A story of an hour

        The first Sunday of the month , that means friendship day! :) As it was a  planned gathering to celebrate our special bonding that we have found, nurtured, developed , discovered ,rediscovered,lived ,fought for. Actually for this sacred day, we(all five of us but sadly one of our friends still couldn't manage time and he was missed)  had managed  the time. So as always it was me to wait  for two dearies to arrive the venue which  was Sanothimi.  I was on the  bus stand and clock ticked 9.30 am , and they neither respond to my calls nor my  messages! This was expected so I was all set with a bottle of water and a book to kill my time. Well, it sounds funny but water really helps! In  the meantime, an elderly man I referred him as bua was there and he too was waiting for his friend. It was another example and level  of friendship.  I offered him water but he refused and he inquired me about the book that  I was holding ( well Karnali Blues). After sometime his friend arrived and he went with a formal goodbye with some motivational words "la naani hidey hai timro sathi haru ni aaepugdai holan". It meant a lot to me.



Now the bus stand was getting crowded so I didn't want to stay there anymore.I moved little further and the phone rang with  clear and apologetic instruction  for me to wait them ! Few more steps ahead, I found a closed shop with a bench in front of it! This was extremely a blissful situation. As I sat down, I saw a cage there!. A parrot was  inside it.Some basic  details of the parrot:



Size: small
Beak:short and curved as found  in all the parrots
Special highlights: sort of pinkish ribbon shaped boarder in the neck(I know its common)
Eyes: lovely and impatient one




Furthermore, this parrot was unique form others.  I may be sounding like an ornithologist here!   The wings are undoubtedly the best part a bird is gifted with and it had a lovely pair . But the irony is wish it could be used the way it meant to be !



Like all the parrots it said "pattu and whistled", but surprisingly  it shouted "What ! What!".(A school girl teased it and I came to know all these facts.) .I know it was feeling lonely because if I tried to look at my phone it used to draw my attention towards it by producing different types of sound i.e whistling "tack tack tuck tuck"and not to forget that awesome moves ,this could put the dancers to the shame! :D At times it also tried to move its wings like a peacock! It was bored and I was  too.Basically it was trying to give me company and seek its way of refreshment.

The only thing I remembered was the poem that I learnt during my graduation days "Why do caged birds sing?". Really it was singing its side of the story , perhaps even more than that. Maybe it was pleading to free from its cage.Damn !There is a big lock.I cursed the owner .But its not his fault neither it is a fault of a bird to be a parrot! A set of questions are guzzling up in my mind now. Is beauty a curse or boon?. I feel the beauty and smartness of creature ; other than humans can't be tolerated  by us . We want to claim supremacy over all the natural and artificial things. It is one of the  "so human traits" that we are gifted or cursed with!The meaning of happiness and love is probably not caging or taming a thing/person we like/love.We tend to control  the things/person in the name of love.




The phone rings ,"oe kata chas? ma aaepuge" ,I scanned my eyes on the road  and I found her finally! So I hung up. I bid farewell to the friend that was inside the cage. It taught me the patience in way, art of observing things and that attitude to never give up. And I silently prayed for its emancipation which could let it use its wings to sing the melody of new life in the air.
Wish the time will allow the parrot  to develop friendship with its wings and the natural habitat it really belongs to ( someday)!!! :-)