For more than a decade and a half, I have been capturing birds and animals through my lens. Some were majestic, some amusing. Some large, some tiny. Some looked directly into my camera as if posing for a portrait, while others were completely unaware that they were being watched.

A camera captures more than an image. It preserves a moment that can remind you of a poem, a verse you may have read somewhere long ago. Whenever I browse through my photographs, I find stories and poems hidden in them. Every creature seems to carry a tale of its own, and every tale has its own rhythm.

A peacock and a painted stork standing by a village pond appear to be engaged in a serious discussion. Perhaps they are debating a paper leak, rising petrol prices, or some other pressing issue of public concern. Two squirrels huddled together seem to be whispering, “It’s safe now, we can talk politics,” wondering why should cockroaches have all the fun. A grasshopper scratching its nose looks as though it is offering an obsequious salaam to the powerful. A cute little Oriental White Eye, hugging a tree stump, lamenting the loss of green cover. Sometimes these moments are amusing, sometimes thoughtful, and sometimes they are simply full of life and enthusiasm. Animals do not write poetry. They live it.

As I look at these images, I find myself pausing for a moment and looking beyond the species. I notice the expressions, the postures, and the stories they seem to tell. In their own quiet way, they speak.

Perhaps the most beautiful poems are not always found in books. Sometimes they are all around us, sharing our world.

हर-चंद ए’तिबार में धोखे भी हैं मगर

ये तो नहीं किसी पे भरोसा किया न जाए

– जाँ निसार अख़्तर

Har-chand eitbaar mein dhokhe bhi hain magar

ye to nahin kisi pe bharosaa kiyaa na jaaye

– Jan Nisar Akhtar

हमने अदब से हाथ उठाया सलाम को
समझा उन्होंने इससे है खतरा निजाम को

चोरी न करें झूठ न बोलें तो क्या करें
चूल्हे पे क्या उसूल पकायेंगे शाम को?

-अदम गोंडवी

हर सदा पर लगे हैं कान यहाँ

दिल सँभाले रहो ज़बाँ की तरह

– फ़ैज़ अहमद फ़ैज़

Har sadaa par lage hain kaan yahaan

dil sambhaale raho zabaan kii tarah

– Faiz Ahmad Faiz

“tujhse koi filhaal talab hai na tamanna,

is shehr main jaise tera hona hi bahot hai

– Zafar Iqbal”

तुझ से कोई फ़िलहाल तलब है न तमन्ना 

इस शहर में जैसे तेरा होना ही बहुत है

-ज़फ़र इक़बाल

Text and photos by Prerna Jain.