The curly haired director of ICE Dr Sahastrabudhhe spoke.
”What is this?”
He had in his hand a dummy koel perched on a real nest with real eggs
One enthusiastic new joiner replied : A nest
“Whose?”
”A koel bird’s nest, sir”
”Wrong. A koel bird never makes her own nest. She lays her eggs in other nests and when they hatch, what do they do? They throw the other eggs out of the nest”
He started picking up my eggs one by one as he released them and let gravity do it’s work.
Tears welled in my eyes.
”Competition over. Their life begins with murder. That’s nature”
“You are also like the koel birds,”
“Compete or die.”
There was pin-drop silence. In one corner my antagonist Millimetre stood ironing some clothes as he lip-synced the principal’s speech.
He was the villain who had climbed up the tree last evening and stolen my GHOSLA with my three eggs.
I stay frozen as memories flashed back.
Both Kailash and me were modern thinking. After marriage as we neared parenthood we discussed our plans.
“We should build our own nests for our babies.”
All our relatives had tried to dissuade us with no avail.
We built our beautiful nest and named it ’GHOSLA’ in this beautiful Engineering college campus.
When the time was right I laid all my eggs in GHOSLA.
We started taking care of our eggs providing them with loads of warmth and love.
”They should hatch soon”
A few days later Kailash had flown out to the neighbouring forest.
I also flew out to the neighbouring tree to gossip with Kavita the all knowing black crow.
”How are your eggs and how are you and Kailash coping”
Deep in conversation with Kavita I continued ”The eggs are fine and Kailash is fine. I have however put on a lot of weight after the delivery Kavita”
”Dont worth Koyala, it is normal after delivery” she replied
”Just keep exercising and in a few weeks you will be back to your original self”
I thought I heard a rustle of leaves from our tree but ignored it. She suddenly got agitated.
”Hurry. There is a boy climbing up your tree and robbing your nest”
I rushed back screaming.
The thief absconded with my nest and eggs.
When Kailash returned I broke the news and we flew around trying to find our nest. No luck.
Heartbroken we could not sleep the whole night.
Early morning Kailash flew out to search as I lay brooding in our tree.
That is when I recognised my GHOSLA..
I watched my eggs fall one by one and crack open.
I had learnt a lesson.
”We Koels are brood parasites and we lay our eggs in different nests”
Me and Kailash would just have to say ’All is Well’, do just what Koels normally do and start our family over again
Moral: Don’t put all your eggs in one nest or basket
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Apart from cooking up delicacies he has a skill in serving the most intriguing stories. Born and brought up in Mumbai, his stories have a special flavour of this Mega city. He attributes his success to his parents who instilled in him good reading habits right from childhood.
The Pandemic brought to fore his positive attitude and resilience, as he passionately took to gardening, turning his backyard into a veritable delight of fruits, vegetables, and blooms. He discovered his flair for storytelling and has won many fans and accolades for it. He lives with his dear wife Supriya and children, in Hertfordshire, UK.
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What a wonderful way to drive home the point .. ‘don’t lay all your eggs in one basket’.
Crisp narration and kudos for weaving three idiots into the story. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this short and sweet story.
Thanks Sunita. Really Appreciate your generous compliments. Glad that you liked this story.
Lovely story and aptly narrated. Loved the moral too. Quite relevant.
Few typos I noticed, but still the story remains intact.
//Both Kailash and me were modern thinking.
modern thinkers
//Dont worth Koyala,
Don’t worry Koyala,