A short philosophy of birds, by Philippe J Dubois and Élise Rousseau could help to some extent in understanding birds and the higher wisdom of nature. Still words have limitations, whereas images are not bound by anything — not even by the colours and contours or the media.


This is where Hassan’s lonely bird gains relevance. If you ask me which is the bird he has portrayed, I don’t know; and I don’t even care. But it is a bird for sure, and that’s all that matters. The man, it could also be a woman, obviously represents the dynamism and the entanglements of living as we know it, and the bird is a cool witness or an observer. The point not to be missed is, the bird is free to fly away from the human, and the human can turn away from the bird at will. However, their meeting, howsoever brief and tangential it could be, is enough to create a man-nature dimension of inclusiveness and organic harmony.


Having gone thus far about birds, it may not be entirely out of place to note that the the Sultanate’s amazing geological diversity and favourable climate make the country a lovely land for birds, including migratory ones. Thousands of migratory birds visit the country during winter, the Steppe eagles from Russia by far being the most prominent.


Of late, bird watching is catching on in the Sultanate — among both domestic and international visitors — during autumn and spring. Oman’s northern coastal areas are the breeding grounds for Sooty falcons.


Though the Sultanate is home to several birds especially raptors (birds of prey such as eagles and falcons), the latter’s dwindling populations are worrisome, as reported in a study by the Environmental Society of Oman.


Learning to appreciate and love birds could make life more beautiful. Unfortunately, birds are not so common in the Sultanate’s art works; but certainly Oman’s artists can help create better public awareness about birds in the country through engaging painting and installations.


Just like the lonely bird by Hassan Meer, birds — lonely or not — have a lot to communicate with us. We just need to listen.


SARNGADHARAN NAMBIAR


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon