Purpose : Life works in mysterious ways

After a quick check, I sat back in, and there on my windshield, was a crawling green caterpillar stuck exactly in the center of the driver’s visual sphere. Due to the extra hot weather, no chance I am getting out the second time. I decided to drive on thinking the caterpillar will be blown away by the hot breeze.
I started the engine, accelerated on, with a green blob exactly at the center of my visual sphere. Just a few seconds into the drive, my high school biology knowledge kicked in. Caterpillars have unusually sticky legs, and they probably secrete a fluid that makes them grip a surface really well. They also have a unique way of navigation, instead of moving all their numerous legs at the same time, Caterpillars usually fix the front end of their body and pull the rest of the body towards the front end forming a semicircular curve at the center.

As good a refresher of biological theory this was, the practical consequences were more troubling. See, since the caterpillar does not move all its legs at once, it never loses grip as some of its feet always stay stuck. The breeze did make the Caterpillar’s movement uncomfortable, but it was unable to knock off the Caterpillar from the windshield. Initially, it struggled to move, the moment it lifted its rear end, the wind would blow and twist the Caterpillar.
However it did not take the Caterpillar much time to sense the direction of the Aerodynamic forces in play, and it neatly aligned itself parallel to the flow, streamlining itself for least resistance. By now it also figured out the futility of trying to move, hence once it got itself aligned, it stopped moving.
At this point, I had the option of starting the wiper, but I was not sure if the car had any windshield cleaning fluid to pump, and I did not want a dry wipe. All it does is by shrieking the glass surface it spreads the dust and leaves a nice concentric pattern of dust distorting the field of view.
By this point, I can say we had reached a point of equilibrium, the caterpillar was not moving and was not distracting me from my driving, it was now a part of the scenery.
Soon enough, I reached my destination. In absence of covered parking, I searched for a spot in the blazing sun, making a judgment where the shadow of the building might eventually fall and reduce the heating Owen effect inside the car when I returned. Just as I got out of the car, I spotted the Caterpillar sitting firmly on the glass. I had kind of reached early for the meeting, thus having some spare time to ponder over this Caterpillar.

And as one of those random thoughts that pop into your mind for no reason at all, one thought popped up: ‘the Caterpillar must be really lucky’. I mean surviving a good five-kilometer drive, in the scorching sun, sticking to a glass of all surfaces at those temperatures and holding its own. On second thoughts, it had managed to stick on the glass as it was not smooth cleaned, dust and some scratches must be a factor in making the surface grippy. Anyways a conclusion had been drawn already.

I thought since I had time on my hands, why not take the ‘lucky’ Caterpillar and leave it in the bushes nearby. I mean another hour in the sun and it was definitely doomed (without any biological knowledge of how long can a Caterpillar survive without food, I was more thinking on the lines that I cannot survive in this Sun for an hour, then this tiny thing definitely will not!)
I scoured around to find a dry leaf, and the gently guided the leaf underneath the Caterpillar it latched on it, I slid it further, soon the entire Caterpillar got stuck on the leaf. Once it was on the leaf, I just threw it into the bushes nearby. I watched the leaf roll a few times in the air, but the ‘lucky’ Caterpillar held on it, such was its day, if fierce winds couldn’t move it, a few rolls would never daunt it. The leaf rolled and landed on the ground near the bush. When it landed, the Caterpillar was at a good forty-five-degree angle to the ground. Such was the angle, that it was a comfortable gulp for a garden lizard strolling the bushes.

Yes! The Caterpillar landed directly into the mouth of the lizard, it did not even need to move a millimeter. A matter of seconds and the lizard had a hearty meal. The lizard was quite surprised. It just stood there, dragging its neck upwards, looking at the skies above, as if thanking for the meal it received or asking for more from where it came, either of the two I am not sure. For the first time, I could see gratitude in the eyes of cold-blooded animals like the lizard.
I am not sure the lizard knew the source of its food, but it was damn thankful for it.

Puts a whole new perspective on being ‘lucky’ doesn’t it!