02 « April « 2008 « Dirt, Grease, the works!

I don’t see them no more

Posted in Impressions by Salil on April 2, 2008

Of late, something’s amiss. Something doesn’t feel quite like what it used to. It’s been a while; it’s been some years to be precise. Oh Sparrow, where were thou?

I remember seeing sparrows taking their mud baths, squiggle around in the dust to kill those mites, those brown bodies that were quick and sharp, ready to fly off at the slightest sound or movement.

Childhood zipped past, diploma and engineering days beckoned. I forgot the sweet smell of earth during the first showers, the streaks of lighting that used to light up the sky and the neighborhood. All lost sadly to the advent of cable television and education (sigh!).

“Friends and Home Improvement” became a fact of life and sunlight became the unreal. I stopped stepping out of the house even for a brief moment and conveniently forgot my little friends from childhood. It’s been close to a decade now. More I feel. Oh Sparrow, where were thou?

I was walking the other day around the market, and saw a lone sparrow playing with its tiny wings in the afternoon sun, gleeful and happy to be alive. It’s when I realized my absence all these years, realized suddenly that the ubiquitous sparrow is rarely to be seen of late. Unfortunately they seem to have migrated to the land of the fairy tales for all I know. I don’t know, maybe ten years (5 years worse) hence I might have to point to a picture in the book and tell my kids about friends from childhood.

I am however happy to find quite a few articles and posts that have been written with effect to the sparrows disappearing from the urbania. Only sad for the fact that I am not the first to write about it