I felt cramped inside the warm shell.  I started to wiggle and peck at the wall and it was really good to finally crack the shell so I can move my body a bit more freely. First thing I saw through the crack was my mom’s lovely piercing eyes, so very proud to see me coming out of the shell.

It seemed like I was hungry all the time and was always so good to see my mother far away in the sky flapping her broad wings and gliding effortlessly toward me and land smoothly without toppling my nest, bringing juicy food to me of course. As I grew bigger and stronger, my parents’ visits became less and less.

I started feeling lonely. Even though I had enough food left, it did not taste as well as it used to. I felt safe in my nest at the top of a very tall tree but it was terrifying to look down and see the forest floor so far away. There was this nagging feeling that something was missing in my life.

I started flapping my long wings and hopped out of the nest to the branch. Took me several days to learn to flap, hop and move sideways across the branch and hop back to the nest. And, then one fine morning, I flapped my wings so strongly, I could hop right across from my tree to a branch on the next tree. My heart pounded so hard that I could hear it. It was exhilarating, liberating and it was finally time to fly.

And, so I left my safe nest to claim the sky.

As I flapped, flew, glided, circled, swooped and soared, I knew why I was feeling safe but incomplete in the nest. As I reached the edge of the forest, there was bunch of small creatures who were looking up at me with excitement and exclaimed, ‘Look! A Philippines Eagle! So Majestic!’. It was funny to see these creatures having sticks instead of wings.

My heart and body felt so light and I couldn’t wait to explore the breadth of my sky. So, flapped and flew up and away. 

Inspired by: https://www.ytamizh.com/thirukural/kural-342/  and ‘Our Planet’, ‘Jungles’ episode, Netflix documentaries

குறள் 342:

வேண்டின்உண் டாகத் துறக்க துறந்தபின்
ஈண்டுஇயற் பால பல.

Transliteration(Tamil to English):

vaeNtin-un daakath thuRakka thuRandhapin
eeNtuiyaR paala pala

மு.வரதராசன் விளக்கம்: துன்பமில்லாத நிலைமை வேண்டுமானால் எல்லாப் பொருள்களும் உள்ள காலத்திலேயெ துறக்க வேண்டும்,துறந்த பின் இங்குப் பெறக்கூடும் இன்பங்கள் பல (After a man has renounced (all things), there will still be many things in this world (which he may enjoy); if he should desire them, let him, while it is time abandon. (the world))

                            (About the author: All too Human, Engineer, Leader, Seeker, Yoga Teacher, Ever the Student).