A New Family Member part 2

So we had left at the part where I name the Puppy, right? Ok, so now let’s see what happened when I came back from school.

One look at the fence and I remembered the puppy. I rushed at it. I was not disappointed with the lack of the puppy’s presence. I made a clicking noise that I had always seen my elders do. This attracts dogs and assures them that we are safe and friendly. As if on cue, DIDDO appeared out of nowhere. Again, the mom wasn’t there.I was so happy to see it. I put my fingers through the criss-cross fence and pampered DIDDO. I had never seen a puppy so small. It looked as if it was just 1 or 2 weeks old.

The place where I first met DIDDO

DIDDO then started to chew and suck the iron rods of the fence. It was also making pitiful sounds. I figured out that it might be hungry. I quickly put my bag down and opened my tiffin. I took out the puran poli smeared in ghee.( sweet flatbread with sweet stuffing and covered in clarified butter) I held out a piece to DIDDO which it readily accepted. But it was only familiar with it’s mother’s milk. So it tried to suck and slurp it. After the piece was finished, I gave it another one. By now, it had figured out that it was not the way to take in this particular food and tried to chew it. It had so little teeth! There were hardly 3-4 teeth and the rest of that piece was chewed by its gums. By then, one of my neighbors, who was a little girl and was watching me all along, was excited to see the puppy readily taking food from my hands. She came near the fence and asked me if she could feed DIDDO too. I agreed and gave her a piece. I could see she was a bit scared but was eager. I soothed her and told her how to feed DIDDO. She stuck out her fingers along with the food through the fence. As the puppy happily came towards the food, she was frightened and dropped the piece on the ground on the other side. DIDDO didn’t mind at all and took the piece from the ground. But I minded VERY MUCH! I didn’t want young DIDDO to eat dirty food! It was soo little and deserved fresh food. That was the whole point of me giving it my tiffin with my own hands. Seeing my grumpy expression, she requested for another try. I agreed and this time she did it correctly. The rest of the dish was quickly finished by DIDDO. All the while I was wondering where it’s mother was. It seemed that DIDDO wasn’t with it’s mother even in the afternoon. ( while I was in school)The watchman uncle came along and was pleased to see me feeding DIDDO. He told me that the puppy had been making pitiful sounds all afternoon and was roaming around the fence. It’s mother was also nowhere near it.

I suddenly felt very sad and sorry for the puppy. It was soo young. WHERE was it’s mother? WHAT was she thinking?!There were no other pups to be seen either. WHO will take care and feed DIDDO. Monsoon was nearly here and HOW will DIDDO survive in the wet and cold weather without it’s mother?

As if he had read my thoughts and worries, the watchman uncle pitied DIDDO and said, “ Take the puppy with you. Take it to your home and take care of it.” I just wanted someone to say that and boost my confidence. Uncle could be very funny sometimes and I didn’t know if he was joking or really meant it. But something told me that he did and there was truth behind it. For I was well known for being an animal lover and rescuing them. ( I had rescued another puppy and a kitten a while back. The puppy has grown 1 year old now and was with his family safely. I’ll definitely write blogs about them) And anyways, the puppy would be far safer in my home than in the lonely, dusty and cold construction site. The monsoon season would make it worse.

“ I’m taking it home”, I said and ran and called( yelled, I was so excited)for my aunt to come down. The watchman uncle looked happy for the puppy. I guess he really meant what he had said. But there was a problem.

DIDDO was on the other side of the fence and the door beside it was locked. The only way for us to go to there was to take a huge turn around the colony to get to the other entrance of the construction site. And it was a kilometer away.

A drawing of the road to the other entrance.

Uncle and I started to think how to bring

DIDDO on this side. Then uncle remembered and spotted the opening in the fence. The view of the opening was hidden by a little wooden fence and shrubs. But how to get DIDDO come through it. Also there was a thin drain between the opening and the other side.

