At Marine Drive in Arabian Sea, Kabir and Tuka welcomed -- Ya, Ya, Ya - a family of house-sparrows - grandpa, grandma, grandkids - 'kuthe hai, kuthe'. Grandpa, being a patriarchal society, led with 'Kaay nahin saheb. Barra hai ka' as Kabir shared a papercone of chana with the sparrows. Pecking a chana, Grandpa brooded over a news item in the last page of Loksatta, mourning the going away of house sparrows from Mumbai. Meera made tea in plastic cups as they chatted of that and more of that. Grandpa took out from his coat pocket a sparrowed notebook: The City Book on the lines of The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling; two new-born house sparrows chirped: 'Jungle, jungle pata chala hai... (Gulzar and Vishal Bharadwaj); pestered Meera for tickets to the latest version of The Jungle Book. Old grand souls, Kabir and Tuka nodded bald heads, smiled toothless smiles...aware of an irrelevance; the morning sun in suit and boot was rushing to office; the sea had no waves; there was no air, only hot air of women and men speeding bikes and cars. A Fiat, the first made by Premier Automobiles Ltd., at Kurla, parked near the footpath at the drive; the car had no horns, the Lady clapped as the Gentleman drove; out stepped a Parsi couple (who else) older than the First Creator; they had tickets for The Jungle Book at Metro for the sparrows, Kabir, Tuka and Meera; first show, first day. The generous Parsi Lady brought out paper bags of brun pav, mava cakes from Kayani for Meera to unpack and share; the Gentleman Parsi and Lady Parsi sipped tea with the Parsi gent smoking a Goldflake, Large size, costing Rs.13 per stick. The sparrows had lost winging; some say they have lost it, wings and habit; boarded the Fiat for Churchgate Baug where the Parsi couple lived; their address before the first post office openend at Churchgate; live on Mozart and Wagner and piano; there was talk of dropping grandma and grandpa houses sparrows at a Hospice; youngsters protested; the Parsi couple decided to keep them; theirs is a funny home with small holes and nooks in the walls (all the creation of the Parsi gent) for sparrows to nest, breed. That happened when for months, no sparrows came to share morning Marie biscuits and tea on the balcony with the Parsis in their very own and inherited 1,000 year old rosewood rocking chairs; the Parsi gent stared at his Lady in Parsi distress for gone beasts and trees; even their pet dogs Naman and Saman were upset; in trimming trees, our municipal bodies in delight, had chopped them; nests went; no birds in the air. This Sunday morning, the Parsi couple were on tea, brun pav and the The City Book with a forward by Kabir and Tuka; Kabir and Tuka had put in a note favouring international publication; the grandfather sparrow in a housecoat stitched by their daughter, walked in, unaware. Kabir and Tuka in their forward:
Mumbai, Mumbai baat chali hai
Ped, pani kahin nahi hai,
Jeena mushkil ho gaya hai,
Are, kya karun bhai, kya karun bhai...
Being influential, the Parsi couple have arranged sale of the first few copies of The City Book on the release day of The Jungle Book, Friday, April 8, 2016, Gudipadwa. Venue: Taj Intercontinental, Gateway of India.
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