The Bifold Logic

           “What are you doing?” he asked her as he took off his shoes and entered the house.
             “When did you become blind? Can’t you see?” she replied without even looking at him. He knew she didn’t mean it in a derogatory way. She’s always been like that when engaged in a task. He went into the kitchen and returned with a water-bottle.

             “When did you become a doctor?” he queried, sipping water from the bottle.

             “You don’t have to be a doctor to bandage a broken leg. Being an animal lover is good enough,” she answered, tying the ends of the bandage into a knot. She carefully placed the sparrow in a bowl cushioned with a piece of an old blanket. She rose, approached him and took the bottle from him saying, “Even love for animals is not necessary, kindness will suffice.”

             “Is that the same sparrow for which you built a nest in the ventilator shaft and rendered the exhaust fan useless?” he asked, accompanying her into the kitchen.

“For the record, I didn’t build the nest. It was already there. I just replaced it from where it fell. You were the one that left the ventilator shaft open for more than two weeks. And it’s just a chick sparrow,” she replied. “You won’t believe me when I say what happened today,” she began with a tinge of excitement.

           He interrupted her. “You won’t believe what happened in the office today. I opened my laptop to give a presentation and the whole screen was flooded with ads about sparrow food, sparrow nests and, here it comes, colorful sparrow print dresses for girls!! I was embarrassed in front of my boss. On top of that, my colleagues gave me a nickname.”

             She asked, “Is it Captain Jack Sparrow?” and started laughing. All the anger in his face vaporized and is replaced by a hint of a smile.

            He replied, “Yeah, very funny! I wanted to go as the Falcon to the Foundation Day party. Now, I have to get a new costume. Why did you use my laptop to research your fetishes?”

            “Okay, it’s my turn now,” she said dodging the question, imitating Jack Sparrow. She continued in her normal voice, walking towards the bedroom, “The mama sparrow went out to bring food for the chick. After some time, there came this big sparrow, bigger than the mama sparrow, into the ventilator shaft. I didn’t observe it until the chick started making sounds. When I saw the big sparrow poking the nest, I thought it was the papa sparrow and that it brought food. But the chick didn’t stop chirping. I heard the mama sparrow come next. I thought it was a happy family reunion since I haven’t seen the papa sparrow until then, and then realized that mama sparrow is pecking the papa sparrow.” They were in the bedroom by then. She settled in front of the PC while he lay listening on the bed. He looked at her as she paused.

           She continued, “Ah! Here it is! It’s a Wild Sparrow. That makes sense.” She showed him the image on the computer. “I was just sitting there and before I could realize what was happening, the wild sparrow struck hard on the chick’s leg and broke it. And it escaped while the mama sparrow was attending to the wounded chick.”

Both of them looked into the hall as they heard chirping: the mama sparrow was now comforting the chick. “That day you asked me why I rescued them. It was because their lives also matter. Each and every life matters. Just because those lives are in smaller bodies doesnt mean they are different from us. Just because we are big and powerful doesn’t mean we can destroy those lives. Also, they reminded me of my moments with mom,” she said the last sentence reminiscing in her memories.

           He embraced her from behind, in an effort to shield her from her poignant memories, and gave a peck on the cheek. She turned in his hands, looked at him thoughtfully and said, with a smile, “If you grew a beard, you could definitely pull off the Jack Sparrow costume. But don’t give up bathing!!”

* * *

           “What are you up to today?” he asked opening the gate, on seeing her closing the mesh window of the ventilator shaft.

          “I’m fed up with the wild sparrow bullying our sparrows. They don’t stand a chance against the wild sparrow. So I decided to take the matter into my own hands,” she said climbing down.

         “So what is the plan? Are you evicting our feathered tenants?” he asked approaching her.

       She turned on the ventilator switch and the exhaust fan started rotating with an audible hum. Then she walked over to the table in the corner and picked up the chick. A moment later the mama sparrow came flying and perched on her thumb, close to her baby. He was still waiting for an answer when he heard a sound like something was struck by the ventilator fan, closely followed by a shrill cry of a terrified wild sparrow. He didn’t know whether he actually heard or imagined the splat of a wet pulp, which was once the body of the bullying wild sparrow, splattering on the ground.

