I was in my native for summer vacations, the most awaited days of childhood. No school , no homework , no nagging teachers , it was like finding oasis in a sea of desert , a period of absolute bliss and tranquility. Being satisfied with all the little things, all the way from stones, twigs, tires, kites, marbles and so on. The lifeline of fun was light-years' long.
Our house had this old roof tails supported by small pillars. Our backyard was pretty big with lot of plants and hanging pots. A thin mesh separated our house from the backyard. Birds were frequent visitors , sitting on the compound wall and waiting for us to throw food at them. crows were the majority and were excellent food catchers. sparrows were the next to come.
The lightning fast gray white colored sparrows would fly around the place often, their pleasant chirping sound was a treat to our eardrums. They would often come into the house through the door, do a quick scan of the house for eatables. The backyard mesh had a door which was always open for them to come in and go out as they pleased. The house had a constant chirping throughout the day.
One day a huge number of sparrows came inside the house. I went inside to get some rice grains to feed them, many started flying out and only one was left inside by the time I came back. I rushed to close the door, so I could feed at least one . The door was jammed , I was not able to close it. I started pushing the door hard with more force, but was not able get it completely shut . I looked around for any obstructions, couldn't find any. Then I looked up to the top of the door. There was something above holding the door from closing. The sparrow was stuck there jammed with its head twisted . I went back shell shocked and sat down on the floor, with tears rolling down. It was all over an innocent life lost. I just sat there seeing it, wondering how it all happened. Was it fate or karma or just plain bad luck we'll never know.
My aunt came by, she saw me looking at the door and crying, opened the almost closed door. The sparrow dropped to the ground with a thud. Chirping sound transforming to a thud was hard to take for me, with absolutely no signs of movement. It was lying there still ,looking all white with no signs of blood. I was sitting there wondering how it flew so fast to the door.
My aunt picked up the dead sparrow and buried it in the backyard. Interesting how life changes from above ground to underground within a matter of few minutes. I had marked the burial place with stones.
The next day I came out to the backyard, I was surprised to see another sparrow sitting exactly on the burial place. It just sat there continuously from dawn to dusk. I put food for it to eat, which just went untouched. The scene was real sad, tone of its chirping was also very different , a beautiful sad mix of music and agony flowing out through its vocal chords, a melancholic balled. This went on for 2 days and I was helpless.
On the third day clouds started building up in the skies early. Looked like heavy rain was about to descend upon us. It was already drizzling. The sparrow came and stood there in the same place even in the rain. Slowly the rain started increasing but the bird did not budge, melancholy slowly overshadowed by the hissing song of the rain "tsh tsh tsh tsh shhhhhhhhhhh". The crying bird eventually gave up and moved under the roof overlooking the place. The rain grew heavier by the drop looking all mighty and unstoppable.
I went back and saw after few hours, there was no change in the status of the rain or the bird . I couldn't sleep that night, all the events from the past three days were weighing on me. eventually I slept.
I woke up in the morning, I ran to the backyard. The sky looked all bright, the place of burial was all washed off, no signs of anything there. The bird also was missing, slowly everything returned to normal ,other birds coming. A new day, new beginning, sounds of sadness was replaced with joy. Fun and games returned.
It was cricket time, I was batting, I hit the ball with a elegant straight drive a trademark Sachin shot. I went straight to the drain. the fielder went to pick it up. He called us all to help him to find the ball from the drain. we all went there searched the dirty water with sticks. we never found the ball, but found two floating dead birds instead.
We'll never know when the time to meet the maker is near, life's expiry date concealed by the almighty. We are all products without expiry dates written on us and hoping not to have been made in China like everything else.
YEAR 2011
Sparrows are almost nonexistent in Bangalore now due to the mobile frequency used here. Only a matter of time, increase in the frequency spectrum usage would eventually render the city bird -less.
I sit in my office with a window in front, watching the trees outside through its the mirrored glass. I regularly see birds fly into these mirrored windows, trying to escape crashing into their own reflections.
Humans even unintentionally intrude into the lives of these birds.
Sparrows are almost gone from Bangalore, only a matter of time when pigeons, mynas, cuckoos, parrots and eventually the crows vanish............
