In the housing block of IIHMR University, Jaipur the gliding
flock of House Swifts hovering over terraces is sure to catch anyone’s eye if
one has a predilection for sky gazing in daytime. The House Swift is a tiny
bird (around 15 cm). They are stocky shaped with comparatively short wings and
are gregarious creatures, like to playfully hover around in flocks.
Flapping their wings and gliding, allowing to be guided by the flow
of wind, they form different configurations that conjures up images of a
harmonious dance ensemble like that of the swirling Betkashi Sufis who passed
this trance inducing dance to the more well- known Mevlevi order of Maulana Rumi,
the great sufi saint of Konya, Turkey. Being bewitched by their entrancing movements,
rushing to the terrace for catching their glimpse in morning and evenings
became a pleasingly compulsive attraction. Courtesy the play of sunlight, each
of these times of the day revealed different shades and silhouettes of these deft
and agile movers. The white patch at the bottom of their face or lower rump of
their body or their slightly forked tail would shine and be visible for a split
second in the bright and sunny summer mornings. They were conspicuously absent
in afternoons. Maybe the bright sunlight and heat was a deterrent. Although the fading light of evenings was
not illumining enough yet the outlines of fast moving Swifts created dynamic
patterns that were alluring enough to keep you spellbound for some time. On
breezy days this orchestration becomes a vivacious display animating the sky
above you. Their movement assumes a resplendent motion wherein they come and go
away from your sight horizon with a rapidity that is free flowing yet under
supreme control. On these windy days their elation knows no bounds and you
could actually hear their sweet chirping resounding in sky they traverse. In
contrast to this, days when there is no wind their gliding continues for that is
their natural motion but is perceptibly sluggish only sustained with the help
of almost continuous flapping of their small wings.
Some days of this patient gazing at their sharp movements revealed
the utter limitations of human eye in catching heir swift movements fully and as
a result their full body remained an elusive mystery. Indeed it has been
carefully observed by ornithologists and bird enthusiasts that Swifts are
capable of sleeping while flying. They spend their life almost entirely on the
wing and can mate, as well as eat and feed in flight. Such is the speed
and supreme balance these avian beings have been gifted with[1].
Closer observation, that was only possible using binoculars,
of this rapidly moving retinue of tiny winged beings makes you discern a
distinct pattern- usually two Swifts would be forming a pair and many such
pairs would animate a circumscribed area in sky where they would circulate
freely. The movements usually consisted of synchronic gliding in pairs and then
individual Swifts darting off with rapid speed into lower heights and again rising
high coming together in pairs to repeat the cyclical round of the circumscribed
territory. Interestingly each time the movement would be different from the
loop each of the pairs had accomplished earlier. And this playful synchronic
movement of gliding equilibrium would continue with vim and vigor.
The effortless floating of these Swift pairs together making a
collective of more than twenty thirty is compelling enough to invite
ruminations about humans and nature. Their myriad configurations could be
understood as heterarchies. Heterarchy may be defined as the relation of
elements to one another when they are unranked or when they possess the
potential for being ranked in a number of different ways[2].
These formations where each element possesses the ability to be ranked in a
number of different ways are suggestive of the phenomenon of ‘continual re
ranking’. They provide a refreshing
contrast to bland and rather reductionist notions of hierarchies that have “….disproportionately
influenced understanding of complex behavior in social, ecological and
scientific contexts...”.Indeed this understanding of heterarchies lies at the
core of understanding ‘talking of neurons’ and in unlocking the mysteries of
‘tell- tale brain’ and has contributed significantly to advances in Artificial Intelligence.
The gliding equilibrium of the not so easily visible flock of
Swifts and their strange loops of numerous configurations innocently remind you of tangled
hierarchies, wherein each one has the potential and ability to be on the top. It
is a soulful reminder of the deeper metaphysical truth that being on top itself
is impermanent, toppled as it is by another pair that glides above the erstwhile
topper and so on and so forth.
For More Amazing Info about Swifts, click here
Thanks to Dr. Rohit Ghai
[1]House Swifts also known as Common Swift (Apus affinis) have been recorded as covering
more than 3,100 miles in just five days during its migration from Africa back
to the UK.
[2]
See the insightful discussion in the seminal paper by Carole L. Crumley, Heterarchy and the Analysis of Complex Societies, Archaeological Papers of the American
Anthropological Association,
Special Issue, 6, 1995, pp.1-5
Read About Flying Tree Pies @ IIHMR University
Read About Flying Tree Pies @ IIHMR University
