The Cuckoo’s Nest: Getting the young ones ready to fly in the sky

The Cuckoo’s Nest

In the breeding season during May and June, you will see a pair of sparrows or myna’s (mainas) picking the wooden twigs and building a nest which I would love to call the Cuckoo’s nest. The smarter ones will try to even steal the loose cotton from your old mattress or the threads from the open stitches of your old towel, drying in the sun. For the birds, the mating season starts in May and June for the chicks to hatch in July. July is a season of abundance, especially in Monsoon. Food is plenty as there are enough mosquitoes, butterfly’s, dragonflies and lot of insects during the rains.

It’s beautiful to watch the chicks, chirping non-stop in the nest, trying to get the attention of their parents. The parents also, one by one, will fly out of the nest to go and get the food for their newborn chicks. Once the chicks have grown up and developed proper wings, they are ready to fly out of the nest. Whether they will meet their parents again and remember them is a big question? But the cycle continues.

Watch this beautiful video titled, “A day in the life of Sparrows”. You will love it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIbBpcwdAeY

The Cuckoo’s nest that we build in our lifetime

Life for human beings is a bit different. It takes a whole lifetime to build a beautiful nest called house. The day a person enters his career, the priority for him is to start saving to build his own home. Every dream home or a nest, which we also call Gharonda (in the Hindi language) is supposed to have a minimum of three-bedrooms. Having a three-room set is not greed but something linked to the number of parts our heart is divided into.

As Indians, we always want to look after our parents, especially when they are old. So, one room is for them. The second room is for you and your spouse. And the third room is for the kids. Nuclear families, the trend is catching up in urban India, are happy with a 2 room’s nest also. One for themselves and one for the kids. It doesn’t mean that parents have been left out. It only indicates that parents are well taken care of in their own home in a place where they have their roots.

Building our Cuckoo’s nest is a struggle

Building a nest for a salaried class person is always a struggle. One needs to stretch his budget to the maximum to buy one. But this is one challenge which everyone attempts with 100% success.

Playing the role of a Cuckoo is difficult

Unlike a bird, we humans are supposed to take care of both -parents on one hand and kids on the other. Both need extra care as both are growing. While parents are growing old, kids are growing to see the world.

The Cuckoo’s nest has two rooms which need care

The Kids room

The kids are in one room. The fight over the territory is in full swing. The daughter has already laid claim to most of the storage space. The son, who is younger, seems to be losing the war. He immediately dials 911 (read mother). Seeing him on weak wicket the mom decides to speak for the son and instructs the daughter to give one shelf to the brother where he can keep his toys.

The daughter is not in a mood to comply. But the rules in the house are very clear. Defiance will not be tolerated at all in this cuckoo’s nest. She gets punished and is asked to take her study books to mom-dads room and focus on her coming terminals. Son finally emerges victorious.

This action-packed room is what every married couple dreams of. A room which is always full of noise and is in mess most of the time with books spread on the table and toys in every corner. A wardrobe full of clothes, ready to fall out the moment the doors are opened. A room from where you can hear echoes of mom and dad after every half-an-hour.

The kids get ready to fly

But a time comes in this journey of life when the occupants of the room or call the chicks will fly to their destination. The daughter will leave for a hostel for her higher studies, while son will leave for his engineering degree. The room now lies vacant most of the time with son or daughter occasionally occupying it during their summer breaks.

Then a day comes when the chicks leave the nest forever to pursue their career. The room is now empty throughout the year. There is no one to ruin the room. The bed-cover looks fresh every day as there is no one to crush it. You put all the toys neatly on one shelf. All the school trophies are on another shelf. The school certificates have been framed and hanging on the wall.

The Parents room

This room is occupied by your parents. Both of them are in their seventies. This room is also always full of noise. The television runs 24/7. Sometimes you wonder how can your dad watch news the entire day. Your mom, the second occupant of the house, tries to stay away from the room. After all, you can’t have a tiger and a tigress in the same room. She spends her day in the living room watching the soaps from our neighboring country on YouTube. She has graduated in life and is no more loyal to Balaji telefilms.

This room also needs your attention. Father has a sore back and needs a hot water bottle. Mother has to be reminded to take her insulin before dinner. In spite of your best efforts, you can’t keep the room tidy. The study table has got converted into a chemist shelf. Half of the table is occupied with medicines while the rest has bank statements and checkbooks lying all over.

Within your heart, you know that this room will also become vacant one day. You dread that moment. But there comes a time when the room finally becomes vacant. Now the television keeps quiet while the walking stick just keeps standing in one corner of the room as it has lost its companion. The table gets cleared of all the medicines and the wall is framed with some hanging beautiful memories.

There are times when you come back from the office and wait to hear the voice from the room “Aa gaye beta” (Son are you back). Dad doesn’t call you anymore asking you to help file income tax returns. You have never tasted your favourite suji ka halwa made in desi ghee by mom again but the taste still lingers in your memories.

The nest becomes empty again

Finally, the nest which you had built with so much love and passion has two of the rooms lying vacant. A friend advises you to give it out for rent and earn some money.

You discuss it with your wife but she only says that so what if we have two rooms vacant? We need it now even more. Son is coming back from the US with wife and kids for a month on vacation. We need both. The only change in the plan is that you move into your parent’s room and leave the next two vacant in the same fashion.

After all, you want to hear the same noise from the kid’s room once again. And once again the Cuckoo’s nest is full. The journey of life continues…

Read more such interesting stories on my blog. Click on the link below:

Power of Love

The Journey of Life with parents by your side