NOT SO ANGRY BIRDS! ;)

BEST OF ALL-MY FLUFFBALL AND SNOWBALL

These delightfully noisy creatures are my pets-Fluffball and Snowball. No marks for guessing who is who. A Snapdeal offer on the internet was all that was needed to trigger off an animated discussion on pets in the family. I vociferously rejected the idea while my children advocated it equally, if not more, strongly.

These tiny birds are the Australian Zebra Finches. They survive better in pairs than in isolation. As days passed, I developed a liking for them and slowly grew very fond of them. The reason is not difficult to guess.

Snowball wakes up along with me at 5 a.m. When I switch on the light, the first sound that greets me, as if wishing me ‘Good Morning’, is the rapid chittering of Snowball. With joy in my heart, I feel drawn towards their abode and discover that Snowball and Fluffball are having a beak fight. The entire household is active in another half hour and that is when their next demand starts. Whoever is next to their abode has to address their loud tweets as they now want their abode shifted next to the window. Apparently, they synthesize Vitamin D in the sunlight and window is where they get to see the rising sun and a panoramic view of the outside world. The night yawns and day breaks. The birds perching on the trees outside wake up with their call, the parrots being the first to wake up. By and by, the din grows as more birds chirp and caw. This is when Fluffball and Snowball are at their singing best. It seems as if they are inviting their feathered friends for a morning gossip. It is amazing to note how different Fluffball and Snowball are. While Fluffball, a male, has a child-like quality in his voice, Snowball, a female, has a shooting voice more incisive, than sweet.

Once, I noticed a mynah that had become a fairly regular visitor to the window sill, peering at the cage. This is when their voice assumes an amazing sonorous quality with resounding pitch and volume. What do they say to each other, what notes do they exchange? Or, are they simply musical notes, I fathom not.

Over these few months, I have grown so incredibly fond of these tiny aerial arboreals. I talk to them and feel that their twitterings are their way of communicating with me. I read their facial expressions and assign meanings to their chirpings. With a twitch of their head they look in my direction when I call out their name and most vocally complain when I reach home late after a stay-back in school. I find them looking in the direction of the main door when they hear the key being turned in the lock. Could it all be my imagination? I choose not to believe that. I choose to believe that there is a special bond between us. The bond of love, the universal language which cuts across all barriers.