Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Chiu Tai, Chiu Tai - where have you gone ?

I remember there was a poem in Marathi (one of the Indian Languages spoke in the State of Maharashtra) which i learnt during my primary school days.

It was a rhyme by a kid asking Chiu Tai (common house sparrow) where it has gone.

it brings a lot of nostalgia to me personally as the poem influenced us to observe and care for the sparrows. I also faintly remember how a sparrow would get into my room the moment it found the windows open and then peck at its refelected image on the mirror.

The sparrow is a feeble bird, the gender of its kind can be distinguished by the dull woody brown - Male and the dark reddish brown-Female.

They collectively build a nest from hay & twigs and the female lays around 3-4 eggs at a time. The venue for the nest is usually at the loft or in the unreachable spots of an structure like an apartment. unlike the weaver birds, the sparrow's nest is a bit clumsy structurally and built to just to fit the need.

I am no Ornithologist nor did i do any reasearch on birds. but i think this might be one of the reasons it got its name as the common house sparrow as it prefers to stay close to us - Humans.

let me ask you my dear friends - When did you last notice the Common House sparrow in India.

answer - a year back or maybe when you were hit by someone and you saw stars and chiu tai singing around your head !

nah.jokes apart, I was shocked when I heard this news but its true.

Pls read the article in the following link. http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/aug/env-sparrow.htm

Its pathetic we (humans) have sucessfully wiped out yet another of the species.

It high time we care for such beautiful creatures around us !

we will have rhymes but would be in a dilema if our little ones ask us the same question back....Chiu Tai, Chiu Tai - where have you gone ?

regards,
Ganesh

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