Interacting With People-I

Recently we had been to Kerala, the land of temples. We had our 7 days stay at Club Mahindra, known for it's luxary. But eventually, all four of us were totally bored, inspite of the royal services they rendered us. There were no people to talk with or to interact with like our Shibir. We only managed to speak with the hotel staff, the waiters, cleaners, receptionists. We made all of them feel very comfortable with us, so they also went out of the way to help us.
The naturalist of that place, Mr. Deepalan, was a very knowledgeable person about birds and butterflies. He knew about every species in great detail. We were hearing about him from few people but were not fortunate to meet him the last time. We could see Sadhanshu Kaka in him . While we were playing table tennis, we saw a man least interested in us and others. He was busy writing something on his blog and seemed to be very indulged in his work. Suddenly, the batch on his shirt's left pocket which read Mr. Deepalan caught our sight. We were only hearing about him, but not fortunate to personally meet him.
I immediately brought this in Dad's notice and began to march towards him. "Sorry to disturb you", we said in a low voice. We began a conversation with him our interests and our Shibir. He was a man of same tastes like our Shibir friends. We eagerly wanted to enjoy the nature and needed some guidance to do so. He spoke with us about his past, how he converted that into his carrear. Whatever I could understand from his words was basically like " Whatever I do, I must enjoy it ; whatever may come in my way
While speaking, we told him that we were to take a stroll down the hills to admire the beauty of mother nature. Previously he also spoke with us that he likes to do adventures and take up challenges. This very same evening, he was travel from Kochi to Goa (about 1000km) on a bicycle. His plans were to nourish the knowledge of such nature lovers from various areas on his way. But when we told him that all of us are really interested in bird watching and admiring the nature around, he sprang up from his chair and requested,"Sir, if you don't mind, can I accompany you this evening? The people who come here are least interested in bird watching. After a very long wait, I have found true nature lovers like you." He even postphoned his reservations and at sharp 6 o'clock in the evening was ready to accompany us.
Walking with him for 3 hours was a different experience. He spoke a lot about different birds, nature and also God's grace. He spotted many birds for us with great patience and perseverence and told us about native butterflies and trees, their habitat and lifestyle. He also told us how to perseve this as a career
Contented and satisfied we reached the resort where we felt we have entered the world of boredom. While checking out on the next day, we wished to present him the book of our Shibir, 'Growing Together' as he was of the same thoughts as our Shibir friends. But at that instant we didn't had any to gift him. If someday in future we plan to visit Kerala again, we would definitely carry one for him.
- Mohit, Soham, Jayant & Suchitra