Indian meteorological department(IMD) is one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres of World Meteorological Organization. How did experts with some of the most advanced systems in the world make a completely wrong prediction about Cyclone Nisarga?

An hour before they predicted Mumbai would be lashed with 200mm rain and 120km winds I fed crows on my window sill and posted a video of that on social media saying there would be no cyclone in Mumbai. I live barely 100m from the ocean, if a cyclone was approaching they wouldn’t be cawing at the top of their voice asking for more food and grooming themselves, they would be safely ensconced, out of harms way.

I called a friend whose house was on the creek and asked him to send me a photograph of flamingos. Usually they are scattered all over the creek and flying around. They were all huddled together but still in the water. So I knew rain was expected but not a ‘once in a century cyclone’ as predicted by IMD. If a cyclone was going to hit they wouldn’t be standing in the water.

Sharks are natural born storm chasers. Tiger sharks in particular will be found in waters where a storm is going to erupt. Every species on the planet, behaves differently when a storm is approaching. Even animals in zoos know when the weather is going to change, they retreat to the covered area of their enclosure or start pacing.

Our ancestors didn’t have any weather forecasting equipment, they looked at birds, animals, trees and knew when it would rain or when a natural calamity would occur. We have become so disconnected from birds and animals that we are not longer in sync with the planet.

Birds can accurately predict the weather, their survival depends upon it. Most birds have a Vitali Organ, a special middle-ear receptor that can sense extremely small changes in atmospheric pressure. If birds are flying high up, the weather is good with clear, blue skies. If they start flying lower to the ground, it means bad weather is coming. A pressure drop in the atmosphere, from an oncoming storm makes it uncomfortable for birds to fly high up in the sky.

Birds tend to stop flying and take refuge at the coast if a storm is coming. Seagulls always return to land if they sense a pressure drop over water. Birds become very quiet before a big storm. Actually all animals retreat before a storm. All animals hunker down before any natural calamity. If you go to a forest just before a storm, there is pin drop silence.

A bird brain is actually awesome! Birds have more densely packed neurons in their small brains than mammals or even primate brains of the same mass. Songbirds and parrots have surprisingly large numbers of neurons in their pallium: a part of the brain that corresponds to cerebral cortex, which supports higher cognition functions such as planning for the future or finding patterns. Birds possess a high level of cognition, at least as complex as primates.

I have a daily ritual of feeding crows on my window sill. They tell me everything I need to know about the weather. Not only are neurons packed into the brains of crows at a much higher density than in primate brains, but the proportion of neurons in the forebrain is also significantly higher.

Humans have a lot to learn from birds! A sudden, sharp increase in eating or sitting on power lines means a storm is approaching. Birds possess a storm-warning system that is far superior to Met Department. Biologists found that low-frequency sound waves generated by a large storm made birds fly to safer areas. These sounds are in a frequency range less than 20 hertz and cannot be discerned by the human ear.

Research proves that 30 bird species and 29 mammal species share the same pattern of pitch and speed in basic messages as humans and those 59 species can understand each other when they express aggression, hostility, appeasement, approachability, submission and fear. Most bird species have at least six calls which humans can learn to understand like danger, distress, hunger, presence of food.

Researchers have found that low frequency sound waves, called infrasound, travel long distances and are created by tornadoes and other natural events, such as ocean waves breaking on the beach and even volcanic eruptions. Birds and animals can detect infrasound, that is why they evacuate before catastrophe hits and return only when the weather has settled.

Tornado expert, John Allen said birds sense something that we can’t, and that’s really interesting. They have an uncanny predictive ability about the weather. There are studies on mass bird movements preceding earthquakes and other dramatic weather events. Birds have an internal barometer, which helps them make decisions about everything from flight to feeding, wintering and migrating.

We are all made of energy and interconnected with one another by a vast web of energetic pathways. We must raise awareness and advance relationships between human and animals, on both personal and spiritual levels.

Telepathy is a universal language and the way different species communicate with each other. Telepathic communication and natural intuition is an innate ability you are born with. To speak to an animal telepathically, you just have to tune in to the right energy channel. After 200-300 years we will all be communicating telepathically. I have written about this in other articles ‘Language is Obsolete’ and ‘Time is an illusion’. Several futurists have also predicted this.

Interspecies communication is a unique opportunity for learning, clarity and healing. You have to learn to tap into the abundance of knowledge and healing power of Planet Earth.

On World Environment Day let us make a pledge to deepen our connection with all species and live in harmony with Mother Nature. Our future depends on it. If she thrives, we thrive.