Roti Chahiye
Features » Young World Published: July 31, 2014 16:26 IST | Updated: July 31, 2014 16:26 IST Roti Chahiye SUJATA C
The kids loved their
new friend. And in return Jolly was happy to be with them. A short story of a
friend who is there for you when most needed.
When Jolly came home, her wings had been clipped by the bird
seller. She was a grey-headed parakeet with an orange beak and a flash of peacock blue in her tail. She took a couple
of days to get used to her new cage and the new diet of soaked chickpeas, fresh
green chillies and guavas. Within a week she was looking healthy and would have
a good snooze after a hearty meal. She would sleep on one leg; the other one
would be folded up and tucked into her feathers. The cage was lined with clean
newspaper every day. The children in the house would play with her after finishing
their school work. Whistling to Jolly was a favourite pastime for them. She
would pick the peas off their hands. When Grandpa visited them, he suggested
that they leave the cage open as the bird would not fly away because its wings
had been clipped. He opened the door of the cage and gently extended his index
finger inviting the bird to perch on it. Jolly was scared at first and backed
off. She tested the finger with her beak. After a while when she was sure that
no harm could come, she moved on to grandpa’s finger.
Out of the cage: The children squealed with delight. Grandpa shushed them. Grandpa pulled back his hand and out came Jolly from the cage. She didn’t show any signs of wanting to fly away. Slowly one by one the children took Jolly on their hands.
There was a lemon tree in the yard and the children put Jolly on one of the low branches. Jolly raised herself on her feet and hold the branch with her beak and climb the tree. This was fun, the children had never seen a bird that climbed trees!
Every day, Jolly would come out of the cage and climb the rails of the window and sit on the topmost rail. There she would sit, whistling away on peaceful mornings and afternoons. Phwee..ttwee…phee…ttweee… Soon Jolly picked up a few words as well. “Roti chahiye?” she would ask. Because that’s what the children would ask her every now and then. Granny would speak in Telugu with Jolly, she would say "Roti ledu, annam tinu" meaning there is no roti, eat rice:). Jolly would tilt her head and give her a quizzed look, "umm" she would say, wondering what Granny was saying. She would then jump off the perch and walk behind Granny into the kitchen.
One night, when Father was away on tour, a robber got into the house. He wanted to get to the master bedroom where he suspected the money and jewellery would be kept. He had systematically bolted the doors of the other rooms from the outside so that no one could come out when he reached the bedroom. When the robber reached the dining room, Jolly heard the noises and said, “Roti chahiye,” in her usual style! The robber got the shock of his life. “Roti chahiye, roti chahiye,” Jolly kept repeating. The robber got scared; he thought it was someone hiding behind the table, waiting to nab him. “Uumm?” asked Jolly. The robber stepped back only to get entangled in grandma’s nine yard saree that had been hung to dry. What was this now, some kind of a trap?
Somehow the thief managed to
disentangle himself and made a dash for the door. He didn’t even turn around to
look. Next morning, everyone got to know about the foiled burglary. The whole
neighbourhood came over to see the bird that had chased away the thief. They
gave Jolly admiring looks and special treats. That’s when she earned the
nickname the Feathered Watchman!
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Over the Cuckoo's head
One of Mother Cuckoo’s chicks was different. Instead of cooing, she cawed!
Features » Young World Published: July 02, 2015 01:26 pm | Updated 01:26 pm IST Over the Cuckoo's head
“Parasite bird!”, “ Too lazy to hatch her own eggs!” Mrs Cuckoo was upset with the reputation of the cuckoo birds. She had made up her mind that this time she would hatch her own eggs.
The
whole birdland knew of Mrs Cuckoo’s decision and her difficulty in convincing
Mr Cuckoo that just this once he should build a nest for her.
Mrs
Crow had been watching Cuckoo’s behaviour with great curiosity. For all the
cuckoo eggs she had hatched, this was her chance to lay an egg in the cuckoo’s
nest!
Mother
Cuckoo took her job seriously and sincerely read up ‘Hatching Eggs Made Easy’,
while Mr Cuckoo was building the nest. It took some trial and error but somehow
Mrs Cuckoo hatched the eggs and began eagerly looking after the brood. She knew
once the chicks open their eyes she would not have a minute to rest.
Some
days later, Mother Cuckoo found that one baby is cawing instead of cooing.
She
cawed and cawed till Mother Cuckoo’s ears hurt. She was so upset. It was such a
shame, to have one of her own brood not know how to coo!
She
had to give her baby some singing lessons, she decided. Mother Cuckoo was proud
of her singing skills. It was not for nothing she had been running the Symphony
Singing Classes so successfully for a year now. Imagine having a baby who could
not sing!
When
the baby was well fed and refreshed, Mother Cuckoo started.
“Let’s
take this step by step. First we have to learn to breathe properly,” she said.
“Take
a deep long breath,” she instructed.
