A Message From The Author…
I wrote this story, inspired by Sudha Murthy’s book series “The Gopi Diaries”
I have written a similar story about my aunt’s pet,
Mithoo. So, here goes…
Joining the family…
I am an Alexandrine rose-ringed parrot. I was only a baby parrot when I got hurt. I fell in front of a large building.
A woman came out from the building. She saw I was hurt and took me home with her. At home, I saw an old woman and a boy.
Then she put me on a soft thing and went into a room. Later she took me to a doctor. The doctor told the woman how to take care of me. The woman followed the doctor’s instructions and I soon got better.
They took me as their pet and named me Mithoo. I soon learnt how to say it.
The woman taught me their names. Her name was Shilpa. The old woman’s name was Aruna but Shilpa taught me Ajji. The boy’s name was Pratik. I soon learnt how to say them.
Meeting Babu
Shilpa taught me a bit of their language. I also learnt how to laugh.
They asked the doctor what I should eat. The doctor gave them a list of stuff I should eat. They soon discovered my favorite food was charori.
After a few days another woman came. She was holding a small thing in her hands. The woman’s name was Kashmira but Shilpa didn’t tell me.
Kashmira put the small thing down and I looked closely at it. I saw it was a human baby. Her name was Amyra. Shilpa taught me to call Kashmira as Maushi. She also taught me to call Amyra as Babu.
Birthdays…
Maushi visited us frequently with Babu. One day Maushi came with some sweet smelling food in a box. Babu was wearing a lovely dress. “Happy Birthday!” they all shouted. “Maybe it is babu’s birthday” I thought. I wanted to taste the sweet smelling food. I begged them for it but they refused to give it to me and ate it themselves. This is not fair! “Such delicious cake!” exclaimed Shilpa. Ah, so that is what the sweet smelling food is called….cake.
This happened each year and each year Babu looked a little….different. This also happened to the other people I met. Now I can’t tell you about all of them….there are too many.
Babu loves me the most!!!
Even though I felt all of them loved me, I think Babu loved me the most.
Every time Babu visited, she gives me some charori seeds and pets me. Babu has gotten older, but her love is still the same.
Everybody loves me the same… except sometimes they don’t listen. Now I’ve learnt much more of their language and can communicate with them.
And here I come to the end of my story… for now.
I’ll come back soon with Part 2!!
