One morning I got a
call. “Can you please come over now? Tubby wants your help with a caterpillar.”
It was from a lady who lives in my area. She is a nice woman in her
mid-thirties with an intelligent and enthusiastic little boy, lovingly called
Tubby.
Before we continue
let me explain a bit. I’m rather fond of trees, animals, butterflies, insects,
rocks, clouds, and anything in the natural world. I’ve been on treks, visited
wildlife parks, go nature rambling whenever I get a chance. As a result I can
yak on for hours on these subjects. Most people who I come in contact with thus
know that I’m likely to have information on, or be of help in such matters. To
add to that, Tubby I and are good friends; so the phone call.
I quickly got
dressed, crammed down my breakfast and rushed out of the house, wondering what
this urgent call could be all about.
Tubby was standing
in the middle of the street, near the gate of their bungalow, along with his
mom. The house is in a narrow lane with light traffic. On the other side of
this lane is a large empty plot with wild growth and wire fence. “Yes, what is
it?” I asked. Upon which he hastily pulled my hand and took me towards a marked
spot. There in the middle of the lane was a loose circle made of pebbles.
Inside this circle was a nice fat green caterpillar. “I made that circle”, said
Tubby excitedly, “to protect the caterpillar”.
Could I help him put the caterpillar somewhere else so that it would not
die? His teacher had recently taught them about how caterpillars turned into
butterflies. His teacher (God bless her!) had also told them how butterflies
helped in pollinating plants and growing more trees. Tubby had noticed this
little wriggly thing making its way slowly across the street. And then at one
point it had almost stopped moving. He wanted to save this wriggler in the hope
that it would later become a winged wonder. His mom, carried away by her son’s
enthusiasm but with little knowledge of such things, had decided to call me
over.
We found a nice big
leaf on which we moved the caterpillar. It was indeed one of a butterfly.
Luckily there was a host plant nearby which the caterpillar would need to
further feed on and form a chrysalis. I carefully deposited it on that plant. Then
we watched. After a minute it began nibbling at the edge of a leaf. Tubby and I
were jubilant! We’d managed to save a butterfly in the making!
O for more caring
and concerned little boys like Tubby! My heart was singing. His act had filled
me with optimism. Boys like him meant hope for a greener and cleaner future. There
would still be people like him would care for the environment. Tubby of course
got a big hug from me and his favorite ice-cream! J
“How wonderful
it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the
world.” ― Anne Frank
We were lucky that Tubby
lived in an area that helped nature to thrive. It is the need of the hour to do
our bit to conserve nature, to have Eco-friendly homes, ones which are in sync
with maintaining and encouraging urban biodiversity. There is a website https://housing.com/lookup which might help you find such a home, the home
of your dreams. Do take a look.
Note: All photos in
this blog post are clicked by me.
