Revenge by Rebirth

As part of my duties, now I am in a place previously known as Dandakaranya, where Lord Rama had spent much of his exile. But lately, it has become famous for its unending availability of iron ore and unending number of Maoists, who occasionally call on district collectors and take them hostage. This is a place where one can feel the nature in its true form. Thick jungle, with huge trees, birds of all hues happily chirping. The local people are intelligent, hard working and a happy lot.

But man has made his impact, destroyed a large part of the jungle and made quarries, offices and townships. Don’t mistake me for supporting the Maoist line, but that is a fact that cannot be denied. Be it for development or greed.

I am put up in one of the houses in the township. It’s a two bed roomed house and must have been built many decades ago. And it must not have been in use for a very long time. The window panes were broken; plumbing was in a bad shape. But getting a roof over your head at such a place was a blessing indeed. So, I got everything redone even got the window panes of the bottom half darkened for privacy, and moved in with the little belongings for a bachelor life. As I am not new to such a life, I settled down well and had a sound sleep the first night.

It was a cold morning the next day; I could hear the crows caw, birds making weird but beautiful sounds. Each bird calling its love in its own way. I tucked myself in the blanket for an extra wink. Daylight was just breaking in and there was thick fog all around. I covered myself from head to toe.

Suddenly I was awakened by clear “Tick, Tick, Tick” knock on my window. At first, I thought that I was dreaming. But after a few seconds, there was that same knock on my window “Tick, Tick, Tick”. I was startled, why the hell will someone knock my window, when they can just press the buzzer. I got up from my bed and opened the window. There was no one there. I closed it and was going back to bed when there was that knock again. I opened the window in a flash but did not find anyone around again. This went on for several times and finally, I decided to close the window, go out of my front door and see for myself, who is responsible for this mischief. The cold was biting, but I dared to investigate. It was actually a small sparrow, which is pecking on my window pane. I shooed it away and went in to find that the sparrow was at it again. The continuous tap tap tap on my window pane.  I tried scaring it away but in seconds, it was back to pecking. 
All of a sudden, there was a ghostly loud call from one of the nearby houses. That sound was similar to the call of the apes in a Tarzan comic. It was followed by blowing of a conch, and then I realized that it was a Bengali family offering prayers. Are they trying to drive away ghosts or all humans around? There was lull in the pecking of my sparrow. Maybe, this sparrow was too scared after the ghostly call of my neighbour. But come back, it did within minutes. Its persistence got on my nerves.

Initially, I thought that it would get bored by itself and leave in a few days. But to my surprise, it continued for weeks. Day-in and day-out from early in the morning to late evening. Just imagine, living with someone continuously tapping your window. 
As a true Saikorian, I wanted to know the cause. Why is that sparrow pecking my window?. I watched from a distance to study the cause. It was not one sparrow, sometimes two and at times three. They just perch on the window and peck, “Tick, Tick, Tick”. There was no 'cause' that I could think of except mischief.

After many days of this torture, I had to leave to Vizag for a much needed break. And when I returned after a week, the first thing I saw was these sparrows pecking on my window. Damn it, I thought and angrily threw open the window. They flew away and perched on a near by branch. I watched them for sometime; they looked so innocent, like naughty children caught in an act. Squeaking, as if to say something to me. They looked cheeky, quick-witted, pugnacious, perky and impudent. I kept observing them for quite a while and in fact maybe I started to like them. But one thing I could not understand was why they are wasting their days, weeks and months just to peck on my window and do nothing else? In my deep concentration of my observation, I did not realize that there was a lady in the opposite house, who was busy in her chores and rushed inside. Maybe she mistook me for watching her. Maybe. A bachelor in their midst is like a stag-on-heat in a herd of deer. 

Even though I started loving these little birds, their constant mischief like small children was very annoying. So, I decided to throw open the window each time I hear their pecking. And each time they would fly off and get back to mischief within seconds. Every time I threw open the window, I find that the opposite lady would either run inside or give me a strange look, as if I am opening the window to glare at her. This had become like a ritual and happened several times, but how in the world can I tell that lady the actual reason? I was sure; she thought that I was a psycho. Once, when I opened the window, I found that the lady was accompanied by her husband. And the lady seemed to say “See, I was telling you” There was an agreeable nod from the husband.

These Goddamn sparrows not only disturb me but made me look like a psychotic person, who stares at gullible women. I found that whenever I left my house, the ladies on the street would sulk away or pulled their ‘pallus’ tightly as if to escape from an imminent attack from a deranged person. So, the word had spread around of a psychopath on the loose in the township. But these little villains, the sparrows kept on pecking my window never the less. Now I can’t even open the window to scare them, lest that lady will start yelling.

Now, I had no other option but to silently bear the constant mischievous pecking of the little birds. But one afternoon, when I wanted to have a silent nap and in desperation I opened the window to scare the sparrows away. I found a private security man standing just outside on the road, a small distance from my window. He seemed to be waiting to catch me in the act and he shouted “Kya hai?” So, things have gone thus far that a security man was posted outside my house to protect the ladies. These damn sparrows have made my life a hell. 


I decided then to end all this misunderstanding, I wanted to talk to the security man and opened the front door to find that he was already there to question me. “Kya kar raheho aap?” he asked. I invited him to come in to show him the actual reason. But he refused to come in. Lest this psycho would strangle him or even sodomise him. My persistence with folded hands gave him the courage to step in. I took him to my bedroom and explained everything about the sparrows. He heard it first-hand, the pecking of the birds and how irritating it was. “Oh! Is this the reason?” He was completely surprised and amused. He told me that they are called ‘chimanee’ in their dialect. And they believe that their dead relatives and friends are reborn as sparrows. So, he said maybe these birds are your friends, who are reborn.

OH! God I thought, what sort of friends, who after their death and rebirth, still want to make my life a hell?