"Once upon a time....", this would be the usual starting of a fairy tale in the early days. However, this is also the only phrase that comes to my mind now a days when I think of sparrows. Gauraiyya or Chidiya as they are called in our national language have become less visible these days. All of us have adored this sweet little bird through school poems. Harivanshrai Bachchan in his poetry "Neev Ka Nirman" has portrayed the sparrow as a courageous soul irrespective of how small she is. But today when I want to show a sparrow to my little nephew, all I could see is the ever increasing crows and pigeons. That’s when the phrase pops in my mind:
Once upon a time.....we would see the sparrows every now and then.
Once upon a time.....trees were laden with her chirps at dawn and dusk.
Once upon a time.....we had sparrows building nests in our house.
Today the evenings are either quiet or noisy with the honking horns and the grumbling machineries around. I wonder why there has been such a drastic change in the number of sparrows! Lack of habitat, some might say, but sparrows have long back adapted to the human construction and made it their home equally. Today how many people have a sparrow building nest in their attic, bathroom/toilet, above the windows? Hardly any!
One of the reasons is the, much talked about, pollution. Some scientists also believe that the sparrow get effected due to the wireless transmission zones like the mobile networks that are growing in the metros. Others can include the increasing number of bigger species like crows especially because they also tend to be the predator for the young ones of sparrow. The increase in the population of crows has been related to growing garbage dumping that facilitates easy access to food for the scavengers. This in turn has been affecting the balance in the species. Amidst all, the importance of this issue in the declining number of the sparrows cannot be overlooked.
Definitely, some steps are being taken for the conservation of sparrows. I have recently heard of a small organisation that helps you to attract sparrows to make her nest in your house. I was really impressed by such kind of initiative, but it has to be a widespread effort to actually make any difference. Since sparrow is such a common bird and too small too we can easily misbelieve that we lack in observing or are not noticing them and that they cannot get extinct.
With a large number of species becoming extinct in a comparatively shorter span of time, I really hope the sparrow’s existence will not be restricted just to the pages of books.
6 comments:
I think we all would like to see sparrows again. People are so preoccupied with the jungle of the king disappearing that i guess this little gem of a species has lost its spotlight
thats very true. i hope they take some steps towards conservation of sparrows too before they become dangerously low.
i had written this last year but posted it recentlythe funny thing though is that withing few weeks of writting this some sparrows hav strated to visit my place in mornings. So now i can see some sparrows regularly as my mom keeps food and water for them. now we are hoping they would make a nest nearby soon too.
hey its really true. I remember lots of trees could be seen just behind your home, with lot of chirping birds, its sad that the species of sparrow are decreasing, good attempt to create an awareness about it.
Hey Keepsaker,
Sparrows are indeed an integral and amazing part of our urban landscape and it seems frightening to contemplate a future without them, waking up to the chirp-less stillness of trees devoid of them. A sparrow-house is a great way to feed them and quench their thirst - and get a glimpse of them as well!
Really like your articles. Keep writing!
very true
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