The Cuckoo and the Sparrow Series - Part 2“Good Morning” the sparrow came and sat on the same branch where the cuckoo was sitting. “Good Morning” replied the cuckoo in her own language. But the sparrow noticed that the cuckoo’s thoughts were wandering somewhere else.
“Something appears to be bothering you, you seem lost” the sparrow initiated a discussion. “Well, I was lost in the thoughts of the wellbeing of my little ones.”
“Aren’t they doing well?” asked the sparrow expressing some concern.
“Well, I don’t know how they are?” The reply surprised the sparrow. “Why? Where are they?”
“They are in the crow’s nest.” The voice of the cuckoo was a bit shaky.
“Why are they in the crow’s nest?”
“Well, I laid my eggs only in the crow’s nest.”
“Are you foolish to lay your eggs in the crow’s nest?” asked the sparrow with anxiety.
“I thought my job of taking care of the younger one’s will become less taxing; the stupid crow will look after my eggs also as much as her own eggs and later feed these also like her own. And when they start flying, they can join me.”
“But by that time, they will not learn their mother tongue and speak in a different language.”
“Mother Tongue?” the cuckoo quipped. “What is the problem if they speak any other language so long, they learn how to make their living and how to get their food?”
“What a shame! Don’t you think your children would ape the other culture and behave like a crow.”
“Never mind. They will know how to fly fast, have fast food wherever they are available. And also, will learn to be a part of a crowd.”
”Oh, dear, your features are different from those of the crow. Your eating habits and your life styles are your own. You are bestowed with the most scintillating voice that gravitates the entire universe. They are your pride. Isn’t it? “The cuckoo remained silent. It murmured that ‘my songs don’t get me my food.’
The sparrow continued “how will they learn all your melodies and your language if they are in the company of the crow? Your silence matters as much as your voice, unlike the family of crows. Your species is the melody queens of the entire world. Don’t you think that their entire life style will be changed if they don’t follow you?”
“But our life is very inward looking. We think, we meditate, we sing and we are slow moving in our life style. But crows aren’t. They have adopted themselves to these changing times and they are the right species for the fast culture.” The cuckoo continued “For example, you sparrows never changed, that is why you are becoming extinct.”
The sparrow had a hearty laugh. “What a pity! You are letting children lose their language, their creative melodies, their natural habitat and undermining the future of your species. Slowly, they will start distancing from you. They might have a conflict in their life as to whom do they belong.”
The cuckoo was upset “Dear friend, don’t you think we have the problem of the survival of the fittest?”
“Sorry, you are wrong,” said the sparrow. “Survival of the fittest doesn’t mean aping somebody and living their life sacrificing your lineage, your individuality; but it is to improve your own skills in your habitat and still growing with your own individuality. Survival doesn’t refer only to your physical existence, but it refers to the survival of your wholesomeness including your personal emotions, your culture, your heritage and your glory”
“My dear friend, every time you come you provoke me to think and challenge my actions.”
“No, as a cuckoo, you are greatly admired across the world for what you are. For Centuries people have been waiting to listen to your folklores, your tea-a-tete with nature. Poets have sung your laurels time and again. You have a special place in the global mind. But now, you some to be defeating yourself. Think again. I will come back another day.”
The sparrow left. The cuckoo flew to the nest of the crow where the little ones were playing with those of the crow. The mother started singing some melodious lullabies for her wards. Unfortunately, the little ones turned a deaf ear to the mother because they didn’t understand the language in which the mother was singing.
“I must do something about it.” The cuckoo thought “Before it is too late, I must pick my little ones from here and rehabilitate them to my own nest”
As the cuckoo flew near the nest, a little food fell down from her mouth which she carried for her little ones. It fell on the farmer’s head who was resting below the tree.
“OMG! The food is on the man’s head” regretted the cuckoo.
“OMG! There is some food for thought from above” the man wondered.
All Rights Reserved. Balaspeaks.in
Site created and maintained by Greycaps.
