Leaves of wings.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The dead tree has no leaves. The leaves have been replaced by birds, hundreds of birds.

This rainy afternoon, every branch is occupied. Black kites sit almost wing to wing along the tree’s bare limbs. Every few seconds a bird takes off, a bird lands. Some birds arrive carrying twigs in their claws. Others sit motionless for minutes.

The tree stands beside the busy Lodhi Road in Central Delhi, flanked by trees. The crowns of the neighbouring trees are thick with green leaves. They may hold just as many birds, but their leaves conceal them. This bare tree displays every visitor.

Beside the tree is a dump yard strewn with food refuse, including chicken and mutton bones, from the nearby eateries. Every evening, the stillness breaks. A butcher from a nearby meat shop steps into the open space outside his shop carrying a mug of scraps. One by one, he forcefully flings them up into the air. The tree empties almost instantly. Dozens of these kites then aggressively circle above the butcher. Each piece becomes the prize of a brief aerial contest before vanishing into a lucky bird’s talons. Within minutes the birds settle back peacefully into the tree, as though nothing had happened.

Another leafless tree once stood nearby, across the road. It sheltered not birds, but a beggar, who lived beneath it under a plastic sheet tied to its trunk. When the authorities cut the tree down, fearing it might collapse in a storm, the beggar left as well.

In front of the bird-filled tree is a small triangular park, recently planted with saplings still too young to cast shade. Homeless citizens spend their hours stretched across the grass, facing the sky or the traffic. Most never look up at this gathering of birds. Nor do the commuters on the road, or vendors selling jasmine flowers. The spectacle belongs only to the few who accidentally raise their eyes towards the tree.

Meanwhile the busy road carries on without pause. Cars splash through rainwater collected along the roadside. A large undisturbed puddle is holding intact the inverted tree, with all its birds.

PS: The photo is from another day, snapped around twilight.