Learning From Nature

“Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” Anonymous

Bheeko was a dedicated farmer who loved cultivating his crops and caring for his farm animals like family. Despite his happy and wealthy life, one childhood wish remained unfulfilled: understanding the language of birds and animals.

Each morning, Bheeko was greeted by the cheerful songs of sparrows, parrots, and other birds in his fields, though their chirping remained a mystery to him. When feeding his cows, he would mimic their “moo,” believing they were expressing gratitude.

His desire to understand and interact with animals grew over time. One day, after praying intensely for this wish, he fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, he went to water his crops and heard a dove urging her chicks to rise and enjoy their morning meal.

Bheeko was stunned. He looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. He saw a dove on a tree trunk, talking to her chicks. Unsure if it was a dream, he pinched himself to check. It was real. Standing on the muddy path in his village, he felt happy but wanted to be certain he understood the birds before sharing his new talent.

After irrigating his crops, he went to his small farm, where cows greeted him with a sweet “moo moo.” He carefully listened and realized they were commenting on the dishonest milkman who blended water with milk and marketed it as pure. Another cow agreed, calling the milkman unethical and a liar.

Bheeko lost his temper and stormed to the milkman’s house without listening further to his animals. He confronted the young man, who initially denied the accusation. Eventually, he admitted his error and sincerely promised Bheeko he would never repeat it.

After working harder than usual that day, Bheeko was exhausted by the afternoon and returned home for a break. As he walked, he heard screams echoing from all directions, deeply unsettling him. Listening closely, he heard a pigeon’s urgent cry, warning its companion about a dangerous wire. Bheeko’s head spun from the constant noise.

Seeking peace, he fell asleep under the shade of a Peepal tree, but his rest was brief. Crows above him started loudly cawing; one announced their grandfather’s passing, drawing more crows and intensifying their mourning. Bheeko found the cacophony unbearable, waking with a throbbing headache as the crows’ cries persisted in the sky.

Bheeko had always wanted to speak with birds and animals since childhood. However, at this point, the crows’ constant cawing was too unbearable for his nerves. First, he had worked longer than usual that day, and second, he could not relax properly.

He tried hard to make them go away, but they assembled even more, mourning their deceased relative, Grand Crow. When Bheeko realized that instead of decreasing, the tears and screams were escalating, he stood up and left the place.

As he walked outside, he sometimes heard a cat calling out in a challenging style to its friends, “Come and catch me if you can!” or village dogs threatening an “outsider dog” not to come into their territory because they would tear it apart. A tired mother hen called out to her chicks, “Don’t go there; wild cats are around; they might eat you.”

Bheeko thought the sounds of the animals and birds were a headache. As the sounds grew louder, Bheeko quickly got away by putting his fingers in his ears. Because he lived in a town, he saw birds on trees, cows, donkeys, and other animals on the streets everywhere, which upset him.

Along the way, Bheeko met a friend who noticed his frantic state and asked why he was in such a hurry. Bheeko didn’t answer at first; he was too busy trying to block out the unpleasant sounds. His concerned friend persisted and asked again. Bheeko’s face looked odd, his eyes red from a headache. The neighbour wanted to know why Bheeko was running putting fingers in his ears.

Bheeko yelled in a worried tone, “There’s noise everywhere, the chance of getting an electric shock in one place, and wild cats threatening the chicks in the other!” Additionally, Grand Crow died, and his family crows are crying so loudly that it makes me feel like the sky is pressing down on me. Someone, please give me some peace where no one is talking.

People in the crowd looked at each other with confused faces as he spoke. “Grand Crow?” someone else asked, not sure what to say. “I had no idea that crows had grandpas.”

After saying “Grand Crow,” Bheeko saw that his neighbours were confused, so he rapidly added with a smile, “But don’t worry, it’s just their style of weeping.” There are no serious issues and everything is fine. He said, “There were too many crows in my garden, which bothered me. I needed a break from the noise.” People felt relieved after hearing this.

He eventually switched the topic by asking about how their day was or comments on the weather, which diverted the attention of the crowd.

Once things were back to normal, Bheeko went about his daily business, looking forward to being back in his favourite farmyard. One day, he heard goats talking about how people act. Some goats complained that cows seemed to get better care because they were bigger and made more milk, while goats felt like they were being ignored.

The old, wise goat responded, “My dear, it’s not wise to compare ourselves to cows.” Some things are more difficult for them, even though they get more focus. They are limited in their freedom to move around and discover things like we do. We are less cared for, but we are free to live our lives as we like. Every goat agreed because they knew how important it was to be free and special.

While Bheeko listened from the shadows, the knowledge hit him like raindrops on the sand. He realized that nature knew more than people did. It showed him the details of life and gave him a new meaning.

When Bheeko came back, it felt peaceful and quiet after many days. He immediately decided to see a friend and shared with him about his unique skill. He told his friend everything he knew about understanding animal and bird sounds in the hopes that his friend would see just how beneficial it was.

Unfortunately, it appeared his friend was attempting to mock him rather than understanding him and suggested he undergo a psychological checkup. What he said about the goats’ intelligence and the cows’ judgments about the milkman’s dishonesty was unbelievable to everyone.

The next morning, Bheeko couldn’t enjoy the sunrise because the doves wouldn’t stop cooing. They compared themselves proudly to the crows, their talk sounding arrogant, which worried him more. Looking at his fields, he saw the soil drying up and the green plants looking tired like they were losing a fight to survive. The sky was empty, with no clouds in sight, and his old tube well, which had worked for a hundred years, wasn’t pumping water anymore.

Even though he was worried, he overheard the cows talking, which made sense this time. They discussed how they didn’t trust Bheeko after his fight with the milkman. Bheeko hid behind hay bales to listen. A cow shared an observation that Bheeko had been stealing water from a neighbour’s land and using it for his crops.

Bheeko was embarrassed and wasn’t brave enough to face the cows. He went home, but his head was still hurting. Immediately after flopping down on the floor, he fell into a deep sleep. Upon waking up, he realized it was all just a dream. A group of crows outside made him feel calm with no understanding of their caws.

This helped Bheeko regain his confidence and respect for animals. Bheeko silently promised himself that he would never make another wish that would be against the law of nature.

Rather than trying to change the natural world, he discovered the significance of preserving its natural systems. It became clear to Bheeko that working with nature would bring more peace and wealth to his farm and community.

Bheeko looks confident after realizing the nature message, he learnt in the dream.

Some unfulfilled desires are gifts from the Creator, as Bheeko’s story teaches us. Thus, never be disappointed in a wish that doesn’t come true! What are your thoughts?

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I published it initially on Medium in Write under the Moon.

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