           She was talking something about necessary evil, but her speech on equality of all life forms was replaying in his head. In the end, he just laughed at the hypocrisy of it all and went on with his routine.

The Broken Bridge

 

He sat in the verandah, bent over the table covered with paper, with steaming coffee cup in one hand and the other holding the paper in place and turning pages. There is a light breeze today, making it difficult for him to hold the paper in place with single hand. So he finished drinking coffee, set the cup aside and devoted his complete attention to the newspaper.

His wife was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, spreading delicious aromas throughout the neighborhood. He generally starts with the first page; but today, when the paperboy flung the paper, it dove right into the bucket of water set aside for sprinkling in the garden. He immediately retrieved it, but the first two pages were already damp. News articles on the first page were illegible. Trying to separate the two damp sheets only resulted in tearing them. So he laid them in sunlight for drying and started from 5th page.

He read first few lines in the editorial; the editor once again wreaked havoc on the government for its inability to prevent accidents. “How can the government prevent accidents?” he thought to himself. “The drivers and passengers should be alert at all times. The government can regulate until a certain level. After that, it’s our responsibility. And the government has to make sure periodically that the infrastructure and machinery are fit as per standard regulations”

His thoughts continued in this direction when his wife entered verandah to collect his empty coffee cup. She listed the vegetables available and asked him what he would like to have in lunch. He waved his hand resignedly as if to tell “whatever you wish”. She turned around saying “I gave you choice and you declined it. So, don’t go to your mother complaining that I’m not cooking your favorite dishes.” He smiled to himself.

She was about to step inside when the dry paper in the sunlight attracted her attention. “Are you so lazy to pick up the paper?” she asked mockingly as she picked it up. He responded likewise saying “why do you jump to conclusions? We have been together for 23 years and still I can’t get used to it yet. If I am really lazy, I would be the one amongst us who is …” he thought for a second and added “chubby.” He raised his head to look at her expression when she heard the last word.

He saw confusion and shock instead of mock anger. Also, she didn’t seem to have heard him. She was looking at the main paper. He was immediately concerned. He got up, reached her and shook her, asking what happened. When she didn’t respond, he looked at the headline she was staring at. It read “12 youths killed in road accident”. That caught his attention. He grabbed the paper from her hands and read the details:

The accident happened near a small village in a northern state where a bridge built across the mighty river collapsed at around 2’o clock in the morning due to heavy floods. An aerial view of the site and damage occurred can be seen in the above picture. Unfortunately, a tour bus carrying 30 persons, including staff, happened to be crossing the bridge at that time. The death toll is 12 and increasing by the hour. According to one of the rescued passengers, the bus fell into the river and was carried away by the strong current for about 1km, where the river took a 90 degree turn. The bus was lodged in the muddy bank due to the strong pushing current. But by that time, 18 people were missing. So far, 12 bodies have been recovered along the river banks, as far as 4km downstream from the bridge. Both missing and found (dead/alive) passengers are listed below for the benefit of victims’ families. The official report is still due. The water level in the river receded for now, but the officials say it is only temporary and more floods are inbound.

He didn’t notice his wife collapse on the architrave. He didn’t even hear her bawling. The neighbors quickly gathered at their doorstep, some came in. But he continued reading. He reached the list of 'found dead' and read carefully each and every name. He stopped at the seventh name and read it again to confirm. He dropped the paper and ran into the house. Women in the gathering were consoling her without even knowing why she was crying. Some of the men followed him inside.

He turned on the television and tuned in a news channel. One of the neighbors, who already read the newspaper and guessed what must have happened, took him by hands and seated him in the chair facing the television. The news channel was displaying the images of the deceased. One of the images on the screen is same as the one that stood beside the television. Seeing this from the architrave, the mother’s cries rose but the father never rose from the chair for the rest of his life.