Sometimes a mammal can teach us a thing or two.....and if it happens to be the biggest mammal in this world the learnings are BIG.

During the recent trip to Sri Lanka we went "whale-watching"

We had been warned that many groups of people, over the days and years, had ventured out at sea, spent hours in the sun, kept staring at the vast open blue expanse, and come back with not a single sighting.

Imagine the disappointment and the pain of spending hours on a lookout, and all you see is the blue sea meeting the blue sky in the distant horizon, with the white flecks of clouds managing to break the monotony.

We had been warned, but then optimism always springs to the fore, and each person trained the eye in different directions....north, south, east and west to see that fountain of water announce the arrival of the Whales.

For quite a while we all felt we would go back empty handed and empty sighted!

I had my tonne-weighing zoom lens clipped on to my camera, hanging from my neck, staring and waiting, praying and hoping that the Whale wouldn't disappoint. The Catamaran rocked on the choppy seas, as the waves lashed in anger, almost urging us to go back.

And then like a apparition, the water spout happened, and the dark grey hump rose above the water.....She was out there up for a breather, and in a few seconds ...the grey hump rose to the surface.

The Tail Fin flipped up..... and down in a vicious yet graceful whiplash.

And she disappeared.

The crazy clicking of the camera. the shutter buzzing and the zoom focusing, all happened in a blur.

Did the image get captured? Was it a blur? Was it sharp?

When one saw the result where the fin poised itself starkly against the shimmering sea one realised that whale watching in many ways makes you learn and realise so much in life.

The importance of being patient.

Of being ever ready.

Of being quick.

Of being grateful.

Thank you for the learnings dear mammal….sometimes teaching us more than human beings can.

And all this happened on Teacher's Day so even more poignant.

Here's another angle: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnWMqBSlmH_/?taken-by=navrozedhondy