It was one of those usual weekday mornings when the morning sun gleams through my windows and forces me to give him a front door entry. The morning sun invariably cheers me up and leaves me in high spirits throughout the day. So as most of the days I dragged myself out of the bed and opened my door to let the bright morning sun in. Few tall coconut trees from the neighborhood spread their long leaves into our compound and adorn the front view from my flat in the second floor. When I opened my door this morning something on one of those leaves caught my attention. What I earlier thought was a small lump turned out to be a squirrel perching really high on the spine of one of those long leaves of the coconut tree. It was probably the same squirrel which used to haunt my doorstep quite often looking out for a crumb or a piece of fruit. I was awestruck at its ability to make its way till nearly three-fourth the length of the tapering leaf axis (probably 1-2inch in width) which was constantly swaying b/c of the wind.  Squirrels, according to me, are the sweetest among the rodents on earth and I take pleasure in watching them. This morning was no different. I gazed at the creature, appreciative of nature's gift of mobility to this rodent and went back to my chores, thinking that it was resting on the leaf and enjoying the gentle swing. Sometime later while taking a peek outside, I realized that the squirrel was still on the axis of the leaf trying to figure out a means to get off the leaf. I could see it turning around a fixed axis but unable to proceed an inch further from where it was . The wind was getting stronger. The joy and calmness that had earlier enveloped the squirrel had vanished and only a sense of desperation was visible. I tried to call few people to reach out for the rodent but a busy Wednesday morning hardly gives time for such activities to most Bangaloreans. A strong wind soon threw the squirrel off the tree. I am not even sure if the squirrel survived the 25 feet fall though I hope it did. I will soon know if it doesn’t visit me tomorrow.

Nevertheless, this incident did leave me thinking. Quite often in life, I have been like this squirrel. I have unknowingly taken the wrong roads in a hurry and have been left stranded waiting for instances & situations to throw me off balance. Few times some concerned souls have helped me reach the ground safe. I have endured difficulties, learnt valuable lessons and have moved on anyway. But I so wish I had made use of my sixth sense to assess the roads before embarking on the journey. That would have saved me so much of energy and time...