A SPARROW SONG

(This is the story of the family of four sparrows that lived outside my room's window, when i was a kid. I saw them everyday. They were a part of my life. I had seen them in joy and sadness alike.  One day I found that one of them fell down and died. I was a little shocked thinking why it didn't try to fly when it fell. But it took me years to understand that there was something else, something man made that killed it. It was supported by the fact that the rest had flown away too. It was unbearable for me to see their deserted nest. But no one else seemed to notice.)

Just couldn't get that thought out of my head, hence here's a song I wrote for the Sparrow:-

Before I could go to sleep again, it chirped and chirped,
Now I sat wide awake on my bed so disturbed;
Threw the pillow, pushed the quilt with a frown
Rushed to the window and looked up and down


When I looked to my left
I saw a cozy nest
Was I fuming seconds ago ?
My face was now a beaming logo


There it stood , it jumped & hopped,
All around the place 
It was so difficult to catch its face
Then came another and a twig it dropped;


I watched them talk
I watched them dance
To the tunes of their folk
Oblivious I was there, they moved in trance


They blinked so fast
They chirped so quick
So sure so pristine 
They went on adding


And then they flew
Far from it
Knowing they'll return
To my chores I moved on


In days ahead there came two more
This time they were too small
To even climb out of the wall
Their mother guarded them from a fall


In the best of days and worse too
I'll come to them
I ll exchange my joy and 
Speak to them of my pain


I grew up and so did the Sparrows
Till one day I found one on the narrows
Fearing it'll fall 
I sped through the hall


But fall it did
And chirped its last
It was gone too soon
Where it could breathe at last


The rest too had vanished
There lay but the nest so famished - 
For joys and warmth
That the Sparrows gave it


Years have gone
Many moons and suns too
I hold on to the memory 
And I feel so sorry


I know not what happened
But the birds' elation was easily sacrificed 
Was it so great a burden
On a choice so mundane
                                                                                                  Anupam P.

Friends,

Did you know that "World Sparrows Day" was observed on March 20th. To watch a sparrow's chirpy and quick movement is a source of tremendous joy. I just read an article which says that sparrows are rapidly declining in number due to loss of their habitat owing to swift urnbanization. In China they even consider the bird as a pest. Unbelievable !!





                                                                                                       Anupam