on top,warm beneath,and calm taking a sun bath near to my paternal
house. She told me a story yesterday. A story of love. She is the
'lifeline of Kerala' - the Periyar.
Lissy had a two year old son named Solomon when this happened. On
account of the goodness of village and lack of money the compound wall
separating a dozen houses, forming a maze, is found lacking here.
Children are always named after kings or emperors, which makes them
feel that they are rich, atleast in their names. And believe me, they
fetch more money in their long run than their predecessors.
Solomon was playing with his cart, towing with a nylon thread taken
out from an old fishing line. He ran along all the courtyards, banging
his toy against every possible object on the way. Hen and chickens
pecking worms would run away for life, seeing little Solomon. At times
he sounded horns, and all these happenings let Lissy know that he was
somewhere around here while she was busy in kitchen.
Around afternoon, when everyone went for a nap after lunch, Solomon
was busy playing around. Absence of breeze made a pin drop silence
everywhere.
Something in the river caught his attention. It was a flock of water
birds, drifting along with the current. At first they seemed to
continue their course, but later they came alongside the chinese
fishnet maintained by Lissy's father. Oh! My goodness, how am I to
describe them. They were more than a dozen in number, with two elders
leading them. Rest of them were their offsprings, I suppose. Neither
goose, nor a crane, it was something new to the land; atleast new to
this generation. An old man sitting near by, who couldnt nap came up
with a strange name. A few old men are deprived of their sleep just
because they are left with the duty to hand over a few things like
this to their younger generation.
The flock started exploring the area, walking one behind the other,
wagging their butt, and pecking here and there. Solomon followed the
herd at the end of line. He could match with their speed. Children are
the same- whether it is of birds, humans, for that matter of any
living creature. The tiny platoon went inside houses, gave blank looks
as the places where not familiar to them. Utensils piled up in the
kitchen fell down as they moved out through the rear door. As each
vessel fell down they tried to run away,but ended up entering every
house, and doing the same everywhere. People got up from their beds
with now idea as of what was happening around. Now our little platoon
was surrounded by people from neighbourhood. Someone came with a
basket and trapped all the nestlings.
The afternoon sun was not as hot as the discussions that took place
afterwards. A few suggested to hold them back in a cage. Someone
suggested that it was of high medicinal value, and hence need to be
cooked for the evening. The owner of the basket came up with the
statement that it belonged to him, while another man argued that it
belonged to him as it was trapped in his compound. The parent birds
started to produce a strange noise,trying to raise a voice of protest
and pain. This was enough to prove that they hatched from the same
mother's egg. Everyone ignored the older one, saying that it wont be
as tasty as the young flesh. They kept on crying, but the voice was
too feable to counter their arguments. Lissy looked around for
Solomon. He was nowhere around. She called him by name, but he didnt
show up. She went to every nook and corner, looking for him. She
checked for his foot prints which went near to the river. There she
found his cart toppled and abandoned. She yelled at the top of her
voice and collapsed on ground. She was crying and asked for help.
Everyone went around in a hurry. For a while there was only solomon's
name heard aloud in air. The birds where still making the cry,
standing here and there.
Someone came running with solomon. She found him playing with chickens
a few houses away, out of his territory. He might have lost his way
during the trail. Lissy ran to him, snatched him from her neighbour
and covered him with kisses. Solomon couldnt understand what happened
and wanted to go back to play with chickens. Lissy's mind was still
heavy. Atleast for a moment, she imagined the wierdest possibility of
loosing her child whom she got after longing for a long time.
The men arguing for the nestlings came to a compromise. They decided
to share it over a quarter of RUM. Now Lissy could understand the pain
of those two birds crying for the nestlings. Without giving a second
thought she took off the basket and waved her hands to let them off.
They got scattered and didnt know what to do. The birds made a cry out
of joy seeing the baffled nestlings, and rubbed their beaks against
one another- all moms on the earth behaves similar birds or humans,
for that matter they are moms and they know the value of love.
The platoon was in a hurry to flee away from the hostile land. Solomon
went to fetch his cart, women back to kitchen to make evening tea, and
the river was flowing fast, as if trying to take them to a safe land
far away,..
