Page 67 - January 2021

Sparrow

Sangita Singh

Sangita Singh is poet and short story writer from
Dehrahun, India

Well! It’s a very short story, it’s not a story also, rather it’s a narration of an
incident, which I found very profound.

My next door neighbor was an old couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ghansyam Pant. Mr. Pant
was a retired government officer. We were very close to each other as my
husband always used to be out of station and old couple’s kids were settled out
of town. Most of my leisure time was spent with them.

After few years Uncle passed away. Even I had to shift from that house. Aunty

was left almost all alone but her youngest son, who was a bachelor shifted in with
her. I used to visit her frequently. One afternoon, I called upon her while I was
returning from my usual grocery shopping.

I found her lying in a couch in her sitting room. She seemed very upset about
something. I sat beside her and wiped her rolling tears. When I asked gently the
cause of her tears, she cited me the happening that troubled her so much.

There she goes by pointing her fingers at the rented out rooms on her first floor.
She said a sparrow had built a nest in one of the rooms. It had few nestlings in
her nest. And in the morning Aunty had washed her ground floor veranda, after
that she had put on ceiling fan to dry it. Unfortunately, from nowhere the sparrow
flew in. It got chopped to death by those blades of the fan. Aunty was feeling so
sad and guilty.

She said softly as if mourning the death. “She had committed a grave sin and
that’s troubling her a lot”. Tears rolled down on her wrinkled cheeks. It really
moved me to tears see her crying.

Only Solace I could give her by saying that it was no fault of hers but rather it was
sparrow’s destiny.

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litterateur 7 january 2021