Myriad Grains

Swish glided past another dry tree, and perched himself on the railing of a terrace. It was a scorching day, and he hadn’t found a drop of water or a single grain of some cereal that he could carry to his nest for his anxious wife, Dahlia, and the three hungry pairs of beaks. His mind drifted to his little Chirpy, Harpy and Burpy, the prettiest sparrows that ever existed on this planet. This had been an extraordinarily dry day, and Swish had no idea where to find food. This pained his little heart.



He thought of last spring, when the few trees in the pavement had fruits. He sat on a branch,  pecking on a nut, when he had met Dahlia, who was still too young and afraid to fly with the rest of the big sparrows. She timidly hid behind a large leaf of the same tree, and that was when Swish realized what love meant. Dahlia’s eyes, her charming feathery wings, her tiny pair of beaks—everything seemed magically attractive. He was one of the bravest in the neighbourhood, but all his courage seemed to have evaporated in the fresh morning air when his eyes met Dahlia’s. He felt warm in the face, and hurriedly shifted to another branch, as if afraid of some unseen terror.



Then on, he returned to the same branch every morning. Until the day he met his princess again. She had friends now, some of them, male. Swish envied them. He had spent so many sleepless nights dreaming of flying around with Dahlia, in the depths of the gardens, and even households that kept their windows open. He dreamt of bringing Dahlia to his corner of a terrace, where he had once lived with Ma and Baba. And, now, Dahlia was flying in the soft clouds with other sparrows, but not him.



Swish shivered as he thought of the deadly fight that he had to put up, to win his love back from the enemies. His left wing still had the mark where the biggest male had pecked him hard. Swish called it, his mark of victory. And now, at night, when the kids would be asleep, Dahlia would softly kiss him on the mark, and say, “I always knew, you were strong enough to win my heart.”



The lovely memories turned Swish more desperate to find food. All the doors and windows of the human houses where tightly closed. There was a bin in the corner of the street that always had enough thrown away rice left for sparrows, after the dogs, cats and crows had fed on it. But today was such a scorching day, it seemed, humans hadn’t stepped out to throw away the extra food. Swish panicked. What if he found nothing to carry home? What would he tell his kids, when they would shout together in the excitement of expectation of the long awaited food? They were so soft and delicate, that Swish trembled to think of them going hungry for an entire day.



As the day passed, Swish flew from terrace to terrace. All he could find was one or two grains of rice or wheat, here and there. He ate all he could find, because he knew, he couldn’t afford to be tired until he found enough food to carry home. He wished, Dahlia was with him. Her presence would give him more strength on this afternoon of crisis. He met a few other sparrows on his way, and they looked as tired as he was. Only, he felt happier at the thought, that once he would find enough food, he could be back home, and cuddle his soft and beautiful children, and see them chirp in a tone even sweeter than what had been sweetest to him once—Dahlia’s chirping.



The sun rose higher, and heat almost defeated Swish. He could feel his veins turn numb, and his throat so dry that he couldn’t even tell ‘hi’ to a neighbour who flew past him. Finally, sitting on a tin terrace that had some shade from the scorching sun, he prayed. He desperately asked God to show him a place, where he could find innumerable grains. A paradise, the land of pure bliss, where there would be enough food for all fathers to take home for their infants, and enough food that could bring smile and colour to all children in the world. Had such a place ever existed, Swish wouldn’t mind to fly hours in the high temperature of a summer noon. He wondered, why God gave all food to humans, and none to sparrows. Didn’t God know, sparrow fathers had helpless kids too? At certain points of his prayer, he almost chided God, and the next moment he was sorry and started plead again.



Had things always been so hard for fathers? He decided to cross his usual territory and look for food on the terraces of a few new houses. He flew. And flew. And perched himself on the antenna that stood barely on his first new house’s terrace. And, what Swish saw was unbelievable.



He saw heaven. He pricked his chest with his beaks to verify if it was reality. There was pink plastic sheet, on which were scattered innumerable grains. He had finally reached paradise! God had listened to his prayer. There wasn’t a single crow or another sparrow that he would have to share it with. It was all his. He could have as much as he wanted, and take back as much as he fancied. He decided, after he went home, he would stay with the kids, and tell Dahlia the way to this paradise, so that she could also feel the same amount of happiness that he felt at the moment. He even planned to bring Chirpy, Harpy and Burpy, on their first flying lesson day. They would be so glad when they would be able to come here, and eat as much as they could think of.



Swish flew down on the sheet. He was surrounded by food grains, lots of it. He started to eat, and dream at the same time. He dreamed of the happy faces of his kids, and of his queen Dahlia…



*  *  *



It was Raju’s first day of testing his new air-gun. His dad had been a traditionally famous hunter. And today was his first day to prove his skill, that he had well-inherited the talent so famous in his father. He knew his bait was a success. The sparrow who was so deeply feeding on the wheat grains, hadn’t even noticed Raju creep behind it at close proximity, with an air-gun that could turn its tender body into innumerable pieces. Raju aimed. He was good at shot. He pulled the trigger. He smirked proudly—he had kept his father’s name and fame.