There is something very special about birds. Some of them so tiny, yet how they live beautiful lives! Singing glories, always singing glories. Always with the vast sky and the rest of the Nature. Wordsworth asks the Cuckoo, “Are you a bird or a wandering voice?”

Near Kalari: There is a kind of tiny bird which twitters in a voice with such high frequency that it can wake people from sleep. It is half the size of our palm. I am sure we all know it. Though they are heard in the trees around Amma’s room everyday, for the past one month I heard them more often than ever. And that too from the tall but thinly tree of henna-leaves in front of the Kalari. My room is just as far as Amma’s window from the said tree.

One day when I was passing by Kalari their twitter drew my attention, and I looked up to see. The two birds, lovers, now parents, had built a tiny nest there. A hanging hammock kind of a nest.

I didn’t stand there to see. I know from experience the birds don’t like us peering into their privacy. Why, my childhood experience continues to be true to this day: the moment the eyes of the bird and my eyes meet, the very next moment the bird flies away. Whichever bird it is: be it a crow or an eagle, a sparrow or a kingfisher. For a long time in childhood I kept it as a secret between me and the birds.

So going a little away, I stopped and took a good look at the nest. A cute one.
Another day I saw a fledgling with grey head peeking out of the nest’s window sill. (Yeah, it looks like one) It was obviously waiting for food from the parents.

Normally there are so many crows, pigeons and mynas around the kalari. But where have they all gone now? Have the other birds vacated the place for the sake of these tiny twittering bird-family? How accommodating these birds! How noble are the hearts in their tiny chests! Still how their lives are always in danger! Still how dedicated they are to the nature-made rules!

– Sandhya