Thursday, August 28, 2008

What does little Birdie say?

One of these days, while going for an afternoon walk (instead of morning walk, due to the cold weather), I passed through a stadium in our locality and came across a family playing a ballgame.

It was a wonderful sight. A young couple and their two kids (a son and a daughter) happily playing, playfully arguing. 'Picture Perfect' family in today's busy lifestyle. I wondered how come the parents are not at work on a Monday afternoon...

And then I remembered an incident of my childhood, when I was 5 year old and my elder brother and I commuted to school by bus. Our school was quite far off and my very responsible brother took care of me on our bus ride back and the walk from the bus-stop to our home.
After the school bell rang, we went in a queue to our respective buses, helped by a maid. One of my friends who lived near by was picked up by her mother, who stayed at home. I loved to see their union after school.

So, after a couple of days I went back home and asked my parents to come and pick me up from school , the next day. I also asked them to lift me up while I walk towards the bus. Everything planned, yes! My brother, more mature for the age he was, thought that it was an unreasonable demand as both of my parents were working and it was practically not possible for them to be present in the school at 1.30 in the afternoon.

But, I walked towards the bus next day, confident that I would not need to enter it. And I was right!

'They lift me from the queue, hug me tight and kisses shower.' Whoa... Just as I had imagined! My Mom had taken a day off from her college and my dad too had taken a half day leave from his bank. So, my brother and I didn't go by bus that day. Infact, we did not go home directly. We had lunch at our favourite restaurant, visited the toy shop, played in the park till the sunset. One of the most memorable days in my life till date :)

Years later, when I asked my mom that why did she take my silly demand so seriously, she replied that she wanted me to know that I could always count on her. She also explained that it is very important for a kid to know that her parents always have time for her, no matter how busy they are with the jobs. This assurance is required for a child's overall development. Great thinking , more so keeping in account the fact that they didn't have an easy access to child psychology books and internet then.

...I kept standing on a corner of the playground for, no idea how long, floating along the memories close to my heart, suddenly coming back to the present when I realised that it had started raining. Yes, I saw a drop on the ground. I looked up to see that the sun was shining brightly and there was no cloud in the sky.

I started walking homewards, feeling grateful towards my parents for making me what I am today - independent, confident, honest and brave...

The verses of a poem I had read in class I, and which was my mom's favourite of the lot then, come to my mind...

What does little Birdie say,
In her nest, at peep of day?
"Let me fly", says little Birdie,
"Mother, let me fly away";

"Birdie, rest a little longer",
"Till the wings are little stronger",
So, she rests a little longer,
Then, she flies away.

7 comments:

Richa said...

cho chweet Prads !!
really touching... :-))
I am reading Nitya bhabhi's blog. She is amazing!

Pradnya said...

Hey, thanks Richa.
Yup, she's gr8 with the words...

Anonymous said...

if someone ask me wht is the best i know about Pradnya, i wud say her blog "What does the little berdie say"... a great thought indeed... gud job!!!!

Pradnya said...

Thanks Abhishek :) Thats really nice of you.

Anonymous said...

Very Beautiful thoughts! Great job.

Prads, I am reading "Life of Pi" seems to be interesting book. Why dont you start writing your reviews/thoughts on books too? You remember Harvard one. I know there is tons of things what you can write on that book apart from the usual controversaries :D It would be really great if you can start writing on books too (any book except aapka hari puttar) :D

- Nidhi

Pradnya said...

Thanks Nidhi. Will try to implement your idea. BTW, what's with Harry Potter? It is a completely amazing series :)

Anubhuti said...

I checked ur blog for the first time ... this was really a touchy one.Sweetly descripted ,njoyed reading it :)