Everlasting Sojourn

"Ssshhh!! Keep quite. I can not flutter my wings too fast. My parents will wake up"

My nest is on the middle of a banyan tree. From where I used to watch the top of giant pillars from where time to time white fumes blew. I wish to fly like my mama did. I wished to glide like the kites and birds in 'V'.

My dream to fly came true yesterday. It was the moment I will not forget in my life. My other two siblings had flown down, then up, nicely. I was excited but nervous. I went to the edge of the nest and closed my eyes and started to flutter my wings. My mother told me to stop fluttering and keep my eyes open. Ooops! She gave me a gentle kick and I was falling down. I could hear everybody telling me to start waving my wings but I was confused. I was about to touch the ground with all my strength I started fluttering and off I was gliding. Flew up and down then up again. Everybody joined me and we had our first flight together. I learnt to catch worms from the soil. I was elated to catch my first raw food.

"I wished to fly straight towards the city. My mother blocked my way and ordered us to fly with her. We went to a nearby farm where we played for the whole day."

"I longed to fly towards tall buildings. That is why I woke up early and am flying towards my dream destination. "

I could see a faint light coming from the top of the giant towers.

At a distance a bird was also flying towards the city.

It was a fellow sparrow. I flew faster.

"Hey lady! Are you also running from your parents to see the city?"

"What?"

"Actually I have learnt flying yesterday and am flying away from my nest to see those giant pillars. I used to see them from my nest."

She chuckled. "Has your mother not warned you to go that side?"

"Yes! She has warned me never to go that side and that side was hell. I just want to see once. May be it's not a hell for me."

"You are just a brat. You should listen to your mother and should not go there alone."

"Well! I am not alone. You are also flying in that direction. Am I wrong? "

"No, first of all I am not a toddler like you. I am 3 months older than you. Practically I do not have a family and I am flying away for a different reason."

"What happened to your family? You leave them to go to tall buildings daily."

"Seriously, you do not want to know."

"No, you are first person I have talked beyond my family. I really want to know." I was tiring down.

"Sun is rising and we were almost at the outskirts of the city. May be we could sit down on these wires. I wanted to enjoy the rays coming between the giant buildings." Indicating the wires which ran parallel to the way we were flying.

As I was about to touch them, she pushed me away with all her power.

Cried," No it is not safe. "

I was almost tumbling.

"You want to know how my father died. He was electrocuted by these wires. These are dangerous."

"Sorry, I was just feeling tired."

"Let us sit on a perch." She pointed towards the nearby tree with her wings.

We watched the most awesome sunrise. First sunrays touched the giant pillars which were cylindrical shaped. The white fumes coming out gave a glittering fog type feeling. On the other side, the rays touched the bottom of the tall buildings. The glass covering of the buildings gave glossy effect.

"Enough, Let us fly. You have ruined my plans. Do not ruin my day."

We flew first above the small huts then past the medium sized bricked houses. We neared the roads. It was dusty one. Flying in cold breeze energized me. We were near a hut. I could see some other sparrows already there. They were picking grains spread on the floor. She directed me to fly down the corner.

We waited the corner to empty then started to engulf the grain.

"Be fast. Just swallow the grain."

She had not finished as if a fat sparrow that had a scar beneath his left eye, flew down and tried to flee us.

"Why did you come back here? I had told you this was my area and outsiders should not trespass it."

She flew to the other corner and started picking the seeds again. I followed her.

He tried to attack me with the claw. She came in my defence and directed me to fly. We flew and flew.

As I neared the tall cylindrical giants, I saw lots of debris. Black soil, smoggy environment, all my elation was gone. There was no tree surrounding it.

"This is the crap you dreamt to see. My father used to tell us about how beautiful this place was three years back. The entire place has gone junk. All the greenery has gone. Just the dust remains. Black dust"

I flew down and stretched to drink water from the drain.

"Stop, you are such a novice. Don't you see from where water is flowing down? Smell it."

Yesterday when I drank water from the spring, there was no smell. But today it smelt pungent.