Uncle called one of the workers and told him to pass DIDDO through the opening. The worker was afraid of dogs and called another worker. He lifted DIDDO by the fur of its back. DIDDO started to make a that ‘ puppy’ sound. It wasn’t hurt but was scared of being lifted up and didn’t know how it was off the ground. I was very angry with the worker for picking up DIDDO like that and treating it like dirt. But before I could say anything, Uncle scolded him and the worker picked up DIDDO like a baby and passed it through the fence. I was beyond happy.

DIDDO walked a few steps and i quickly understood that MANY dangers threatened a baby. DIDDO was about to walk one step but I diverted it and changed it’s direction. Or it would have fallen into a little opening of the gutter. Then I picked DIDDO up and took in in the lift. I kept it down and quickly pressed the button to the 3rd floor. The doors closed and the screen showed the numbers as I went up each floor. 1…2…and 3. The door of the lift opened and I and DIDDO stepped out. Hello Home, Here we come! ( Did I mention that I had left my school bag down?) TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3.

A New Family Member part 1

This incident happened eight months ago in the months of July and August 2019. It is a very cherished memory and I wanted to post all about it.

I don’t exactly remember the dates because I never thought I would have to. At that time, I had no idea what a big turn my path in life would take and the twists there would be.

I had just climbed down the stairs and was headed for the school. I was a nervous wreck as I had an important science test that day and was crossing my fingers and praying. That’s when I saw something very small on the other side of the fence of the construction site. It was a little newborn puppy and was sniffing near at the fence, on the ground and was looking at me with the most beautiful black eyes. It made a cute little heart wrenching sound. It was not in pain and I guess all newborn puppies make that sound. It was alone, the mother wasn’t there. I stopped instantly. I started speaking to it, “ Hey little puppy! You are so cute! Where’s your mama?” I patted it and continued, “ You know, I have a test today? Wish me best luck ok? I’ll meet you after school!” If it hadn’t been a test day or school time my reaction would be much better and pampering but my nervous jitters made me look like a fool. I hurried to the school and turned and waved bye to the puppy. It’s innocent face looked at me through the fence. We were so close, yet separated by the big iron fence hardly half a centimeter in width. All the way to school I kept thinking about it. ( my school is just 3 minutes walking distance from my home) I had a strong feeling that assured me that I would meet the puppy again. No doubt arose about the puppy wandering off in the big construction site or next time being accompanied by it’s mother. While on my way up the stairs that led to my class , in the big crowd, a name popped into my head and right at that moment I decided that would be the puppy’s name; DIDDO.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2

This pic was taken later on

DIDDO ( this pic was taken later on )

