I heard birds screeching and frantically fluttering their wings above the Parijat tree in front of the window of my study. I looked up from the computer I was busy preparing my office reports on and saw the branches of the tree shake violently. I rushed out of the house and headed towards the Parijat tree in the garden. There, I saw Petu, our pet tom cat jump out of the tree and do a vanishing act. I saw a couple of birds screeching and hovering around the tree; just then I chanced upon the remains of a nest and lifeless forms of two tiny fledglings lying at the foot of the tree. I picked up the two fledglings and headed towards the house to be greeted by my Aunt, who rushed to grab the lifeless forms from my hand and scream, “So, Petu did it again! That rascal does not allow the birds to nest in any of the trees and bushes in our garden! My heart weeps at the plight of these tiny creatures! Let the brat come home this evening! I am not going to treat him with the fish I purchased for him from the market this morning!” after declaring her intention, my septuagenarian Aunt, waddled like a mother goose to the backyard of the house to find a final decent resting place for the fledglings.
I am a young entrepreneur living in the suburbs of an old city. I reside with my old widowed Aunt in my ancestral home, a small cottage fringed with garden full variety of flowering plants and trees. My Aunt looks after the household ever since I lost my parents in a road accident. After completing my studies at the state university I spend most of my time trying to set up an organic farm on the ancestral farmland and the remaining time of a day, I spend at home taking care of all the accounts and official correspondence of the business.
Intrigued by Shami Aunt’s comment on Petu, I followed her into the backyard and while helping her to perform the last rites of the fledglings I asked her, “Boro Maa, you mean, this is not the first time Petu has broken a bird’s nest? What about the bird bath that Khoka got for you from the city pet shop?”
Annoyed by my rather naïve question, Aunt Shami retorted, “Shatu, are you ever mindful of the house, the family and the surroundings? Round the clock you are glued to your computer, telephone, mobile phone and books. Do you ever know what is happening in and around the house! Your younger brother Khoka is better than you. He spends only the weekends with us, but is so attentive to life in and around the house! I smell something burning…oh no! How could I forget the daal on the gas stove?” Aunt Shami quickly patted the loose earth in her hand on the tiny graves she had dug up and hurried towards the kitchen. Her rejoinder to my question reminded me of my brother’s visit last weekend when he romped around the house and the garden with his new camera taking photographs of any and everything. Before returning to his work in the city, he had given me an envelope and said, “Dada, you are so busy with your work that you hardly have the time to even look out of the window in your study. So, I decided to give the paper prints of these photographs to you instead of sharing them with you on WhatsApp, Facebook or Google+. Don’t forget to let me know what you think about them…”
I immediately went to my study and opened the top drawer of my desk to pull out the brown paper envelope Khoka had given me. I had made up my mind to set up the bird bath too in the garden, I opened the envelope and found photographs of the two tiny birds flying from the Amaltas tree towards their nest on the Parijat tree; the fledglings in the nest entwined in the branches of the Parijat tree; Petu on his prowl around the house. The photographs were a vivid depiction of the beautiful moments of life set for eternity. The beautiful moments of life in and around the house that I was completely oblivious of….
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