Synergy

Giraffes are super cool. There's a lot to learn from them. I want to start with the fact that no two giraffes can have the same spot pattern. They're like our fingerprints. Inspite such difference, they tend to form herds and groups to protect each other from predators. They sleep for only about 5 to 30 minutes a day, which they achieve through short naps that are about a minute long, while standing- the way they spend most of their lifetime. Giraffes are quite shy actually, and on this trip to Mikumi, it was quite difficult to get a shot of a giraffe. Every single attempt to slowly stop the jeep and get a still shot of a giraffe ended up in the giraffe turning its face away from the camera.

But luckily, when they're in company of another giraffe, they seem to be a bit relaxed, like in this picture. I think this is one of the most beautiful photos that I've taken, in the sense that you can really see how both giraffes pour love onto each other. Not really. You see, the males abandon the females after conception, so the females are left with a single calf in their womb, for the next 15 months, after which one female goes out to gather food, while other females stay back and guard the calves. But it's not that rude always. Male giraffes and female giraffes eat from different parts of the same tree. This is to prevent competition between the males and females.

Now let's get to the best part about giraffes. They don't make noises at all. Now they do make infrasonic sounds- below the hearing range of humans, but they're mostly completely silent. I want to leave you readers with a question- to wander about, to realise how much we humans are to learn from giraffes. It's this- if by making almost no sound, giraffes are able to stay committed to guarding their calves, committed to not create competition between males and females, committed to raising a calf though the male abandons the pregnant female, why can't we humans, who have such an evolved mode of communication, are far more intelligent than giraffes, have both parents together, can't stay committed to a task? Why do we have people abandoning their kids in dustbins? Why do we have people fighting with their life partners over insignificant issues? Why don't we have a sense of synergy between us?