5.
By midday, most of the birds had gone to rest on the dense trees. The sun was intense. When its rays struck the ripples on the water, it looked as if pearls and rubies were scattered all around.
Aish shook her legs in the water, flapped her wings, and lifted her neck, surveying a nearby tree as if she was about to take flight. Just then, she heard a rustling sound nearby, like someone walking over a pile of dry leaves. Aish lifted her neck and saw a massive buffalo making its way through the grass and leaves. Aish quickly moved to the side of the water, like a barge, to make space for the buffalo. But then she noticed that on the buffalo’s back was a pure white heron strutting along.
“Oh, so this buffalo is a friend of us birds, there's nothing to fear,” Aish thought. Not only that, but one or two herons were also hopping along in the grass a little behind the buffalo.
Aish thought, "This one looks like a queen, with so many birds acting as her bodyguards." She tried to hide her face in the water, worried the buffalo might object to her presence. After all, Aish was part of a migrant group; she wasn’t local.
But then a dirty, muddy fish informed her that those herons weren’t bodyguards or servants of the buffalo. This buffalo, while walking through the grass, blows air through her snout, causing the mosquitoes and insects in the grass to buzz out. The greedy birds just follow her to snatch up those mosquitoes.
“Well, what do I care?” Aish said, as she fluttered her wings and leaped onto a low branch. She didn’t like how the fish had called her fellow birds greedy.
Aish wasn’t feeling sleepy. Hidden in the greenery of the tree, she began observing the activities of the buffalo and the herons. The herons stopped at the edge of the water, while the buffalo reached the middle of the water, enjoying a swim.
Aish noticed a small bluebird sitting on the top of the tree. To pass the time, she spoke to the bird, “Look at our fellow herons, how much they love this fat buffalo. They’re standing there guarding her while she bathes.”
The bird burst out laughing and chirped, “Oh madam, these herons aren’t guarding the buffalo; they’re fishing for themselves while standing in the water. And anyway, is it proper for males to be watching a female bathing like this?”
Aish fell silent. She thought, "This bird might be right, so this isn’t about love or anything." But Aish didn’t like the bird. She started thinking, "Look at this bird, how old-fashioned and backward it is. Who even thinks like this nowadays? Is there still any difference between men and women? Why can’t a male look at a female’s naked body? After all, he’s born from that very body. This bird must be from some backward area, which is why its thoughts are so outdated."
Just then, Aish noticed the buffalo standing at the water’s edge, relieving herself. The bird was also startled and stared in that direction.
Aish didn’t want to argue with the bird since she was a newcomer here, but she didn’t want to remain silent on something wrong either. So she said, “Did you see that? The buffalo’s dung will be used by some farmer to make fertilizer. Then that fertilizer will grow crops in the field. Everyone will eat those crops, you and me included. So, what’s wrong with watching the buffalo?”
Seeing Aish's stern expression, the bird got scared and flew away.
After dozing off for a bit, Ash suddenly remembered why she had blended in so easily with the locals here—after all, she was a foreigner. She would have to fly away from here eventually. When the leader of their flock gave the signal, they would have to leave this land behind.
But even so, her heart grew sour at the thought of those who never come and go, who stay rooted in one place their whole lives. They become so selfish. Those who have tasted the waters of many lands, on the other hand, become as pure as flowing water. They learn to respect the pain and thoughts of others.
Look at her, sitting here lost in thought, while the birds in her flock had already started stretching their wings, ready to take flight. One by one, they soared into the sky, heading toward an unknown world.
As soon as she was in the sky, Ash began to wonder if the old uncle had been punished for his sins. No, no, she shouldn’t think that way. After all, what was his mistake? The old man, who had been living alone for so long, found himself sitting so close to someone as beautiful and young as Ash on a dark night—his heart was bound to flutter. He had been so embarrassed afterward.
When his time came, he had to go. So, what punishment was there in that? Whatever it was, with the loss of Ash's guardian from the flock, an emptiness had indeed settled in.
