Gillu Sunder - Part II
Gillu was growing handsomer. I tried to get a girl for him. But couldn't He was becoming vociferous too. May be the loneliness was irking him. Then one day in the morning as I opened the cage he jumped out. I didn't try to catch him.Yeah, I wanted him to go and find a mate for himself. Believe it or not the next day morning I saw him coming to my back yard with another squirrel trailing him, presumably his girl friend.I scattered some rice on the roof of the kennel a place where I scatter food for my wild feathered friends. He and his girl came down the mango tree, jumped on the roof top and started eating. I felt happy. I knew deep inside he will haunt my place and never go away.We watched him enjoying his new found freedom.My partner said " let them be, this is better". And I nodded consent, even as I longed to hold him and stroke his furry body and watch him raise his tiny fore-paws to scratch him as he enjoyed himself his eyes closed.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Gillu Sunder
Gillu Sunder - Part I
He came to me one fine evening in the most unpremeditated way. I loved him from the moment I saw him. My evenings were brightened by his presence. After college I would rush to him and spend time talking to him and feeding him. Slowly he trusted me. He would snuggle down inside my palms, some times nibble my nails. Then one day, my carelessness, he jumped out of the cage. I was inconsolable. Amini tried to console me saying he would be come back. My partner as usual kept a studied silence. I kept a bright face telling him repeatedly its good he escaped. He will be happy in his new found freedom. He listened patiently never making a comment Inside I was crying thinking of what dangers he would be facing and how untutored he was in the ways of the wild. I saw him in my mind's eye cuddling inside the coconut shell which was his home in his spacious cage. By 6.30 pm he would retire even blocking the entrance with coconut husk. Every night I would go and bid him goodnight and tell Our father... silently .He would pull aside the husk and peep at me, and then disappear, an apparent dismissal.
I couldn't sleep that night I rolled on my bed. Finally my partner queried "Its the squirrel isn't it?" "Yes." I whimpered."where will he sleep tonight? "Don't you worry, he will find some safe place, may be he will come back." I was not convinced. I shut my eyes and pretended to sleep. But sleep evaded me.and my eyes were full of my handsome Gillu.
Morning after our prayers, I sat despondently. Suddenly I caught his glance on me. He smiled at me 'Cheer up, I shall buy another one for you". Then we heard a tumult outside and the frantic chirping of a squirrel. Lassie was chasing him and he was clinging frantically on to a coconut tree - as he was not skilled in climbing..The boy who sold him to me had found him from a fallen nest a teeny weeny one with his eyes hardly open. He had been hand fed and so he never knew the ways of the wild. We caught him. He did not struggle, he just went limb - with joy or relief - I don't know what... I took him back to his cage and fed him. He seemed quite unperturbed as if nothing had happened. My face lit up as if thousands of poothiri had exploded in my heart.
He came to me one fine evening in the most unpremeditated way. I loved him from the moment I saw him. My evenings were brightened by his presence. After college I would rush to him and spend time talking to him and feeding him. Slowly he trusted me. He would snuggle down inside my palms, some times nibble my nails. Then one day, my carelessness, he jumped out of the cage. I was inconsolable. Amini tried to console me saying he would be come back. My partner as usual kept a studied silence. I kept a bright face telling him repeatedly its good he escaped. He will be happy in his new found freedom. He listened patiently never making a comment Inside I was crying thinking of what dangers he would be facing and how untutored he was in the ways of the wild. I saw him in my mind's eye cuddling inside the coconut shell which was his home in his spacious cage. By 6.30 pm he would retire even blocking the entrance with coconut husk. Every night I would go and bid him goodnight and tell Our father... silently .He would pull aside the husk and peep at me, and then disappear, an apparent dismissal.
I couldn't sleep that night I rolled on my bed. Finally my partner queried "Its the squirrel isn't it?" "Yes." I whimpered."where will he sleep tonight? "Don't you worry, he will find some safe place, may be he will come back." I was not convinced. I shut my eyes and pretended to sleep. But sleep evaded me.and my eyes were full of my handsome Gillu.
Morning after our prayers, I sat despondently. Suddenly I caught his glance on me. He smiled at me 'Cheer up, I shall buy another one for you". Then we heard a tumult outside and the frantic chirping of a squirrel. Lassie was chasing him and he was clinging frantically on to a coconut tree - as he was not skilled in climbing..The boy who sold him to me had found him from a fallen nest a teeny weeny one with his eyes hardly open. He had been hand fed and so he never knew the ways of the wild. We caught him. He did not struggle, he just went limb - with joy or relief - I don't know what... I took him back to his cage and fed him. He seemed quite unperturbed as if nothing had happened. My face lit up as if thousands of poothiri had exploded in my heart.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
New Nest
Dewy-eyed
dawn, twittering songsters,
Eagerly
awaiting the golden streaks
To
lighten up the world
For
the early worms to catch.
In a
tiny nest, the she-bird’s pride-
Geared
up for her first flight,
With
mounting excitement.
Wings
gathering balance,
The
little one circled in the air
With
swan like grace
Under
the watchful eyes
Of the
adoring pair.
The
he-bird singing hymns,
Heralding
the sun, flew mirthfully,
Cheering
the little one, inspiring her to fly
Higher
and higher, to race with the wind.
Oblivious of the sorrowful joy, colonizing
The mother-mind; tenderly visualizing
The young one, soon in a nest of her own
Chosen by her beloved for a new life.
Latha Prem Sakhya
From Nature at My Doorstep
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