There was an article in “The Hindu” about the declining rate of sparrows. The reasons offered was the structure of houses being built today and the intolerance of people nowadays. That reminded me of an incident several years ago. It was my darning day and I was busy stitching all the tears and holes in the kids’ clothes and carrying out my cooking chores at the same time. So I was flitting in and out of my room and the kitchen. During one of these journeys from the kitchen and back to the room I found my needle and thread missing. It gave me quite a few anxious moments, for I was worried that it might end up in the children’s hands. I searched high and low but to no avail. Finally I gave up in exasperation.

    After that I was careful about my needles, but mystery shrouded that one needle that I lost and soon after I forgot about it. But the mystery did get cleared up when one fine day the nest that a pair of sparrows had built on top of the electric junction box in a corner of the room to rear their family came toppling down. The baby sparrows had grown and left the nest so there was no casualty. But there were other casualties. My lost needle and thread were intact there having gone into the construction of the nest, and so were pieces of gauze bandage cloth and cotton wool that I realized I hadn’t missed until I saw them in the nest. There were also curry leave and coriander leave branches - a contribution from the kitchen – to add to the garnishing effect. A cozy nest indeed. I do miss those enterprising birds.

It is a great feeling to be able to sit out on your small porch in the early hours of the morning and watch the butterflies flit in and out of the plants in your wee little garden. Nine years ago when we started looking out for a plot to build a house, we started looking for something within our budget in the periphery of the city. Finally we ended up buying a ground in the outskirts of the city. 40 feet x 60 feet, that is one ground, buying that was a great Herculean feat. And to have a decent-sized house built within the confines of 40 x 60 and yet have a garden and a couple of trees in it was something that came true from the wildest of dreams. Even if it were a one-room tenement I wanted it on terra firma. And so there was I sitting enjoying my early morning coffee on my very own porch. What made it all the more wickedly delightful was that it was a working day and here I was deliberately sipping my coffee and drinking in the morning warmth too. And the reason – convalescing from a recent illness. Thank God for small mercies like this.