The weather was clear. They were all flying briskly. Perhaps their flock was now passing over a city. Below, wide roads teemed with cars, bicycles, and people, flowing like a stream.
The leader of the flock warned them all, "Look, we're passing over a town. Be careful. There could be kites in the sky. Their strings are hard to see from afar. There could be a sharpshooter who might take aim at us."
Everyone was flying quickly in fear but couldn’t resist occasionally glancing down to take in the vibrant colors of the city. After leaving the Hudson shore, it had been a long time since they had seen a big city. Mostly, they had encountered mountains, rivers, fields, forests, or streams.
But Ash felt a bit disappointed that she had yet to encounter "love," which she had embarked on this arduous journey to find. She kept thinking of her companion, Rocky, whom she had sent away to find love far from her. But to be honest, deep down, Ash didn’t really want Rocky to find love anywhere else. If he did find it, she wanted it to be with her! How contradictory. When poor Rocky was with her, expressing his love day and night, courting her, confessing his feelings, she hadn't paid him any attention. And now, without him, she felt such restlessness. That’s life, isn’t it? We never value what we have; we always chase what we don’t.
But just then, Ash was startled. A young bird flying nearby had unintentionally brushed its beak against Ash’s neck. It quickly moved away as if it had come to say something!
Before Aish could fully comprehend, the flying birds began to see the greenery and blue water beneath them as the ground disappeared below. It didn't take them long to realize that they were once again flying over a river. And then Aish understood the young bird's mischief. She blushed to herself, realizing that the enthusiastic young bird was subtly hinting that it might be a long time before they would have to fly over the ocean again. If Aish wanted, she could rest for a while on the shore trees with that young bird.
Aish found herself deep in thought. It didn’t take her long to realize what it meant to rest alone in solitude with a handsome young bird. Aish thought to herself, what should she do? Should she accept the mischievous bird's request? Was this love?
- No, not love; this is merely the fever of the body. Whoever is consumed by it will eventually give in to temptation. A little moment of pleasure, and then you'll go your way, and I'll go mine.
Aish did not go. But she did feel a little uneasy and envious when she saw that as soon as she refused, the young male bird, with another female, was fluttering downwards toward a dense tree.
Aish looked away. In this flock of hundreds of birds flying in the sky, it was common for a few birds to stray from the group to do as they pleased, but later, with their daring and swift flight, they would catch up with their flock. They had their reasons too. Excreting waste could be done while flying, but to release this life-giving nectar from the body, another body was needed. It wasn't possible to rid oneself of this while flying. In this fire, birds melted only by taking refuge in another body.
Oh, Aish now thought about how she had unjustly been angry at the old uncle that day. For a moment, she felt a twinge of regret.
But the next moment, the sight of the roaring ocean lifted everyone's spirits. They were flying over the ocean, and the wind had become a bit stronger and cooler. In the excitement of the changing weather, it didn’t occur to them that they wouldn’t find a place to rest or find food and water for quite some time. Not every desert has an oasis, but so what? Birds never get tired of flying! The blue water and golden sunshine were pleasing to everyone.
Aish looked back and saw that the two birds who had stopped by the shore for a while were now quickly catching up, just a few furlongs behind. Perhaps the magic of rest had filled their wings with the agility of pleasure. Whatever they did in solitude had made their wings magical, and now they were flying swiftly toward them.
After a few hours of flight, they saw a ship in the distance. The leader of the flock's eyes lit up at the sight of another resting spot. But the upper deck of the ship was crowded with people. Most of the men and women had binoculars in their hands, and the children were looking even more eagerly in one direction. What could it be in the middle of the ocean?
Aha! Aish finally understood what it was all about.
