It wasn’t a sweet valentine for a bird which got trapped in a string “manjha” (as popularly known) which got on a tree. The incident occurred at near 5 pm at Matunga kabutarkhana.
A Sunday evening especially on Valentine’s Day could have taken a special life, a life of freedom to fly through the air (although it’s been tough in recent times with humans finding innovative ways to kill them). It is exactly a month after Makarsankranti, the kite flying festival which already took so many wonderful lives of these sweet birds. Disheartening for the bird, but enlightened by what carried on then for some 30 mins.
The fire brigade had arrived at the spot and was getting ready to rescue the bird stuck at a height of 12-15 meters on the tree branch. Every passer-by strolling around this hub of Matunga was getting curious as to what happened. “Bhaiya kya hua?” was a common question inquisitively asked. Everyone was looking towards the tree & trying to spot the ill-fated bird, as if playing a game of search. What struck me is that the whole area was surrounded by nearly 300 people who were watching the rescue operation.
Some passing girls were a typical lot. One asked to other (& that too inside the group) “hey what happened yaar?” to which she got a unsure reply “probably some bird on the tree…”. Well after that the first one immediately got amused and proclaimed “why so much of fuss about a bird, what’s in there to watch?!” well that’s our younger brigade into the teens. Well not everyone is a bird – lover.
Most of these were those typical “panchaat” people. Just because they didn’t get a date for the valentine, here they were to pass their time asking reporter-like questions. Cars that stopped due to traffic had their passengers wondering what went wrong here. Residents of the buildings glued to their windows/balconies. Nevertheless it was good to see so many people wanting to know if the bird is rescued safe and alive.
A small girl with her mother stood beside me and their conversation was very interesting. (Translated Gujarati & English into English)Daughter: Mom what happened? Mom: some bird seems stuck up there. And then she asked me where it was to which I tried to provide some help; & yeah, it was successfully grasped by her daughter rather. Daughter: how it got stuck? Mom: it is the string that we use while flying kites beta, see how much it is dangerous. Daughter: momma I wish the bird is safe and alive. I hope it is saved. Mom: let’s see beta, even I hope so. Although I couldn’t put in that typical cute way the daughter talked, it was nice to see young bird-lovers. & they stood right till it was rescued; smiled as it was rescued.
Well of course, in the meanwhile the bird was rescued; although it fell to the ground while releasing it from the string using a long stick with a hook. It was alive, needed a lot of treatment.
Local chai-wala bringing chai for the firemen; People smiling; a breath of relief out of the gasping mouths.
Although I felt for the bird, it felt nice to feel the “INDIAN-NESS” at that moment.
Please don’t kill birds by “manjhaa” or crackers. LOVE THY NATURE.
Special thanks to the firemen to rescue the bird to the best they could :)
