Landscapes Of The Mind
  • Home
  • Musings & Reflections
  • Glimpses Through The Lens
    • The Feathered Beauties
    • I Saw,I Clicked... >
      • Vishnupur
      • The Tantalizing Landscape Of Uttaranchal
      • Amidst The Sand Dunes Of Khuri
      • Chatris Of Shekawati
      • Havelis Of Shekawat
    • I Saw, I Clicked Part II >
      • Hosaholalu
      • Pristine Havelock
      • Pichavaram
      • Chidambaram
    • I Saw I Clicked Part III >
      • Yosemite
      • A Day At The Vatican Museum
      • Norcia
      • Moscow
    • Butterflies & Flowers
    • Close Encounters At Corbett
    • Bijapur & Beyond
    • Enchanting Athirapalli
    • Splendours of Seatlle
    • Monet's Garden
  • Glimpses Through The Lens: II
    • Poetry in stone >
      • Brihadeeswarar Koil
      • Gangaikondacholapuram
      • Dharasuram
      • Thanjavur Art Gallery
    • In The Land Of Enlightenment
    • Charming Chitrapu
    • Exploring Orissa >
      • Mesmerizing Mangalajodi
      • Bewitching Bhetnoi
      • Daksa Prajapati Temple
    • Birding Down Under >
      • Parrots Galore!
      • Lyrical Lyre Bird
      • Honey Eaters
      • Kingfishers, Wrens, Wagtails, Warblers...
      • Orioles, Golden Whistlers
      • Cockatoos, Kookaburras & Magpies
      • Pigeons, Doves
      • Birds Of Prey, Bower Birds
      • Water Birds & In Flight
      • Others
    • Murals of Pundarikapuram
  • Contact Me

MOCKINGBIRD DAYS..

6/29/2019

45 Comments

 


Late one evening, I was sitting on the porch, reading a book.  My attention was drawn by a medley of bird sounds. I was curious to locate the source of these sounds. To my great surprise all these sounds came from a lone grey bird sitting on top of a tree. When a hummingbird tentatively approached it, the grey bird imitated its call! It also made a prancing movement to chase the hummingbird off. As I was watching, there was a sound of a car horn in the distance and the bird let out a honk-like chirp! I was totally entranced with this amazing display. I was reminded of a video of David Attenborough in which a superb lyre bird made sounds like the click of a camera shutter and a chain saw. Over the next couple of days, it continued to keep  me company without fail.

With the help of Sibley’s guide, I could identify it as the Northern Mockingbird. Curious about this strange bird, I started reading about it.

First described by Linnaeus in 1758, the mockingbird’s modern scientific name is Mimus polyglottos, which means “many-tongued mimic,” because rather than singing their own songs, these birds learn and repeat the songs of other species. In addition to birdsongs, northern mockingbirds can repeat dog barks, musical instruments, and sirens. A single bird can learn up to 200 songs during its lifetime and will continue to add new sounds to their repertoires throughout their lives. Its capacity to improvise is so extensive that it rarely repeats them, and the listener will never quite know what will come out of its beak next. It is veritably an avian karaoke machine!

The most famous American to keep a mockingbird as a pet was Thomas Jefferson, which he bought from a slave for five shillings. He also has the distinction of being the first U.S. President to keep a pet in the White House.  Over the years, he would go on to own at least four mockingbirds. He even took a mockingbird with him to France, a trip during which the bird learned not only to sing French songs, but also to imitate the creaking of the timbers on the ship that carried it across the Atlantic. Jefferson would leave the bird free in the White House. It would fly around, perch on the president’s shoulder while he worked and even sing duets with Jefferson as he played the violin. Jefferson’s appreciation for this unique species is apparent in his suggestion to a friend that he should “teach all the children to venerate the mockingbird as a superior being in the form of a bird.”

