Stars and Sparrows

A roof made of woven coconut leaves. Four decades ago most of the houses in our village in Kerala had had such a roof. Once in an year, this type of roof had to be replaced with newly woven coconut leaves. It was a festive occasion when a special sweet dish called "curry" was prepared and distributed among the neighbours and relatives. Though the dish was prepared using rice flour, sugarcane jaggery, nuts etc and tasted like "paayasam" , I don’t know why it was called curry which is a hot and spicy dish. In those days our villagers believed that if "curry" was prepared , it would ward off some harmful pests that could damage the roof. Some "curry" was even poured on the wooden roof frame though one could imagine that it could attract and not distract the pests. To ensure that the pests are completely destroyed, the wooden roof frame  had to be left uncovered overnight and the roofing was done next day . For children like me, it was the only occasion when we could go to bed enjoying the moon light and gazing at the twinkling stars in the sky. I looked at them and felt like the sailors in Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem " Lotos Eaters" :

"With half-shut eyes ever to seem

Falling asleep in a half-dream

To dream and dream, like yonder amber light"

Every year I eagerly waited for the roof replacing day to drink the sweet dish and hoping go to bed looking at the blue sky full of twinkling stars.

My friendship with sparrows dates back to sixties when their nests were found hanging in a corner of our old house in Kerala .I recall how curiously I watched the sparrows bringing food for their chicks and feeding them while the chicks' eyes were still closed . As a part of my childish mischievousness, I had once tried to feed them with a worm using a tiny stick presuming that they would think it was their mother doing so and would eat it but they never did so .

In late nineties when we were living an old flat in the centre of Doha, some sparrows used to nest on the external protruding part of our air conditioner. Very early in the morning I used to wake up listening to their chirping sound which refreshed and cooled my mind like  morning breeze . I feel sorry that I no longer hear their song . But I do see sparrows now a days flying over the balcony of our present house in which my better- half has strenuously started growing some vegetables like tomato, chilly etc in flower pots. Though she complains that these birds are bent on eating the tender leaves of newly sprouted plants , I am glad I am still able to see them.

A species of pigeon known in Kerala as “Arippravu”  can also be seen here. Brown in colour, it is slightly  larger than sparrows. When compared to the  other species of pigeons it coos incessantly. Legend says that once upon a time their great grand father brought some fresh green peas  and asked his wife  to roast it. The roasted  peas appeared to be  lesser  in quantity and he suspected that his wife had eaten a part of it . Out of anger he killed his wife  but when  he learned later   the real reason  and understood  that his wife was innocent  he felt extremely sorry and started crying   as expression of repentance and remorse and his successors continues to do so even today. 

     

When I was a boy I used to to follow  ducks  just to watch them dipping their beaks deep into water in search of their food  and  see them swallowing  shell fish .My father used to rear one   female  got at a time. I used to take it to where there were fresh green grasses which had a refreshing effect on my mind. When these birds and animals were eating  I could notice   the food moving  through their food pipes   until they reach  their stomach . On such occasions, I felt as if I had eaten my belly full

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By the father

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