He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy.
He who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in eternity's sunrise.
- William Blake-
Birds to me symbolise the idea of liberation , the freedom to fly , having no boundaries , no nationality. A migrating bird to me is like a messenger from distant lands with a vantage view of the globe. I have been mesmerised with birds ever since I was young but really the moment I understood this completely was when I watched this beautiful documentary on birds called " Winged Migration " its a movie i recommend very highly, truly a masterpiece .The "winged life" is symbolic of a free and unconstrained life, but also alludes to the winged life of Angels, also alluded to in "eternity's sunrise"
Binding oneself to a joy is contrasted with kissing a joy as it flies, in other words taking, and enjoying, but not keeping something pleasuarable is the way to a higher spiritual life .
Although i dont have the same feeling towards our city dwelling birds. I still love them dearly ,they are to me more a part of civilisation than the people themselves. The Roosters, the Pigeons,the Sparrows,The Bulbuls, The Eagles, The Koels and finally the Crows make our skyscapes that much more vibrant and alive.
The humble crow here has been seen as a sign of much mystery , folklore has created many stories around it ,movies like " jhhoot bole kawwa kaate ", " Omen " and countless other stories have made us view this bird with awe, suspicion, foreboding...what not ? to cut a long story short birds do tell us stories . in the above pictures the photographers Desai Somesh and Priyanka Rego may have seen a story or not,But I surely did. that to me is the power of an image, the conjuring of a story from a sight.
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