Rajiv K. Singh Bais -
Sindhi Colony Pachmarhi Road Pipariya. Distt Hoshangabad Madhya Pradesh
I was born in Pipariya and continued to live in this house in Sindhi Colony till 1977 before I left for college studies. There used to be an old neem tree in front of our house on Pachmarhi Road and this tree was a roosting place for the sparrows of the area. Hundreds of them would gather in a big flock after sundown and make loud but pleasant noise before suddenly becoming silent. A little disturbance and all of them would burst out of the tree canopy only to return again for yet another round of orchestra and then silence again. I often used to lie down on a cot in the angan (front courtyard) after returning from the school in the evening listening to this soothing music. High flying swallows used to fill the sky as bright stars slowly appeared one after the other on the canvas of a fast darkening sky. Somewhere in early seventies, one night there was a sudden thunderstorm and next morning we found hundreds of sparrows lying dead on the wet ground under the tree. Children gathered round the tree in the morning watching with grief the catastrophe brought about by the heavy downpour.
I was born in Pipariya and continued to live in this house in Sindhi Colony till 1977 before I left for college studies. There used to be an old neem tree in front of our house on Pachmarhi Road and this tree was a roosting place for the sparrows of the area. Hundreds of them would gather in a big flock after sundown and make loud but pleasant noise before suddenly becoming silent. A little disturbance and all of them would burst out of the tree canopy only to return again for yet another round of orchestra and then silence again. I often used to lie down on a cot in the angan (front courtyard) after returning from the school in the evening listening to this soothing music. High flying swallows used to fill the sky as bright stars slowly appeared one after the other on the canvas of a fast darkening sky. Somewhere in early seventies, one night there was a sudden thunderstorm and next morning we found hundreds of sparrows lying dead on the wet ground under the tree. Children gathered round the tree in the morning watching with grief the catastrophe brought about by the heavy downpour.
