The Lost Birds
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I'm happy to find sparrows [गौरैया] in Shimla and they remind me of my childhood days. They have disappeared from almost everywhere except a few lucky places. Shimla is one such place. At Ooty I had also discovered them. People offer theories to explain the phenomenon. Installation of cell phone towers is cited as one among the prominent causes behind such disappearance. I don't know how far it is a fact. Sparrows had started vanishing even before the introduction of cell phones. I had earlier written such a nostalgic piece, in prose, published in this blog [link]. Here in Shimla, I have even started observing these birds like an ornithologist. Ha! Ha! My observation is that here there are far too many female sparrows, more than the male members.[I may be corrected]. Even about myna, I find here their peculiar behavioural pattern. They move alone whereas we find them in pairs elsewhere. Anyway, disappearance of birds is definitely a painful phenomenon. This can never be overstated.
_________________________________The Lost Birds
The birds that bothered me in my childhood
Crapping on my books or chirping close
Now where have they all gone hiding?
And are they lost for ever for me?
They are gone with the green
perhaps to recur one day in my dreams
And my longings will take me there
when everybody else is deep asleep!
Cool breeze is still blowing
to utter those words of sibilant whispers
His nest is ready and the spring is back
And the sweet bird will be back here.
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By
A. N. Nanda
Shimla
25-06-2012
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