Jefferson’s idea that the mockingbird is “a superior being in the form of a bird” is enshrined in many Native American cultures. The Cherokee embraced mockingbirds as the embodiment of cleverness and intelligence, while Hopi and other Pueblo peoples told stories in which the bird was the bringer of language who taught the people to speak. Further west, Maricopa Indians believed that dreaming of the mockingbird was a sign that the dreamer would soon receive special powers. Shasta Indian culture considered the bird a sacred guardian of the dead, while Papago and Pima folklore considered the mockingbird as a mediator whose song functions as a bridge between the human and animal worlds. 

Its continuing appeal can be gauged by the fact that many states in USA have adopted the Northern Mockingbird as their state bird.

The first time I had a glimpse of the mockingbird was on the cover of Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, an unforgettable story of childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it. For me like many of that generation, the novel had an immediate appeal. In the words of JD Salinger  in Catcher in the Rye "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it”.
 
What lingers on in memory about the novel is the obvious symbolism of the mockingbird.  It is the story of a girl nicknamed Scout growing up in a Depression-era Southern town. A black man has been wrongly accused of raping a white woman, and Scout's father, the resolute lawyer Atticus Finch, defends him despite threats and the scorn of many. Scout and her friend Jem learn that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, because they don’t do anything to damage other creatures and therefore should never be harmed. In the novel, several characters can be emblematic of mockingbirds. Surely Tom Robinson, accused of a crime he didn’t truly commit, can be on the top of that list. Tom’s innocence stems from the fact that he tried to help a fellow human being and ended up losing his life over it, all due to circumstances outside of his control, such as being a black person. It also represents Boo Radley, who is a harmless victim of prejudice. Killing mockingbirds becomes shorthand for any gratuitous violence directed at innocent, unassuming individuals.

To kill a mockingbird is a sin, but to allow it to be killed is even worse.

As much as the song of the mockingbird is a joyous patchwork of melody, it is also a forceful call to defend its territory. I wonder whether by choosing the mockingbird as a predominant symbol in the book, Lee was also hinting that it is imperative for racially discriminated people to defend themselves more assertively.

Theater owners in Birmingham, Alabama, refused to screen the movie based on the book when it was ready for release, given the tone of the book. It was no coincidence that Martin Luther King Jr. was composing his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” at the same time.
Unlike some birds like the Eagle, Hawk, Crow, and Vulture whose symbolisms are practically static, the representation of mockingbird has changed over time. In the Hunger Games series, the mockingbird was the other half of the genetically modified “mockingjay”, which turned into a symbol of rebellion in the second rebellion which emerges from the resentment towards the brutally repressive Snow regime.

Let me end with a Mayan tale of “How Mockingbird Became the Best Singer.”

Once there was a mockingbird who wanted to be a good singer. The family had little resources to support her talents.

One day she began working for a wealthy family of Cardinals. During her employ, a renowned singing teacher came into the area. Father Cardinal wanted his daughter to become an excellent singer, but she laughed at the idea, feeling she needed no such help. Her father was determined and finally offered her enough incentives in the form of gifts, to consent.

The daughter Cardinal went into the woods with her teacher. Mockingbird followed silently behind, listening. This went on for weeks until the professor got wholly frustrated with the daughter’s lack of interest and progress. Fearing the Father Cardinal’s reaction, he flew away.

There came a day when Father Cardinal wanted his daughter to perform for friends. She, of course, was terrified of telling her family that she hadn’t learned even a single song. She had, however, overheard mockingbird singing to herself during chores and decided to ask for help. Mockingbird hid herself in a tree trunk singing while the daughter pretended to sing.

Father Cardinal knew of the ruse, having seen Mockingbird sneak into the tree before the concert. After the applause quietened, Father Cardinal called for Mockingbird to come out. The tiny grey bird came out nervously. Father Cardinal proceeded to tell everyone the truth and called upon the mockingbird to sing once more. Her song was so beautiful that all her descendants would forever have a lovely singing voice while the Cardinal never would.


It is a story emphasizing that hard work, enthusiasm and persistence will truly pay off.

