life lessons !! ~ the broken V

 

A  tree provided the Buddha with stillness;

the open sky provides these birds with freedom

 

As I was watching the sky – there was this Pelican group flying in a formation – it was not perfect – it was -  A broken V in the sky…

ü  No leader marked. No one following blindly.

ü  Each bird keeps its own distance, yet all move in the same direction.

ü  Perhaps that is how a journey should be — together, but with enough space to fly.

The Pelican Squadron!  :  Five ,  five  different wing positions, yet apparently one common destination.

This is an interesting formation because it is not a perfect V - a “loose echelon formation” — or, more poetically, “a broken V in the sky.”

The birds are staggered diagonally, with the spacing and wing positions giving the impression of a small aerial squadron. For pelicans, this kind of formation is quite natural: large birds can exploit the upwash produced by the bird ahead, reducing the effort needed to remain airborne. The famous V formation is essentially an aerodynamic arrangement, not merely an aesthetic one.

At age 35 for Siddhartha, a Bodhi tree, the sacred fig tree, botanically Ficus religiosa, also called peepal or aśvattha or Arasa maram provided awakening.   The word Bodhi itself means awakening/enlightenment. Hence the tree beneath which Siddhartha awakened came to be called the Bodhi tree.  The aśvattha/peepal was already an important tree in Indian religious thought long before Buddhism. The Bhagavad Gita,  , uses the aśvattha as a profound symbol:

There is an Arasa maram too near which I stand daily – no knowledge, no awakening comes to me … looking at this formation in sky – it is clear, everyone needs space and you need to be closer but not too close !

Life’s lessons are invaluable

Regards – S Sampathkumar
23.8.2026