When I was working in my living room, two pigeons flew into my balcony. They roamed here and there for a minute, perhaps searching for food. So, I thought of feeding them some chana dal (gram pulses) and rice grains.

At first, they quickly ate chana dal, and then rice grains. While eating, they picked up each grain one at a time with their beaks precisely, and swallowed quickly without looking elsewhere, only focussing on each grain. They finished all the grains in no time.

I am surprised how they ate those uncooked rice so well and how they could digest them (of course, nature might have given them the ability to digest  hard grains, even with such small, light bodies). I wondered about their concentration on picking up each grain, one at a time. I won’t be able to eat even a pizza or a cake like that.

I learnt a lesson that day that I have to eat my food with great care.

Thank you, ‘teacher pigeons’, for enlightening me on how to eat food carefully, respectfully, and of course, mindfully.