In the verdant park, a four-year-old child was squealing in delight as his eyes fell on a handful of fluttering purple.
“Which bird is that?” asked the budding bird-watcher.
“That is the purple sunbird. The males are bright coloured, and the females are pale,” his father said. He watched the frisky movements of the sunbird, absolutely bewitched.
Then his eyes fell on three pigeons going round and round on the ground while a huge, black dog watched them indifferently, lying supine on the ground.
Letting go of his father’s hand, the four-year-old ran towards the pigeons and started mimicking their movements — going round and round. Now, there were eight of them going round and round. The boy happily sat down on the curb and the pigeons flocked around him.
The horizontal dog became half-vertical and watched the child’s antics, intrigued. An overweight middle-aged man, out of shape, due to a sedentary life, face sheathed in frowns, walking languidly, stopped in his tracks and watched the scene enchanted, even smiling a bit.
A crow watching all this from a nearby tree, perhaps jealous of this delightful scene, swooped down on the group of go-rounders, and the eight pigeons, to the utter disappointment of the boy, fluttered away to a safer spot.
The languid dog suddenly became active and started barking at the crow. The middle-aged man looked a year older, his frowns came back, as the crow flew back and sat on a tree, in malevolent triumph, after throwing a wet blanket at the pleasant group.
The tiny boy, a threatening fist raised upwards, shrieked at the crow.
“Bad Boy! Bad Boy!” The boy’s response was merely a malicious caw.
The boy down below looked around, stamped his feet, and thumped his fist at the crow. Now, a parakeet hanging upside down from a tree caught his fancy, and he broke into staccato bursts of giggles.
“Beta, come back,” his father shouted. But the parent paled in significance before the parakeet; it continued to regale the boy with narcissistic aplomb, and the boy continued to be regaled to the bemusement of the parent.
I had also had my share of entertainment and romped home, sheathed in smiles.
Thanks Sonali