"Poisonous, I drank it for once. Want to see what happened?"

She flapped up her wings for once.

I could see that her inner wings had started moulding.

"They have polluted the water, air and soil. These humans are becoming crazier day by day."

"Fly with me I will show you water." We flew back towards the huts.

I could see a tap from where drop by drop water was percolating to a canister. Tens of canisters followed it. Few human were sitting ideal surrounding it and buzzing.

"They have dried the water too. Do not worry there is enough water for us. Just go inside the canister and fill your beak and fly away. Do not stay there for a long time."

At first I was apprehensive. She showed me once. I followed and did this thrice. It was thrilling.

We flew past the road. She stopped in front of a medium sized building. One human was opening the gate. She told me to sit in front of a tree. The human, one by one, brought cages full of birds. Put them over one another. All birds looked gloomed and were fluttering inside and making a lot of noise. I was terrified.

"See, these humans have not only polluted but captured us and kept in this apiary."

"Captured us, for what?"

"Amusement, they even kill other birds and eat them. They do not kill us as we are not large. They paint us and sell us to other humans as if we are some antique birds captured from far away regions."

"What happens then?"

"They keep us in cages in their homes. They give us to eat and drink. They take our freedom."

"Do they die there?"

"Yes, but sometimes, if lucky, they can escape, especially when they discover that they are not the real ones. It is hard to survive then too as until then they loose all their power to fly. They loose their sense of direction. They will die of starvation."

"Can you see the cage in the left of the four brown ones?"

"Yes."

"They are my siblings and my mother. Humans caught those ten days back. I come daily to see them. I do not go near to them. I do not want to see them lamenting. I am helpless. " she sobbed.

"How did this happen?" I was getting anxious.

She did not reply.

We sat there for an hour, watching them fed by the human. I started hating humans. They were cruel.

We flew past the small and big houses and over the verdant suffused allaround. She was calm and was busy in some deep thinking. I thought it was better not to disturb her. We flew past the fields, into the woods. She sat on a perch.

"On that day we were all happily flying together from our nest. We were gliding in 'V', competing with each other. We saw the grains lying beneath this tree. They flew fast leaving me behind. I was gliding back and I saw an insect on the fruit. I flew towards it without telling them. I had almost finished swallowing it I heard their hue and cry. I flew towards them only to find them trapped in a net. I became numb. I wanted to join them. We tried to tear the net but all was vain. A human hiding behind the bushes came running and put them all in a cage and went. I was helpless. I could not do anything but follow them. Since then I just watch them there and pray for their freedom."

I was petrified. I had never imagined even in my dreams that these things happen. She sobbed again. We sat there for hours. She told me about how happy they were together. How they had escaped from the paw of a cat. She told me how bravely his brothers fought with that fat sparrow (the scar was the proof). How beautiful the life was.

The sun was about to set when we flew again.

Suddenly she flew past me and blocked my way and sun. She flapped her wings fast to a stand still.

"Stop following me. Go towards your home. Be safe there and do not return to the city. Today I was flying to another direction that's why I started early. You intervened and reminded me how juvenile we were."

"But "

"No, now I will return to my nest and fly to my destination tomorrow, far away from here, never to return to this place."

I was helpless. She directed me to my home. I meekly followed the order. I kept looking back, she might turn back. I saw a friend in her who was vanishing into the sun, vanishing along with the fading sun.

Since then I am waiting to see her again.


Author's Commentry: Ode to "God of Small Things" for inspiring me to write this one. Thanks to Nishant kumar for editing. Most of my stories are inspired from the Novels have read(all unfinished). I wrote "I am the Messenger" when I read "My name is Red". Similarly "She came she saw she conquered" and "This is it" from "The Fountainhead","Shree Mad Bhagwat Geeta" respectively. All the novels have been yet to be finished. Reading these books and the Geeta after certain part has led to me think and interpret the stories in my own way. This is what we also learn in research. We learn few things and we apply them in our own way. May be these stories have no realation or as par to novels but they are just my creations. They may all have dual meaning/purpose. It upon the reader how is he taking.