{"id":16975,"date":"2024-05-04T22:52:22","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T22:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gryoungscholarsmagazine.org\/?p=237"},"modified":"2024-05-04T22:52:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T22:52:22","slug":"the-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/?p=16975","title":{"rendered":"The Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anjali sighed. It was a Sunday morning and yet she could not sight a single bird. Things seemed strange. There were always birds near her home. The lake nearby was inhabited by them. It was a delight to walkers, who came to the lake every day. Anjali was an avid bird watcher. She shut the window, disappointed. A glance at the wall made her smile. It was fully adorned with the paintings of birds, which she had painted herself. As the school was shut on Sundays, she had ample time to pursue her hobby.<\/p>\n

She again opened the window, hoping that birds had come to greet her. She was dejected, seeing nothing but the same old sky. She threw herself on her bed and was staring at the wall. She always looked forward for Sundays, but today was different. She felt miserable and hoped that the day would end soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnjali, are you not going to do anything special on this special day?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike what, Ma? By the way, this day is no longer a special day for me\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you had a great interest in birds\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I have it even now, Ma. But, they didn\u2019t come over, today\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a very good idea to make my little darling happy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I will accompany you to the lake\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me something else. I can\u2019t go to the lake, today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, then. Let\u2019s buy a documentary CD of birds around the world. I guess it\u2019ll make you happy\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course. Let\u2019s go\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMa, I want to buy this CD\u201d, said Anjali excitedly, pointing to a CD titled, \u2018The joy that bird watching gives \u2018. The cover itself had a great deal of pictures, which made Anjali grab it instantly.<\/p>\n

Going back home, Anjali inserted the CD into her computer. She leaned back on her chair, to enjoy it even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cBird watching gives immense joy. People around the world have taken to this hobby. It\u2019s a great stress buster\u201d, said a voice, which Anjali found a little serious. \u201cI already know that\u201d, boasted Anjali to herself. The computer screen was filled with pictures of birds and then it went blank. \u201cOh no, again a power cut!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMa, I am going to Megha\u2019s house\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWon\u2019t you watch the documentary?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you know? The power has been cut again\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anjali cycled on to her friend\u2019s house. As she approached the lake, she stopped. She had a look and was shocked. There were no birds flying happily, nor they were on the trees. Anjali thought that she could look into the matter, later.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Megha\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Anjali. I was expecting you\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mother called me up and informed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. Is there a power cut in your home?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u201d. Anjali inserted the CD into Megha\u2019s computer.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s watch this video, Megha\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay. It\u2019ll at least spice up this boring day\u201d.<\/p>\n

After the introductory came the thing which Anjali most awaited-pictures of birds. There were also videos of a bird\u2019s daily activities. Almost to the end of the video, the narrator spoke something, which caught her attention-denying freedom to birds.The viewer was shown how humans were cruel to birds. They\u2019ll put them in cages or sell them for money. The other thing which the narrator spoke about was the extinction of birds. It made Anjali ponder, even after the video ended. Even while returning home, she could not give attention to anything, but that. She stopped on her way and stepped inside the gated lake. Like the morning, there were no birds. People had gathered around in a circle.<\/p>\n

Upon enquiry, she learnt that all the birds were caught and caged and taken away. She was heartbroken. While returning home, she could find similarities between the documentary and this incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave your lunch, Anjali\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Ma. I am full\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, you didn\u2019t eat anything since morning\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told the incident to her mother. Her mother too felt sad. But, she convinced her to have her lunch.<\/p>\n

The next day, which was a Monday, she felt very sad to even go to school. But, she had a test, that too in her favourite subject-Biology. She rode on her cycle to her school. She couldn\u2019t do anything actively in school, too. After the last bell, she quickly strode out of the class and went to the lake to relax. But, without her darling birds, it was impossible to enjoy the day.<\/p>\n

She was taking a stroll, when she spotted something on a twig. It was so small. She recognized it as a Humming Bird or maybe some other small bird. She wasn\u2019t sure of it. “O Birdy, what are you doing here, alone?” Sure, the bird couldn\u2019t reply, but it responded by its facial expressions, which Anjali understood. “This place is not safe for you, Birdy. Look, how they have taken away your family. But, you are lucky<\/p>\n

to remain here; otherwise they might sell you to someone. I learnt that they do, after watching the video, Ma bought for me. They are very cruel to birds. Understood, Birdy?” said Anjali in a sad tone.<\/p>\n

The bird made signs indicating that it was feeling uneasy. “You don\u2019t need to worry, Birdy. I am here to protect you and make you a strong bird”, continued Anjali smiling.<\/p>\n

At home:<\/p>\n

“Ma, what do small birds eat?”<\/p>\n

“Some worms and insects, I guess.”<\/p>\n

“Okay”, replied Anjali as she was about to leave the room.<\/p>\n

“Hey, wait. Why do you need that?”<\/p>\n

“Wait a second.”<\/p>\n

Anjali came up holding a bird in her hands.<\/p>\n

“See, Ma. The last bird which remained at the lake.”<\/p>\n

“What do you want to do with it?”<\/p>\n

“I want to keep it as a pet.”<\/p>\n

“Look Anjali, caging it is not right. You shouldn\u2019t snatch its freedom away.”<\/p>\n

“Ma, listen to me. I am not going to cage it. I\u2019ll leave it in the garden. The only thing I\u2019ll do is take care of it.”<\/p>\n

“Okay. It\u2019s your wish. But, if it flies away, don\u2019t cry over it.”<\/p>\n

“Birdy, see this is our beautiful garden. Ma takes good care of it and I\u2019ll take good care of you. Would you like to be my friend?” The bird kept staring at Anjali. It appeared to her that it accepted<\/p>\n

to be her friend. \u201cNow, it\u2019s feeding time. Birdy, go eat whatever you like\u201d.<\/p>\n

She left the bird to fly. It went up to a tree and nibbled at a fruit. Then, it faithfully returned to Anjali. This made Anjali to be sure that it would remain with her. They both became great friends. Anjali used to paint her Birdy in different poses.<\/p>\n

Gradually, Birdy grew and one day, it was no more. Anjali felt miserable. Her mother consoled her.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook Anjali, every creature must die one day and today was the turn of Birdy. But, it will surely remember you forever and I hope that you too will remember it.<\/p>\n

Anjali cried a lot, even after many days. But, slowly she learnt what her Ma had told her-\u2018Every creature must die one day\u2019. Whenever she felt sad, she repeated the sentence to herself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suma Hedge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Freedom \u00a0 Anjali sighed. It was a Sunday morning and yet she could not sight a single<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}