These are 2 endearing stories at Ladakh recently.
The first one involved the Tibetan Partridges. There are no specific names given to a group of Tibetan Partridges and are “clubbed” under the generic names of covey, flock, group.
After my experience with them this weekend, I would like to call these multiple Tibetan Partridges (which started with 1 coming on the boulder, then 2, then 3, then 4, and finally 5!) as BONANZA! ☺️
Each one wanted to outshine the other one in singing! It was like an opera show with us in the front row. And one of them kept looking at us from time to time, as if it were the conductor of the orchestra and was judging audience response!
Truly a show to cherish and remember forever!
The second story was during the last hour of my stay at Ladakh. And quite dramatic!
There is something very alluring about climaxes happening at airports! Especially in Rom-Com (Romantic Comedy) movies. Possibly the airport resembles the “transition” point of something departing – some love, some relationship, some emotions. When things come to a happy ending at the airport, it may signify the arrival of good times, and the departure for a new happy destination. With no emotional baggage in the heart or in the plane cargo!
About a couple of weeks ago, I had an airport climax scene too in my own little “bird-com” movie. I was in Ladakh for a short weekend trip, mainly to find the Himalayan Wolf and the Lynx. Found the Wolf but not the Lynx. On the morning of our departure, I was a bit disappointed with my poor “collections” for the weekend. We checked out from the hotel and started driving towards the airport. I had 3 other friends with me too, who were more like the “side actors” in this “bird-com” movie as they could at best recognize a parrot or a crow only! Rigzin, my guide, was driving, and I could see he was feeling a bit guilty too, for no fault of his though.
Then the phone rang. A friend of Rigzin had seen the Brambling in his garden area. It was a “lifer” for me, and my ears could just catch the word “Brambling” as Rigzin and his friend talked in the local language. My heart rate had increased in anticipation of the increase in my Ladakh trip collections! Then I heard Rigzin mention the word “Goldfinch” – and I could not resist any further. I asked him to explain, and my prayers were answered through his confirmation, “Yes sir, both Brambling and Goldfinch are there now!” To the utter horror of my “side heroes” friends, I asked Rigzin to change the direction of the vehicle! We were going to his friend’s house now on the outskirts of Leh. It was a race against time. We would miss some important work back in Delhi if we missed the flight from Leh. I would miss my “lifers” if I did not visit this house. Quick decision making helped. We were at his friend’s house in about 15-20 minutes. Now we had only 5-10 minutes to rush to his garden, find both the birds, get good shots, and then rush back to the airport! As a precautionary measure, I had called some known staff at the airport to help us get to our flights on time!
We reached the friend’s house, and Rigzin’s Scorpio vehicle came to a screeching halt as it swerved into the parking area. With the vehicle hardly stopping, the front door was thrown open by me, and then the sprint towards the garden area. Rigzin’s friend had planted sunflowers in the garden just to attract the Goldfinch, and this was the first time the Goldfinch had arrived from Kashmir to his garden. And I was there for this grand inaugural spectacle! Who cared about the Lynx now, who cared about the jinx now! We were there in the garden, with the scorching sun shining brightly. We looked around, neither the Brambling nor the Goldfinch were to be seen. I looked at my watch, time was ticking. Just then we heard the “ticking” of the Brambling from one side of the garden. I went towards it and got the beauty in the very first shot. Then Rigzin’s friend shouted from the other side that the Goldfinch was being seen. I ran to the other side now, where the Goldfinch was feeding on the sunflower seeds. Got a good shot again in the very first click. No more photographer’s greed, no more of “just one better shot, one better angle”!
Now the race was back to get to the airport on time. We reached the airport, rushed through the security gates with some help, and with sweat on our foreheads from all the excitement even in the subzero temperature. Happiness was written in big bold letters on my face. Stress was written in equally big bold letters on my copassengers’ faces! We were running like headless chickens in the already cramped airport. That is when Destiny favored the brave and smiled. It got the flight delayed by 20 minutes! Phew, what a relief! It all worked out great at the end, a happy ending to my “bird-com”! We were still the last passengers to board the plane. However, I was ready to leave now with the arrival of happy emotions, and departure to my new destination (which incidentally happened to be a gas chamber, the polluted Delhi!). As the plane took off, I downloaded the photos to my phone, and smiled while looking at them. The plane was in the clouds by then, so was my head.