“Good, once more, nice and long. Stand straight
shoulders apart. We’ll practice the scales first”
The
class was underway in right earnest and the baby was having a tough time. She
just could not hit the high notes. “What is the matter with her, why are her
vocal chords different from mine?” Mother Cuckoo wondered.
Next
morning…
“Gargle
your throat with some warm salt water before we begin. AND no ice, mind you –
no matter how hot you feel,” Mother Cuckoo said firmly.
“Let’s
practice the scales. That should correct the pitch problems. It will strengthen
your throat muscles and give you better control.”
Coo,
ooo, Coo,ooo…Mother Cuckoo warbled in her sweetest tones. She actually sang so
sweetly that a passing calf stopped to look up and nod her head approvingly, sending
the bell round her neck tinkling in reply. Mother Cuckoo was pleased with the
effect she had on the calf. This was not the first time she had seen this.
There had been times when even the sunbirds had begged her to keep singing.
Kaa,
kaa, croaked her baby harshly and brought her attention back to the lessons.
“This
one is just a very slow learner. I must be patient,” she thought, steeling
herself for another difficult hour ahead.
“Just
close one ear partially with your finger. Now you can hear your own sound
better, don’t you,”
She
carried on with her instructions, rather wearily. No amount of training seemed
to help.
“My
throat is parched now. Let me have cool drink,” she said flying off.
When
she came back, Mrs. Crow was sitting near her nest.
“Thanks
for hatching my egg, Mrs. Cuckoo, can I have my baby back?” she said and cawed
softly to the little crow.
Mother
Cuckoo was speechless and just watched with her beak wide open.
How
cheeky, she thought.
“So
it’s your baby! No wonder, she would not learn how to sing! Of course you can
have her back,” she added with a sense of relief. “She was beginning to give me
doubts about my singing!”
Mother
Cuckoo laughed and hugged the baby crow before handing her over. “Just wanted a
break from the hatching,” Mrs Crow said sheepishly.
Both
the birds had a good laugh.
end
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When the Munias Built a Nest
The Hindu : Young World : When the munias built a nest
Features » Young World Published: July 6, 2007, When the munias built a nest. SUJATA C.
|
The gardener had gone to his village to
tend to his ailing mother.
The garden was overgrown, but the birds did
not mind it at all.
Specially the spotted munias! They are up
at the crack of dawn. It is time to nest you see. There is plenty of work at
hand. Yesterday Papa munia had identified a good place for the nest- in the
pomegranate tree. It was cool and shady, besides the tree was full of flowers
and fruits. "Food at your doorstep! What more do you want! It will be like
working from home," he told Mama munia happily, satisfied with his choice.
The bamboo grove was further down the garden and growing luxuriantly. The flat long bamboo leaves were ideal to make the base of the nest and the munia lost no time in leaf gathering. For the next one hour there was high-speed activity between the pomegranate tree and the bamboo grove. Papa munia worked non stop- back and forth, back and forth for over an hour, without a break. One trip to the bamboo grove and back took just over thirty seconds. That meant two leaves per minute and about one hundred and twenty leaves at the end of the hour. That’s a lot of leaves! Well you needed that many to make a strong base.
Next he would have to collect the grass. The grass too had grown long specially in the corner of the lawn. Long grass was very good to weave the nest. But for now it was enough. The sun was almost overhead. He would rest till the sun began its downward journey and work for sometime in the evening – if the children kept away from the lawn that is.
Day two- our nest builder was hard at work. He broke long pieces of grass to make the domed roof of the nest. He would leave a small opening on the side.
At the end of the third day the nest was
ready. The munia couple was happy with the nest. They flew all around it and
inspected it carefully. Satisfied with their handiwork, they congratulated
themselves and had a treat of ripe pomegranate fruit.
Day four- Clack, clack, clack…it was the gardener! He was back and catching up with all the backlog of gardening work- trimming and pruning the bushes and trees. Ruthlessly hacking. Anxious moments for the munias! They began to call incessantly and fly this way and that watching over the pomegranate. Chop, chop, chop went the gardener’s shears over the pomegranate tree and the branch with the munias’ nest fell to the ground with a soft thud.
The munias gasped with horror, calling mindlessly, not knowing what to do. Three days of hard labour had come to a naught. Mama munia fainted and Papa munia felt sick too.
This was a cruel blow. The munias were
silent throughout the day, quite blank. They let the day pass into nothingness.
Life was full of such unexpected twists and turns.
It is very easy to abandon all effort and
give way to anger. But the munias knew better than that.
Next morning, Papa munia woke with a rejuvenated determination. “Never say die, he said to mama munia. We will build another nest.” And began searching for a new nesting site.
He landed on the newly trimmed
bougainvillea bower. Perfect place. Mama munia smiled encouragingly.
The fierce struggle for life began once
more. There is no stopping the life force of nature.
ends
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