Dawn

I got up today to the chirruping of birds and it gladdened me. The merry chatter of the sparrows, pigeons and crows vitalised me.

From my childhood I have the habit of standing near the window and absorbing the sounds and sights of dawn. The very next day of my arrival in Bahrain I had opened the window and got a shock. Living in crowded Salmaniya all that could be seen were rooftops and TV antennas. Even my stay in Mumbai had not prepared me for this sight. Having lived in Prabhadevi (Yuvathi Sharan) which still has some trees, this concrete view had indeed jolted me.

The birds have made their home in the hollow blocks of the compound wall of our current apartment building at Gudaibiya. Don’t know what they eat but I used to keep water in a vessel for them. But they never even glanced at it and the water used to get evaporated. Till curiosity got the better of me and I leaned out to find all the birds gathered around the water collection tray of the A/Cs and merrily sipping ice cold water:-))