Sitting over the edge of the bed on the first floor of my house, I was watching the last speech of Periyar at his 94 years of age when I heard the sound of something falling off from the tree. Your senses to the sounds around have to be open and sharp if you are living in an independent house. It works great if you get to live on a farm. And you wish it is frozen if you live in a city apartment!

Initially thought to ignore them assuming it to be the usual sound of the fall of coconuts from one of our trees. But the dust of fine wood-like material flying through my window and the noise of squirrels made me look out of the window. I couldn't locate any but the dust and the noise are unusual that made me leave my room and go to our backyard to check. It is a squirrel's nest that I saw from a distance. I don't know what made them fall off but it was flipped over.

I turned the nest and it is empty. When I looked around I found a baby squirrel a few feet away. Is it alive given the fall of the nest from one of our tallest teak trees? When I gently picked it up from the ground, it moved and I placed it inside of the well-covered nest, breathing with relief. I moved back a few feet away waiting for the squirrel to get its baby. To my surprise, a squirrel came halfway of the teak tree but went back quickly screaming. When I thought may it is due to my presence and turned back to leave, a cat was waiting behind near our water well, for me to do exactly that. I was standing in between the nest and the cat now. So, I can't leave till the squirrel picks up its baby and the squirrel is not going to come, having seen the cat and I know I can't outsmart the cat when comes to food. 

So I picked up the nest, moved to the second-floor terrace, walked over the iron ladder to the water tank by balancing with one hand, thanking the long skirt I chose to wear today and holding the nest on the other hand. I placed the nest in a place where the teak tree branches are connected to the building and made a squirrel-like sound to invite the attention of the baby's family. The sound I made was terrible, I should say. That it is terrible enough to invite a few crows now. 

Oh, you guys for the little, defenseless lives, I thought!!!

The thought of how vulnerable their life is, what struggle they go through here to survive, how precious they are, and how each of that life deserves to be celebrated just for being alive here, came through to my mind.

So, I was shooing away the crows now but still making that weird noise to gain the attention of the squirrels. The squirrels have not responded but to my surprise and happiness, the baby squirrel made a soft but high-pitched sound, responding to me. Ok, sometimes I exaggerate. The baby squirrel must be hungry and made that noise. 

It's a baby that can cry, get attention to its needs, and take its best chance to survive. My job has now been easy just to focus on the crows. So I moved back and was looking at the nest anxiously as I have been over the water tank for about an hour now. It is when I felt something was moving on the tree branches over my head. I instantly felt it should have been the squirrel. I climbed down and waited with tiny stones at my hand to scare the crows.

Finally, a squirrel came and checked on the nest and went back into the teak tree immediately. After five minutes another squirrel, a bigger one came and checked on the nest and made a noise. I was standing on that terrace, under the 1pm sun, smiling with content for connecting a family. I left the place for my home. No, I didn't check back for it is the furthest I can go. 

Now, I am back at where I left, thinking of Periyar as a person, 

who had responded to the dust and screaming sound,

attended to the most vulnerable, 

worked to place them in the highest possible position so they can have a safe and dignified life,

shooing away the ones wanting to consume their lives.

Anyone who values respect and dignity for life could understand Periyar's work which is nothing less than magic, to be awed and get inspired from.