One day, Rav Ezra Attia, the Great Rosh Yeshivah of Porat Yosef (1885-1970), was giving over his daily shiur in Gemara. The sugya that day was on the mitzvah of Shiluach Haken—(sending the mother bird away). Rav Ezra quoted the Gemara in Chulin which talks about what to do if one finds a nest on the head of a person! One of the participants asked, "Why does the Gemara discuss such an impossible scenario?"
Suddenly, one of the Rav's talmidim, who had been absent for an extended time, entered the room. Rav Ezra greeted him warmly, "Sholom Aleichem! We missed you!" The talmid answered, "I was traveling for business reasons. Actually, I was in India - which is quite an interesting country." Rav Ezra queried, "What's so interesting about it?" The talmid replied, "I saw strange things there that I've never seen anywhere else. Once, I actually saw a man sitting completely still under a tree with his arms folded. He sat in that position for three days, and on the third day, a bird landed on his head and started to construct a nest in his hair!"
Everyone at the shiur was speechless.
