Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A Chirp For The Sparrow !



Me and My Sparrows:

We had an apartment surrounded by splendor of greenery and serenity away from the noise and pollution of the city, the home makes a favorite stay for a person like me who respect nature and knows to appreciate its beauty. A Rising Sun, Full Moon, Galaxy of Stars, a group of Parrots flying, Colorful Kites Everything nature has for display. I still am blessed to be closer to nature.

During the early mornings the air is also filled with the 'kooooh' of the koel...chirps of sparrow, pigeons playing in my balcony early morning….a rare sight for me. Looking up at the sky, watching the birds fly about, The beauty of their forms, the immaculate color of their feathers, the buoyancy of their flight and the sweetness of their song their happy-go-lucky attitude kind of flights, their joy of freedom as they move in a heavenly manner from the earth to the sky, is so fascinating that many spend hours doing just are all a treat and I find inspiring and exhilarating. Taking a moment to watch their antics or admire their beauty; it’s fun!  
From my childhood, Listening to chirping of a bird is the loveliest way to wake up, to start a day. Personally, i really love listening to the chirping of birds, a music which goes right into my heart. I have always loved birds especially little Sparrows. I love the way they hop around on their delicate feet, not even walking but jumping from spot to spot. . Every morning, I have started to keep food for the birds in my balcony. A wonderful variety of birds come to eat. Although, it’s mostly sparrows, mynah, pigeons and crows..; 

One sparrow showed its head near window; they chirp out on the way "I've found food" call, the, a group of sparrows. Immediately other sparrows appeared too in the house balcony making strong sound of twitter it was twittering music to my ears! exactly seven of them would venture out on balcony every day, There were always, chirping and flitting around .Their songs are not particularly melodious. Sometimes it does sound like there is a sudden broken ending to their songs. They eat whatever is on offer, especially raw rice; with a great many chrips repeated in equal time and space over and again and show their displeasure if the food isn’t up to their expectation,. Over time, they have shed their fear. They keep on eating even as we watch them through the window I would get all excited.


I did not want to miss feeding them. Running out to the balcony in the morning to see the sparrows alighting the balcony steps has been the inspiration for much of my work since. Just for a few grains and some twigs for their little nests they give us the joy of life. I have spent many lazy afternoons reading, and watching sparrows hop around right inside our house and in the balcony.if you open the window to get in some fresh air and then you hear the chirping of little birds. How melodious it is to hear! All the frustration and exhaustion of a busy day just gets wiped out. These sparrows are my best companion.

Nowadays in cities The Chrip is almost gone!
The common house sparrows are nature's bio-indicators and enjoy a historical relationship with humans as food was always available. Sadly, humans and their lifestyle changed. Unfortunately, the house sparrow is now a disappearing species their numbers are also declining across their natural range.   The reasons? Many reasons have been attributed to the decline of sparrows - like increasing use of pesticides, lack of insect food, lack of nesting places As fields, bushes, tree clusters, marshes and the water bodies disappear, they Gardens vanished, along with it, disappeared worms .and insects that were part of the birds diet, especially the chicks diet. Pruned trees and exotic gardens are avoided by birds. The recent threat to the birds comes in the form of electro-magnetic waves.The Emissions sent out from mobile towers. These affect insects and the hatching of bird's eggs.

It is a bird that evokes fond memories and has thus found mention in folklore and songs from time to time. We can learn so many thing from this little sparrows, their cooperation, their love and their freedom and enthusiastic nature ;satisfied and happy with handful of grains and few twigs for the nest. and their  ability to take to the sky, their happy-go-lucky attitude kind of flights, their joy of freedom. Whether we human being live like them? What are we doing instead? We are wiping out the very providers of this unconditional joy. We will try to learn directly from Nature .We Love the little Sparrows and  Promote greenery to provide food and shelter to the small birds.

3 comments:

Prajeeth said...

Agree with you Jaishree ji, Really happy to see your interests and likings. Sparrows - Miss them...Because one or two i see them in bangalore. In Coimbatore Completely Nil. When i was in Nilgiris it was really a lot of them....

Delhi Gopal said...

Excellent piece on sparrows. In the concrete jungles, i.e. cities, sparrows are vanishing rapidly. It is sparrows today, then tomorrow it will be human beings who will be on the endangered list.

குறையொன்றுமில்லை. said...

படங்களும் பதிவும் சூப்பரா இருக்கு.