Jonathan the Seagull

“For most gulls it was not flying that mattered, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.”

- Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan does not always subscribe to “birds of a feather flock together”. That creates communal friction because Jonathan, you see, is a seagull. I befriended Jonathan on the banks of the Charles River in Boston.

I was in Boston for an academic conference. After attending two days worth of tedious sessions, I decided to go for a stroll down to the River. I carried my camera with me to take somewhat random photographs of downtown Boston where I was staying for the conference. I had been in that part of Massachusetts after almost 10 years. Last time I had brought Rayaan, my son; he had been 6-months-old. I distinctly remembered Ayesha and I dedicating a trip to Harvard and while roaming around the grounds we came across the famous statue of the founder. We plopped Rayaan on to that figure and went trigger happy. Somehow, doing so was linked in our psyche to positive college prospects for our child. Like a good luck mantra. I was admonished by my friend Haider, a thorough bred Bostonian, for placing Rayaan on that statue. Apparently that structure was being used as an initiation site for Harvard freshmen. Who knew what ‘experiences’ the surface had been through...

Fast forward to May 2012. What intrigued me about Jonathan was that he was fixedly looking across the River….at MIT! This chap had his aspirations on MIT, so he was certainly not a Harvard man.

He was also observing the athletic Bostonians: there were people walking, running and biking. Then there were those, like me, who were bumming around, just enjoying the day—and in the process making friends with atypical seagulls. Jonathan also introduced me to Man Drake, his special friend. This was a good time for me to look past assumptions, and to accept the compatibility of the two birds, regardless of appearances.

Jonathan then suddenly took off and flew towards the free way. I followed him from afar. It appeared to me that he was headed towards New York City. I thought that I would never see him again.

***********************************************************

One month later…

“Baba, look at those birds!” That was Noori, pointing to the sky. We were in Galveston, an island off the Gulf of Mexico. My 5-year-old kindergartner had been given an assignment to collect objects from the seaside, hence our presence there.

On looking up I saw one bird separating itself from the flock and then descending. On getting closer I realized that Jonathan the seagull had followed me to Southern Texas. All the way from New England. Oh the joy of being reunited with that wise old bird!

As luck would have it, I had taken my camera with me. For random photos of old buildings in Galveston.

The camera allowed me to capture the joy inherent in Jonathan re-connect and experience his own people. He was not a loner this time around.

What amazed me the most was that the Jonathan in Galveston had changed…physically! His head and stubby neck were black in color, and his wings had a darker hue. He no longer stood out from the rest of his gang. Maybe he had found himself and that confidence gave him the ability to enjoy his kind.

Doesn’t matter what the transformation was—even if it had been trivial and not worth delving into here, it was evident that Noori and Rayaan had a great time getting to know Jonathan.

Jonathan had done his job….and he did it well.

"Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.”

- Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Inspired by Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull [who exists in all of us].

[from An Itinerant Observer]

Acknowledgment: This story is from the book An Itinerant Observer. A version of this story was first published in the Houston Inner Looper Newspaper (Nov 2013).