Tomorrows for Sparrows

Old Man in italics. Twists, turns, curves .... and toothless laughs crumble the face. At the table, given by his mother, he is alone working with pencil and paper on a green plan .... Tomorrows for Sparrows. Every time a house sparrow squeaks at the window, Old Man drops pencil and paper, to talk; he knows them by face and habit; reminds him of the Malayalam film Ottal when a young kid asks his grandpa who taught the kuyil its call or the crow to caw; he lives alone with the family quitting after the Old Man plucked out the ceiling fan and air conditioner; he has holed the walls for sparrows to build nests; has hung up old pants for them to lay eggs in the wide pockets; saucers of water at corners for all - sparrows, crows, mynas....; has a hand fan and a wet towel to beat the heat; sometimes, they land on his bald head, when he sits still. That afternoon, Lady, climbed four floors to be with Old Man. He had invited her for drinks and lunch; Lady loves rum with coke and Old Man catered to Her temptations; and he loves a rum with Gold Flake while Lady prefers a cigar; paranthas, aloo and dal for lunch, made by Old Man in love with Lady and the Lady in love with Old Man. After rum sips, they sat over the draft of Tomorrows for Sparrows. The Lady knew a teacher at the municipal school on Eksar Road and some of the little boys and girls at school for mischief not studies; they rarely studied and parents cared less; no blames. The Lady distributed small pots to the children for sparrows to lay eggs; the kids got on to the idea and were promised pass marks in all subjects by the teacher if they brought in sparrows to the pots, kept on window sills and terrace nooks; less clean, municipal schools, unlike private affairs, are an opportunity; there is little discipline; offer a variety of waste for kids, animals and birds; kids did not bother teachers; in fact, the kids turn up at school before the bell in the morning and remain well after the bell in the evening; the Lady hooked four girls to her idea some time ago with the teacher okaying; mynas and others plan to join and the municipal school could get some recognition; something like terrace vegetable gardens; both could be tagged. In italics, Old Man and Lady detailed their plan over a couple of pages; italics veered into scrawls. They posted their effort with by-lines to the leading newspaper of Borivili. Old Man and Lady were sure their bright idea would click, earn them sparrow marks. After a week, a rejection slip.