Actually, a lot of tourists had come here from far and wide to see a very scenic sight in the middle of the ocean. In the depths of the sea, where the water is very deep, lives the largest creature of the water—the whale. Since a whale is considered a fish, it is often referred to as "she." This gigantic whale fish is not found near the shores, so most people never get to see it. Here, in the deep waters and the serene silence all around, she freely frolics on the surface of the water. Therefore, some ships bring tourists here for whale-watching.
As soon as those flying birds realized that all these people on the ship were eagerly waiting to see the whale fish with their binoculars, their hearts too began to yearn to see the largest creature in the world.
They had seen many fish before, but none of them had ever had the chance to see such a big fish. After all, small fish were their daily food, but getting the chance to see such a large fish, for which hundreds of people had come to the middle of the sea, would be an entirely different thrill, Aish thought.
But there was a problem. All these birds wanted to see the whale, but what fun would it be to see her from afar while flying in the sky?
Their leader immediately decided that, even if it was a bit risky, they should all land on the ship. Despite the crowd of people on the deck, there was enough space on the ship's mast and sails for their group to take over.
There was no obstacle there. All the creatures on the ship were tourists themselves. Since they had come so far to see the playful antics of a giant creature, why would they harm another creature? So, there was no danger in stopping there for a while to watch the whale in the water. With this thought in mind, the leader signaled everyone to land on the ship.
All the birds loosened their wings and fluttered around, choosing places to land.
In no time, Aish's entire group was swaying and dancing on the ship.
The children on board were delighted to see so many birds together. Some of them even turned their binoculars to observe the birds' activities.
The chirping of the birds caught the attention of some tourists, who started tossing bits of leftover food from their bags, pockets, and packets towards the birds. The tired birds took this gesture as a sign of respect and started hopping around to catch the thrown crumbs with their beaks. A commotion ensued.
But then, the guide who had come with the tourists raised his hand and pointed in one direction, asking everyone to stay quiet. Everyone looked in that direction.
Indeed, a gigantic whale was seen leaping out of the water with great force. The whale, like a ship cutting through the waves, emerged from the water, made a powerful jump, as if turning over inside the water. A loud splash was heard when she fell back into the water, and tall waves began to rise. None of them had ever seen such a massive, mountain-like fish before.
Aish saw that all the birds were so captivated by the beautiful sight that they couldn't contain themselves and began circling very close to the whale. The interesting thing was that when the whale leaped out of the water, some tiny fish got caught in the spray and couldn't maintain their balance, so they were flung into the air along with the splashes.
Wow! What fun! All the birds quickly grabbed a fish in their beaks and began to feast.
It was as if Queen Whale herself had offered them a divine blessing! The birds got a grand feast. The people on board were cheering with joy.
No, no...this was all just a game, a spectacle, a bit of fun. There was no love involved. Aish thought to herself.
Sitting on the ship's mast, Aish was intently watching a girl who was lying on a beautiful mat in the ship's gallery, applying some lotion to her body. A small fragrant bottle was lying near her. It seemed like she had no interest in the whale watch at all. She had come here with her friends or relatives, but she was only lost in enjoying the sea voyage. To protect herself from the intense heat, she had worn very minimal clothing, and she was applying some oil-like liquid to her body to prevent sunburn. The smooth, fair skin of her well-shaped chest was now glowing from the combination of sunlight and the oil.
Aish thought, look at how beings protect their lives with such care. And then, someone else devours them.
Disgusting, Aish shouldn't think like that. After all, it was her fellow birds who had eaten the fish that jumped out of the sea with splashes. How could she criticize her companions for their food?
But as soon as Aish emerged from her thoughts, she was terribly startled. None of her companions were visible on any part of the ship. They had all flown away.
It was then that Aish realized the ship was now turning back in the opposite direction. Her entire flock had already flown ahead. She had been sitting there, watching the girl's activities.
Panicking, Aish immediately took flight and started flying quickly in the opposite direction to catch up with her group.
After flying some distance, she spotted her flock, flying away like a swarm of locusts. Aish increased her pace.
