January 25, 2003

“It’s so cold here.” Aaniya declared shivering badly. “I can’t fly anymore. I need some warmth.”

“Come on, don’t lose hope. We’ll soon find a tree to rest. I can’t do anything for the cold. The leaves will all be wet soon because of rain.” Cuckoo patted Aaniya on the back.

Both sparrows were the best of friends. When their town was hit by a dreadful drought, they had nothing to eat and so decided to migrate to some other place. After travelling for a whole day, without having anything to eat, they had reached a jungle but because of the rain and storms for the past couple of days, many trees had fallen down. They were unable to find shelter to spend the night and they were very hungry too.

“Oh listen, I can hear voices.” Cuckoo pointed towards some people sitting under a Neem Tree. They had a nice warm fire lit in front of them and they were cooking something on it. All around them were scattered bird seeds.

Seeing their favourite food, Aaniya’s mouth watered. She almost headed towards the seeds uttering, “Now this is called a perfect shelter. A fire to warm us, a tree to sleep and so many bird seeds to eat. Come on Cuckoo!”

“No wait!” Cuckoo stopped her just in time. There is something wrong. I can smell danger. Don’t go near it.” Cuckoo warned Aaniya.

“Cuckoo come on!” Aaniya argued. “To ignore what’s happening is to deny a miracle. Let us have some fun now.” Aaniya said excitedly.

As soon as Aaniya flew down to eat the seeds a net came down over her and she was trapped.

“Aha! We have our second prey. God is so merciful today.” said one of the men.

“Help me! Help me Cuckoo! I can’t fly!” Aaniya cried.

Seeing his friend land herself in such a big mess, Cuckoo immediately thought of a trick. As the men could not understand bird language, he told it to her aloud.

“Hold on Aaniya. There is only one way. Pretend as though you are ill. I hope this trick works.”

“Okay.” Aaniya closed her eyes and started moaning a little.

“The bird seems ill. She is dying. Look how cold she is.” The man declared. “We can’t eat sick birds. Set her free!” And the net was removed.

Aaniya quickly flew back to her friend. The men just stared at her act in disbelieve.

“Thanks Cuckoo you saved my life today. I should have listened to you.”

Cuckoo just laughed at her friend’s simplicity at not noticing a trap. Aaniya was really ashamed of herself. She promised to always listen to her friend as she now considered him the biggest genius. The two birds soon found a new tree and built their finest nest to live happily ever after.

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