Birds and children quickly become friends. , Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
IIt was a winter evening. My little niece, who was then a little over a year old, was crying because of severe cold and fever. All our efforts to pacify him went in vain.
There is a big garden around our house. The croton bush in front of the main gate of our house is mainly home to a herd of warriors.
It often happens that warriors sometimes do not enjoy sleep because reptiles like giant rat snakes cause sleepiness for them. Unknowingly, sometimes they enter our house and spend the night.
That night a warrior entered my niece’s room probably fearing snakes. To our great surprise, when she saw the little bird, she forgot all her troubles and started smiling and clapping her hands happily.
The presence of the bird worked like magic. We didn’t face any problem in feeding him and swallowing the medicine.
The scared bird returned to its normal position as we were careful not to disturb it. The bird rarely spoke, perhaps out of fear. But my niece was happily copying it. After a while he fell asleep. The bird also put its head under its wing and fell asleep. I myself thanked the bird for bringing happiness to my sick niece. We all went to sleep leaving the girl with her mother and the bird in the dreamland. All the windows and doors of the room were closed to block the bone-chilling cold wind from the north. I also went to the bedroom next to mine.
I woke up before dawn to the chirping of birds. I also overheard my little niece’s stuttering conversation with the bird, which was chirping wildly. When thin streaks of morning light coming through the window panes suggested it was time to get up, I decided to open the door to let the bird fly. I lightly knocked on the door. My sister opened the door. I saw that the bird was still chirping and flying around the room trying to escape and my niece was squealing and clapping with joy. I left the door open. Needless to say, the bird flew out of the room and disappeared chirping.
As the bird flew away, the little girl burst into tears. I put the back of my hand on her forehead to feel her body temperature. The medicine worked well. There was no symptom of fever. But she kept crying for the absence of the bird. I picked him up from the bed and carried him to the croton bush.
It was a wonderful sight. A large number of warriors were flying, jumping and tumbling on the small branches.
My little niece stopped crying and clapped her hands with joy. And I tried to recognize the warrior who had spent the night with her, but in vain.
Rather I found a wonderful parallel in the whole incident with Somerset Maugham’s beautiful story Princess September which I teach to my class 8 students.
nandi.budha@gmail.com