A Prayer Of The Sparrow Poem by Hemchandra Dutta

The sparrow was walking along a crane on the side-ways
Leading to the foot-path at Silpukhuri
A desire to touch the heaven
Loomed large at her heart
The crane too looked different
The vermillion on her fore-head
Said of a romantic note

I am telling you a story of last winter

As a merchant of the betel
I was sitting on the verandah
Supervising the ancestral family business
Of a different order

They said me a king of betel
The ladder against the tree
Symbolised our family tale

Then she came to me
And said, 'Sir, I want to go to the heaven
Give me your ladder to fulfil my desire
To build a nest to avoid my failure'

Generosity was my family trait
I allowed her prayer

She built a nest at the upper ceiling
Of my house with huge fanfare

Many months passed
I was completely oblivious of her existence
As I was busy in my commercial matters

One mid-night I woke from my slumber
At the whispering coiling up from the lower point
Of my stair

To my utter surprise
She was talking romantically to someone
With her Nokia mobile in a low tone

The crane too appeared at my gate
As if conquering the world
He had never been before

I advised them to wed
To perpetuate their love

The sparrow felt very ashamed
And lodged a FIR in Panbazar woman police station
To make its due amend

I had a good lesson:
' Lovers in night
Should not be advised to wed
A sparrow to go to heaven
Must not be mistaken'

I saw that sparrow recently
She was walking along the crane on the side-ways
Leading to the foot-path at Silpukhuri

I left the spot in full glee
They too seemed to be care-free