Well, first things first, this is not an article about Jack Sparrow... If you thought this would be about that character, then I am sorry.. This is about a sparrow much more endearing.. much more charming... much more desirable..!!!!
Back in the 90s, when I was reading newspaper in the mornings in our verandah, there used to be a ubiquitous and soulful sound in the background. As my house was very near to Kachiguda railway station, I heard the sound of the train chugging along. I heard the sound of the train's long and often unending horn... Agreed, this was ubiquitous but this was definitely not soulful...!!!! The sound that I am talking about is that of the chirping of birds sitting on trees outside my verandah. We had a small garden of sorts in our house. There were lots of trees in our aangan. We had a guava tree, a coconut tree, small plants which bloomed with flowers like jasmine, swastika flower, Hibiscus, Pink Rose and last but not the least - Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (known commonly as Night-flowering jasmine). There were lots of birds chirping around sitting on these trees. Crows, Pigeons, Koels, Parrots, etc. But amongst this chirping, the one of THE SPARROW would always stay with me.
The sparrow was a lovely bird and it used to have a nest in our verandah. I can vividly remember the mother sparrow getting food for its infants. The father sparrow building the nest straw-by-straw. It was really very fascinating to note all this. We had a big ventilator in our verandah and the sparrows built their small, little nest on it. Although I never really gave a focused attention towards this bird but somehow the thoughts and memories of this bird are firmly entrenched even in my unusually fickle mind..!!!!!
Sparrow has always been viewed as a saintly and sober bird by me. I don't really know why I feel it that way but it indeed felt very calm, at peace with itself, carrying on with its work in a diligent manner. I was generally very partial towards it and whenever I had to choose between the crow and the sparrow, it was always the sparrow... !!!! Summer holidays were the best. This was the time when I had lot of time looking at the sparrow, wondering about its leisurely life, wanting to keep watching it all through my life.
If you carefully observe one of the previous paragraphs, I used the sentence The sparrow was a lovely bird. There is some essence to that sentence. These days I seldom see the sparrow. Where is it? I have not seen a sparrow for the past many years. Its disappearance is really strange. But then this should have been anticipated what with concrete jungles bestowing us everywhere with very little lung-space. Where would a sparrow find food for itself and its progeny??? There is so much of concrete around. It obviously cannot survive on brick and mortar...!!!! And alas, the sparrow has left us. It has gone to a place where it can survive, away from the din of this ultra-fast and furious metro.
In a large way, the sparrow stands as a metaphor to my childhood. A childhood which was wonderful, soothing, endearing, lovely and beautiful. Just as I don't see the sparrow anywhere, I don't see my childhood as well. It is pretty nearly extinct. My childhood too has just remained a wonderful memory. There doesn't seem to be that innocence in my eyes anymore. I don't seem to have that cherubical nature anymore. Where has all this gone?? I know this has long gone by, may be this has left me along with the sparrow. But it must be living somewhere just like the sparrow. The onus is on me to find it. I know it exists. It is just a matter of finding it. And I am sure I will find it one day. I will find my Sparrow- my childhood one day.
Back in the 90s, when I was reading newspaper in the mornings in our verandah, there used to be a ubiquitous and soulful sound in the background. As my house was very near to Kachiguda railway station, I heard the sound of the train chugging along. I heard the sound of the train's long and often unending horn... Agreed, this was ubiquitous but this was definitely not soulful...!!!! The sound that I am talking about is that of the chirping of birds sitting on trees outside my verandah. We had a small garden of sorts in our house. There were lots of trees in our aangan. We had a guava tree, a coconut tree, small plants which bloomed with flowers like jasmine, swastika flower, Hibiscus, Pink Rose and last but not the least - Nyctanthes arbor-tristis (known commonly as Night-flowering jasmine). There were lots of birds chirping around sitting on these trees. Crows, Pigeons, Koels, Parrots, etc. But amongst this chirping, the one of THE SPARROW would always stay with me.
The sparrow was a lovely bird and it used to have a nest in our verandah. I can vividly remember the mother sparrow getting food for its infants. The father sparrow building the nest straw-by-straw. It was really very fascinating to note all this. We had a big ventilator in our verandah and the sparrows built their small, little nest on it. Although I never really gave a focused attention towards this bird but somehow the thoughts and memories of this bird are firmly entrenched even in my unusually fickle mind..!!!!!
Sparrow has always been viewed as a saintly and sober bird by me. I don't really know why I feel it that way but it indeed felt very calm, at peace with itself, carrying on with its work in a diligent manner. I was generally very partial towards it and whenever I had to choose between the crow and the sparrow, it was always the sparrow... !!!! Summer holidays were the best. This was the time when I had lot of time looking at the sparrow, wondering about its leisurely life, wanting to keep watching it all through my life.
If you carefully observe one of the previous paragraphs, I used the sentence The sparrow was a lovely bird. There is some essence to that sentence. These days I seldom see the sparrow. Where is it? I have not seen a sparrow for the past many years. Its disappearance is really strange. But then this should have been anticipated what with concrete jungles bestowing us everywhere with very little lung-space. Where would a sparrow find food for itself and its progeny??? There is so much of concrete around. It obviously cannot survive on brick and mortar...!!!! And alas, the sparrow has left us. It has gone to a place where it can survive, away from the din of this ultra-fast and furious metro.
In a large way, the sparrow stands as a metaphor to my childhood. A childhood which was wonderful, soothing, endearing, lovely and beautiful. Just as I don't see the sparrow anywhere, I don't see my childhood as well. It is pretty nearly extinct. My childhood too has just remained a wonderful memory. There doesn't seem to be that innocence in my eyes anymore. I don't seem to have that cherubical nature anymore. Where has all this gone?? I know this has long gone by, may be this has left me along with the sparrow. But it must be living somewhere just like the sparrow. The onus is on me to find it. I know it exists. It is just a matter of finding it. And I am sure I will find it one day. I will find my Sparrow- my childhood one day.
