Page 73 - English Class 06

she said. “And when you go back to your Amma after the holidays, remember to help

her, too.”
Taking plate in hand, Pinky went and stood near the window. There was the bird again. A

small and brown bird with a patch of pure, dazzling white on the wings. In its beak, it carried
another wisp of straw, longer than the last one. Pinky craned her neck as far as possible, but
once again the bars held her back. The bird turned the far corner of the kitchen and was lost
to view. With a sigh, Pinky went back to the rice.

After lunch, Nani cleared the kitchen and lay down for a nap. Pinky waited till Nani had
turned over to face the wall. Then, she raced back to the kitchen and took up her position at

the window. The minutes ticked by on Nani’s old timepiece on the kitchen shelf, but the bird
did not come. Pinky knew that Nani never slept for long and once she was up, hanging
around watching for the bird was out…Suddenly, she had an idea. The terrace! She could
watch for the bird from the terrace!

As Pinky reached the terrace, a breeze sprang up and soon enough, riding the breeze,
flashing the patch of white on its wings, came the black and brown bird, a short length of

fibre held firmly in its beak. Over the parapet flew the bird, straight to the small room at the
end of the terrace. Through a broken window-pane, it flew into the room. When it came out
a little later, the fibre was gone. Pinky drew in her breath sharply. Oh, horrors! The bird was
actually building a nest in her grandfather’s room.

She rushed forward. “Don’t!” she told the bird which had alighted on the parapet for a
moment’s rest. “Don’t build your nest here, I am telling you!’ The bird took off in alarm.

But, a little later, it was back again with another wisp of straw in its beak. “Shoo,” said Pinky.
“Shoo.” But, the bird dodged her and flew in straight through the broken window-pane. Just
then, Nani called out from down below, “Pinky, Pinky, where are you?”

From that day, Pinky simply could not put the bird out of her thoughts. So small and yet
so hard-working. But, why did it have to build a nest in Nana’s room, of all places? Nani
would not stand it…Nana’s room was out of bounds. Nobody was allowed inside.

He had passed away four years back but his things were all there. Nani kept them
spotlessly clean. Every few days, she swept and mopped the room herself. Birds nesting in

the room? Not a hope! Nani might even throw out the nest. Nani liked a parapet : balcony
clean house and she could be very, very strict about it. terrible : dreadful

In the days that followed, Pinky watched helplessly as the bird flew in and out of the
room of the terrace. Sometimes Pinky saw its mate, the mother bird, smaller in size and
plain brown in colour, without that spot of white on the wings…How hard the two of them
worked to build a home for their babies! And how terrible if Nani should suddenly decide to

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