A New Neighbor… Part 2

The journey had begun! My mind raced back through my environmental science lessons where I thought about different birds and their nests; weaver bird and a hanging nest, owls and hollows in trees, blackbirds and bushes etc. I couldn’t recall a nest like this. As a detective, I would have to do research which is exactly what I did ( on google 😋) but I didn’t get a particular answer. I imagined about finding clues, following trails, etc etc but I almost forgot it and didn’t really pay attention. But as it is said ‘things start happening when you least expect it’ and the next day just as I reached home from park, I saw a TINY little bird sitting on another plant beside the climber plant. On seeing me, it quickly fluttered it’s wings and with a cute “Chirrup!” flew away. I was surprised. I was just able to catch a glimpse of it but still somehow I knew that nest belonged to this bird. Well well well. This bird had been so mysterious but now,… For the next few days I daily and continuously saw it outside my door. Every time I opened it, I saw it. It looked as if the bird wanted attention from us but it might be equally scared because whenever we even opened our door and the bird was there, it flew away in a hurry. Of Course it came back. Though I had seen the bird, I didn’t actually know which species it was of. One day, I slowly opened the door, trying my best to make as little noise as possible. I didn’t wanted to scare the bird and wanted to see it. So I tried to see through the door-hole but a fly was sitting there blocking the view. The smallest creak of the door was sensed by the bird. I knew it and hurried to get the view. As I threw open the door, I saw everything in slow motion. Two little birds, probably a pair, were flying away. One had been seated on the climber and other in a bushy plant of ours. “I have lost them”, I thought sadly, “ they have flown back in the woody hills”. But no. As I looked down, just with my reach ( probably 1 meter) was not just one but 7 to 8 little birds seated in a line. I rushed in, brought a mobile and took photos of them. While doing so I finally solved the mystery of the ‘ Which species of bird?’. The answer was right in front of me. A little family of ‘ Sparrows’ from which a pair had honored me by building a nest in my favorite plant. That word ‘sparrow’ may seem common and ordinary but it is not. You may think, “ all this research and energy ( this typing does get tiring!) just to find a nest of sparrows. Come on, they are common in India.” But you may also know that sparrows are becoming very endangered, especially in big cities. They were very common and in a large number before but because of mindless urbanization they are losing not just their natural habitats but also the essential human touch they need and thrive upon. They are hardly seen now. There are many reasons because of which sparrows are becoming endangered. I learnt all this from the internet even after my search for one answer was over. That day, after taking pictures, I found it I was wrong about one thing. I had totally underestimated their family number. For this wasn’t a ‘ little’ family of sparrows or just 7-8 in number but a HUGE one consisting of about 20 to 30 birds. I noticed that just a moment later when all the sparrows sitting in the line flew over to the two bottle palm trees right in front of our building and joined their family. It was such a pleasant sight, to see them playing, greeting and goofing around with each other. Now they come every day between morning and noon ( 11:00 or 11:30) and meet on the trees. Then they fly in the woody hills beside our house. The pair visits more frequently though. Actually, it’s hardly been a week since this this incident but I quickly wanted to post all about it. It is a very memorable experience. Another thing I have noticed on my own is that these sparrows have recently arrived here and their number had recently shot up/ shown improvements for I had never seen them before, not even in our colony( which probably consists of the most natural greenery in the city). “Recently” in the sense that since the lockdown. I have been thinking: Does the lockdown have any positive effect on the nature? Nature is being healing itself and undoing the damage we have done while the whole world is under lockdown. Is this having any good effect on endangered sparrows. I am doing research on it but only time will tell. I hope this difficult time has some bright side which will heal the nature of the man made damages. I am excited for the time when the sparrows will lay eggs and take their generation forward. 😃

A New Neighbor… Part 1

While watering my plants I looked at the climber plant which had grown so tall in a period of 8 months. I crouched up my neck to get a full view of the plant, it had already touched the ceiling, bending sideways to weave its way on the roped path my mom had made for it. That is when I saw something new. I was very much delighted, for in the fork of the climber, high up where it touched the ceiling was a pretty little nest! It was a perfect oval shaped and very small. It was neatly woven and secured on the bent stem and was partially hidden by the leaves. I looked from different views and angles for a peek of some cute eggs but in vain. I went indoors to find a ladder when a thought struck me. I had never seen any pair of birds bringing sticks, building a nest or anywhere near my plants. When then, had the birds built it? But another question popped up; WHO had built the nest? From the looks of it, it seemed to be the home of a small bird like a sparrow, bulbul or a robin, definitely not of a crow or a pigeon. Besides, a crow is not that great architect as they have very big, messy and uncomfortable homes. A pigeon always leaves poop and feathers all over the place which was definitely not the condition here. As an animal lover, I was very curious to meet this bird who was so neat and tidy and not to forget, such a skilled builder. I decided to become a little detective and do a bit of exploring myself. This is when the real adventure begins! TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2

Life is a Divine Art …

Thanks for joining me. During this lockdown, I downloaded WordPress and started writing blogs. I have so many exciting experiences.All kinds of stories/ experiences will be included.

For as the title says: Life Is a Devine Art…