Ye Tera Ghar, Ye Mera Ghar

It was just another casual day when my house help walked back into the house smiling. My Karamchand self started shooting questions at her, inquiring about the reason for her smile. She told me that a bird had laid eggs in a nest, it had made, in the short tree in our garden.

I was so excited to see this gorgeous artwork by nature, I ran out and tried my level best to get a look at the nest, but couldn’t find any. Then she came behind me and said, Don’t make noise and stay still, I’ll show you. Just with that she simply parted two thick branches to reveal the most beautiful sight… two young birds in a nest with their beaks open wide waiting for their mommy to drop in some food.

This brought out the Nirupa Roy within me & I almost cried. The two innocent newborns thought the moving apart of the branches was a signal of their mother’s arrival with some birdie yummies. For 2-3 days we saw the mother bird fly in and out of the tree to feed her babies On another day, we found the nest empty. Assuming the birds must have taken off on their first flight, we stopped looking for them. 

Somehow the Bollywood song fit into the moment and I started humming… ye tera ghar ye mera ghar… after all, we are guilty of chopping off their many homes.

I enthusiastically shared a few images with my fellow Samvada editors and in return, I received more from Mona Bhardwaj. She also shared how Pigeon nests were made behind & under their AC units round the year, and about the crow that had been pricking passers-by on the head in an attempt to protect its eggs. Mona also beautifully penned a short poem about this situation;

फूल और पत्तियों के साथ आज प्रकृति का नजारा देखा…
हर मां के लिए बच्चे कितने प्यारे होते हैं!!
बाहर पेड़ पर कौए ने अंडे दिए थे…
बच्चे निकल आए हैं…
अब हर आने जाने वाले को मादा कौआ चोंच मार रही हैं।
पहली मंज़िल पर कबूतर ने गमले में अंडे दिए हैं..
जाओ तो उछल कर ऊपर आ कर डरा देती हैं मां।
छत पर एक छोटी सी चिड़िया ने घोंसला बना दिया है …
बहुत सुन्दर है चिड़िया और घोंसला
जोर जोर से शोर मचा कर जाने को कहतीं हैं मां
कितनी प्यारी होती है मां
(poem by Mona Bhardwaj)