Mockingbird also teaches us how to be curious and continue to learn from experience. Every sound a mockingbird sings comes from exploration and discovery. It gains its strength through simulation blended with innovation.

We can draw inspiration from the mockingbird that life is an unfolding series of experiences and an abiding attitude to continue to learn from them is the essence of life.

It keeps me company on many an evening, inspiring muse within...

As I watch it
Our gaze slips
And the mockingbird
Finds its home
Among knotted branches..
.

Glimpses At: photos.app.goo.gl/sTWoYoiQNGxqnUu68

PS: Would appreciate if you post your comments here and not in Google Photos!

45 Comments
S.Jagdish
7/1/2019 06:09:22 pm

A very good write up.
" To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favourite books".

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/1/2019 06:59:02 pm

Thanks!

Reply
Shabbir Amanullah
7/1/2019 06:36:40 pm

Excellent!!!
The art of birding is slowly ?dying unfortunately with the advent of the internet

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/1/2019 06:59:58 pm

Thanks Shabbir...Birding is not dead yet:-)
Urge you to get onto it!

Reply
Sangeetha madhu
7/1/2019 06:38:51 pm

Enjoyed reading the article !

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/1/2019 07:00:15 pm

Thanks Sangeetha!

Reply
Abha
7/1/2019 08:01:10 pm

What a beautiful write up...loved reading the history of mystical mocking bird and loved the story at the end

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/1/2019 09:14:40 pm

Thanks Abha!

Reply
Ramesh Santhanam
7/1/2019 08:38:42 pm

Very nice. Gregory Peck, as Atticus Finch, came in front of my eyes as I read your piece. The book and the film left an unforgettable mark on many.

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/1/2019 09:15:02 pm

True Ramesh

Reply
deepa
7/1/2019 10:05:39 pm

From the mouths of the mockingbird.. lessons to that enrich our lives for a lifetime..v. Interesting perspective on the being..

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:29:34 am

Thanks Deepa

Reply
Saranya
7/1/2019 10:17:50 pm

Please write about 'andril paravai'. Recently i saw the painting of these mythological birds at the caves of Sittanavasal.

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:45:37 am

It is not a mythological bird Saraya! It is Ibis (red naped) which is seen quite commonly in all wetlands across India

Reply
Lakshmi
7/1/2019 10:24:25 pm

Wonderfully written sir. Such a pleasure to read it!

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:45:55 am

Thanks Lakshmi!

Reply
Ajay Vijayakrishnan
7/1/2019 10:48:06 pm

The literary connections make this a fascinating read!

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:46:15 am

Thanks Ajay

Reply
Joshy
7/1/2019 11:35:36 pm

Fascinating read about the mystical bird, looks like its mind is much bigger than its head brain! Mind - A point of consciousness beyond brain.

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:46:43 am

True dear Joshy!

Reply
Rekha Ranganathan Pradeep
7/1/2019 11:40:28 pm

Thanks for a lovely read in these troubled times...

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:47:09 am

Birds offer solace in these troubled times Rekha!

Reply
brit_shrink@yahoo.com
7/1/2019 11:56:58 pm

Can I use some information for A Quiz please ? Lovely article.

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:47:48 am

Please free! May I know your name dear shrink?

Reply
Vidya
7/2/2019 12:56:29 am

Wonderfully written. Loved To Kill a Mockingbird. Do you know how the bird got its name? Seems somewhat disparaging contrary to the bird's symbolism.

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:49:25 am

It is not so disparaging Vidya! Since it can mimic the sounds of many birds, sometime it may look as she is mocking at them!

Reply
Malathi Swaminathan
7/2/2019 01:39:16 am

Multiple Thanks!! WOW to see so many shots of the mocking bird!! Such an educative portrayal. So much told of so many aspects! You transported me to the nostalgic land aka one of my fav, "To kill a mocking bird", Atticus Finch et al! So much told about Harper Lee, his nudges, mockingbird symbolism, i agree with J.D.Salinger quote!! Time to collate these treasures into books, coffee table books! Definite best sellers! Thanks to Dr.Rajaram and Mr.Senthilnathan who allocated our unit postings!! Enjoyed every part of the post, and each of the photographs, awesome!