But as soon as she reached close to her group, she noticed the same young bird flying at the back of the flock, the one who had once invited her to have some fun together. He kept turning his head to look at Aish, who was flying behind. There was an intense gleam in his eyes, and he was smiling mockingly.
Aish didn't like it. She felt he might be thinking that she had stayed behind to have fun with some male bird.
She ignored him and started flying in the middle of the group.
By late evening, when the flock started seeing the trees on the edge of an island, they were all exhausted. Now, all they wanted was to find a nice spot to settle down. Their leader was keenly looking for a place that had both food and water and a safe forest.
Nature isn't stingy; if it creates, it also nurtures. Soon, they spotted a grove of trees near some paddy fields.
Near the roots of a large tree, a natural canal was flowing from a pond.
Aish noticed that on a soft branch near a high twig, that young bird had settled down. He kept looking at Aish. Seeing the pleading look in his eyes, Aish's heart melted. She couldn't continue to ignore him.
Aish also perched her claws on the same branch. The young male bird felt as if he had claimed something. He chirped and let out a happy cry.
Tears welled up in Aish's eyes. She had been flying around, gasping, and wandering frantically for what seemed like an eternity, but she couldn’t see any of her fellow birds anywhere. How could she have gotten so disoriented? Even so, she had searched everywhere since morning, flying in all directions. She had scoured every inch of the area.
The first puzzling thing was that the flock of birds was supposed to stay there for a day or two. How could they leave so quickly? If they had to leave the resting spot for some reason, where could they have gone in such a short time? Aish had thoroughly searched the area. A darkness descended before her eyes.
There were trees all around, and open air, but a strange emptiness settled in Aish’s heart. How could such a catastrophe have happened? Were all her companions caught in some trouble? But how could an entire flock of hundreds of birds face danger all at once? Someone should have been there, some of her companions should have been visible. Where had they all disappeared to?
Instead, poor Aish herself was now caught in trouble. It was just last night that their flock, exhausted from the day, had settled down here, and by then, it was quite dark. There was plenty of food around the dense cluster of trees, thanks to the nearby water and marshland. There were plenty of small frogs, insects, and crickets to eat, so everyone, after feasting, began finding a spot to perch on the nearby branches.
Aish too had chosen the same branch where a mischievous young bird from the flock had settled, after assessing his flirtation. Today, Aish had decided in her heart that she wouldn’t shy away from pleasing her companion. What was wrong with that?
We are all creatures of nature, after all. If someone finds joy in us, why should we stop them? Don’t we all long for a companion who can provide comfort to our bodies?
But it never came to that.
In the dark, a sudden loud squawk from a few birds startled Aish, and she flew away. She didn’t realize that the wicked hawk, whose attack had scared her companions, would end up chasing her. Seeing her flying alone, the hawk swooped down on her.
Aish didn’t hesitate and, with all her might, spread her wings and made for the open sky. The hawk, likely hungry for some time, pounced on her as if he were starving. Luckily, the hawk got tangled with one of the wires on an electric pole, pausing just long enough for Aish to escape. She flew so fast that in the blink of an eye, she was gone, her heart pounding in her chest as she carried her life in her wings.
Once the hawk fell behind, it got disoriented and lost track of Aish. She disappeared from his sight.
But Aish didn’t take any chances. She continued flying in a straight line, holding her breath. After half an hour, when she was sure that the wicked hawk had wandered off somewhere else, she turned back towards where she had come from.
And now, here she was, surrounded by this eerie silence. This was surely the place. But now, there was no one here. All her companions had vanished, leaving her alone.
Fear seemed to have settled on her shoulders. Not only had she barely escaped with her life, but she had also gotten separated from her flock.
Exhausted and defeated, she decided to rest for a while. Perhaps in the light of day, she might find some clue about her companions from afar. For rest, she chose the highest branch of the tree—the same one where she and her companion had perched first.
Aish closed her eyes, partly from sleep, partly from fear.
* * *
