Nestless Natives

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I waded through the thick meadows and rested underneath a peepal tree,

when a parakeet flew over and rested on a branch and made a squeak.

The meadows were green, and a cool breeze blew amidst the hot sun,

I was slipping into a trance, underneath the cool shade of the tree.

 

The parakeet then uttered angrily, “ Why did you drive me away from my home?”

When she was building her nest, I asked her, “Are you not in your home, it seems your own ?

The parakeet uttered again, but with anger “This is not my home , you drove me away”

Pat came my reply, “ I did not drive you; I don’t even know where your home is!”

 

She wailed, “It may not be you, but your men who destroyed our home,

the big grandma tree was a dwelling for our fleet, from times unknown.

With sorrow, I asked her, “Was it a wood cutter who drove you all from your home?’,

she replied, “ Wood cutter was one, but others were a powerful mobile tower 

harming us with radiations and a heinous realtor who wiped out “Grandma tree”.

 

I lamented with tears in my eyes, “Don’t you worry here, none will drive you away, 

here you are safe, it’s a hamlet, where men will love you all Avian.

No harm, no cruelty, no selfish motives here, unlike your yester home in the metropolis

Don’t you get angry, don’t you cry here, for you will be safe with your young ones.

 

I will be here in this hamlet, be one among you to protect you avian, and your habitat,

To make you all feel cosy and warm to say, “This is my home, you are my friend forever”.

She fluttered her wings with joy as she saw her soulmate flying in, love was in the air,

she merrily sung in her squeaky voice, “This is my home; you are my friend forever."




Contributed by Mr Suresh Menon.


(The Binny Mill with acres and acres of land at Ganga Nagar, opposite Mr Menon's old residence had a huge peepal tree with hundreds of parakeets living on it. From his terrace, it was a scenic beauty at sunset when all the parakeets flocked back to their home. One fine day, a big realtor bought this Binny Mill land and with in no time cut down the huge peepal tree and their asylum vanished making the migrant parakeets destitute).

Comments

  1. Suresh MenonJuly 14, 2020 at 6:37 PM

    My classmate Arun R , previous Vice President & Delivery Head at Tech Mahindra , Bangalore commented on whatsapp to me :-

    Nice one ! I detest cutting large trees too. It's murder. Keep writing , you are so good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Suresh MenonJuly 15, 2020 at 3:33 PM

    Thank you so much PFA Bangalore for sharing my humble poem "Nestless natives" on your esteemed blog website. I hope that this spreads out a social message to be a catalyst for the human-animal-birds conflict, due to over civilisation happening inside our "Namma Bengaluru". Let us change, let us protect our brethren species inside our metropolis.
    Thank you ,
    Best regards,
    Suresh Menon ,
    Bangalore

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suresh MenonJuly 16, 2020 at 5:50 PM

    Received an email from Grammy Winner Music composer Ricky Kej, today ,the 16th of July 2020

    This is amazing, Suresh! Many congratulations!

    Regards,
    Ricky

    Ricky Kej
    Grammy® Award Winning Composer

    Billboard #1 Artist (USA)
    United Nations "Global Humanitarian Artist" Awardee
    Adj. Professor NIAS (at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore)
    Ambassador Earth Day Network
    UNICEF "Celebrity Supporter"

    www.RickyKej.com

    Phone: +91 9341249314 (India, Whatsapp), +1 6466591635 (USA)
    India: 1104, 13th cross, Indiranagar 2nd Stage, Bangalore: 560038
    Phone: +91 9880448336 (Varsha Kej), +91 9972946908 (Nishanth)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Suresh MenonJuly 17, 2020 at 8:22 AM

    This world belongs to all the living and non living. God has furnished us everything for a blissful living. But some human beings because of their greed and arrogance are destroying the equilibrium of our Mother Nature. Poets can feel the sorrow and agony of the weaklings in our society consequent to the arrogance of few.

    Suresh, you can be proud to have a receptive mind and heart to hear the subtle sobings of a poor little bird and converse with it so as to patch up the strained relations.

    Memories of the good old days sometimes hurt our minds reminding our own omissions and commissions in disturbing the equilibrium of our environment.

    Of course we cannot rule out development altogether. That is why special agencies are functioning to conduct proper cost benefit analysis prior to implementing any new projects. But human greed coupled with the influence of rotten politics sometimes prevent such checks and balances to play their due role.

    N Ravindranathan
    Vyrelil family, Tripunithura,
    Kerala

    ReplyDelete
  5. Suresh MenonJuly 17, 2020 at 8:23 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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