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:50:10 am

Thanks Malathi! It kept me close company and still does!

Reply
Sumana
7/2/2019 06:01:25 am

Sir,
Curious to know whether this bird forms its own clan to sing melody?It also made me think that that there is always a "Mouna Ragam " in most of us.Many decades ago I read a short story in a Tamil magazine that had a title " Sadaga Pravai"Do u have any idea about it? It's been a great exp reading ur article.Would love to remain ur student .👏👏🙏

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:54:28 am

The link to sadaga paravai: https://tamilandvedas.com/

Reply
Paavannan
7/2/2019 08:50:17 am

மிகவும் சிறப்பான பதிவு. அதிசயப்பறவையின் வித்தியாசமான குரலில் தொடங்கி, நாவலுக்குள் சென்று, மார்ட்டின் லூதர் கிங்கைத் தொட்டுத் திரும்பி, மயன் கதைக்குள் சென்று, இறுதியில் மேடைக்கு அழைக்கப்பட்ட பறவை மிக அழகாகப் பாடி பாராட்டுகளைப் பெறுவதை முத்தாய்ப்பாகச் சொல்லி முடிக்கப்பட்ட விதம் அருமை. இனிமையானதொரு கவிதையைப் படித்த அனுபவம். தன்னைச் சுற்றிப் பாடும் பல பறவைகளின் குரல்களை எளிதில் கற்றுக்கொள்ளும் பறவை என்னும் விஷயமே மிகவும் ஆர்வமூட்டுகிறது. பிற பறவைகளின் குரல்களை மட்டுமல்லாது, பிரெஞ்சு, ஆங்கிலம் போன்ற மொழிகளில் அமைந்த பாடல்களைக் கூட அது கற்றுக்கொள்ளும் திறமையுள்ளது என்பதை அறிய ஆச்சரியமாகவே உள்ளது. பாவண்ணன்

Reply
Prof Raguram
7/2/2019 11:55:05 am

Anbulla Nanbarukku...mikka nandri!

Reply
Resmi Shankar
7/3/2019 09:21:44 pm

Beauty of the creation and nature being the best teacher!!! Admire your passion to bring out in the best way about this mocking bird..both in images and in words..excited to learn how the name derived also ..

Reply
Dr Raguram
6/16/2021 07:23:06 am

Thanks Resmi

Reply
Soundara Raghavan
7/5/2019 01:12:16 am

Super, Ragu. Photos are awesome. You shot them all?

Reply
Dr Raguram
6/16/2021 07:23:31 am

Thanks! Of course!!

Reply
Meena sethuraman
7/7/2019 11:02:30 pm

Wonderful. All the appreciation has been done. 😃all I can say is it is as good as all your write ups and photographs always are. One would be surprised if it was not.

Reply
Dr Raguram
6/16/2021 07:33:58 am

Thanks Meena

Reply
Meena
7/23/2019 07:58:46 am

So much knowledge woven together into a enchanting read.

Reply
Dr Raguram
7/23/2019 08:20:09 am

Thanks Meena

Reply
Uma Iyer Suresh
5/2/2021 05:33:57 am

Lovely read, sir.

Joy
8/18/2019 09:49:24 am

Wonderful. You should have an exhibition soon.

Reply
Dr Raguram
6/16/2021 07:35:04 am

Thanks Joy. There is much more joy in sharing in these spaces!

Reply
bhavani hamann
5/2/2021 09:18:54 am

Dr. Raghuram, I was enthralled with the beautiful account of all things Mockingbird. Your perspective is deep and thoughtful. Thank you so much for sharing!

Reply
Dr Raguram
6/16/2021 07:35:20 am

Thanks Bhavani

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Dr Raguram

    Someone who keeps exploring beyond the boundaries of everyday life to savor and share those unforgettable moments....

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    May 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly