Have I not said this hundred times already! well, once again; I love birds!! I feel mesmerized when I see them sit quietly and attentively, I love listening to their chirping but I don’t like it when they fly away at the slightest of noise or movement. Every day, early in the morning while doing dishes I hear them chirping from my balcony. A bird feeder and water bowl waits for them.
All the houses I lived in my childhood have always been surrounded by huge trees; so, I am used to those morning calls and busy afternoons. Cows will hang out under those trees, strays almost took over our sitting areas and there were bugs, insects, butterflies, dragonflies and many more, so its natural to develop a liking towards them.
After moving to Hyderabad, I missed that all, so much so that I even dreaded to hear the crows cawing. Until recently different birds and crows have started flocking in, so I did my bit by hanging a bird feeder and placing a water bowl. A year back or so, a cute little couple built their nest in my neighbor’s balcony who were out of station and I was overwhelmed, at the same time sad; overwhelmed because getting them to befriend me, was now a matter of balcony-to-balcony job and sad because, why not my balcony!?
I could have just waited but waiting is difficult, isn’t it? So I decided to help them realize that they are welcome here, my home is a comfortable & cozy place, to convey this I built a nest! Yes…a man made nest!! I know, I know, birds sense human touch and have apprehension towards it, yet I did. I got different reactions, like, DH was speechless, some whatsapp friends were all aww….. and some were upfront, “Jolly, you are silly” they said.
The very first memory of birds in my life was the one that my sister shared with me. We are four siblings and the eldest, our sister raised us, as our mother suffered from schizophrenia when I was a toddler. When a sibling has to get into the shoes of parents, things are different…. and difficult. Its like four kids walking in the darkness, holding each others hand, one kid ahead of the other. In that circumstance, one learns fast & grows up fast. And the one in the front, takes the most strikes.
I have a picture of her in my mind, silently sitting alone on the varanda of our 1 bedroom house and looking at nothingness. May be that was her time of reflection. Once, after a stormy night she sat outside drowned in her thoughts; tree branches had fallen, the wind had carried with it dust, papers and wrappers: small stream of water was flowing along side the road, that’s when a little bird caught her attention, the tiny bird was busy picking up sticks, grasses, threads and whatever it could fit into its beak and fly away. The rain had possibly washed away her nest and there she was toiling hard to build back her nest. One stick in its beak and it would fly away, again it would come back to pick up a blade of grass and fly away just to return again. One thing at a time. She went on and on. Sis chocked while sharing this incidence with me. It was the manifestation of her own life, our life. Till date it is fresh in my mind …. as if it was yesterday, as if…..
That was a day and this is today, I find it easier to communicate with birds & strays more than humans. Today we are busy, we are so busy, that we don’t have time for anything. And the ones who are at most loss … are children. They don’t count stars anymore, they don’t climb trees, no more paper boats, they spend hours staring at TV and playing games on mobile phones. And this concerns me.
In the depth of my heart I know, that day, those little birds gave her (my sis) the strength to go on, and the many little birds and ants and lizards, insects that we grew up with, those trees that we climbed and the animals around us, give us the strength. That’s how my sister raised us into who we are today.
My self-made-nest stood their for the longest time, until one day I heard the sweetest noise I have been waiting to hear. They are here!!!
Just About My Life 