Flight of the Shikra

Neelima held her tight, and when the sobs subsided, she said

"Sonu Auntie, he was your mentor and you were his star pupil. He was always proud of you, Mom loved you and you must grieve for them today. Grieve as much as you want, cry till you can't cry anymore, from tomorrow morning, do not think of their passing, just celebrate their life. They would not have wanted it any other way."

The next morning, we went up to their love nest. Mama had narrated to us their love story. "This is where it all began," she had said, "this is where your life began too," she had said, looking at Neelima.

Mama and Papa were the touchy feely types. They couldn't stay away without touching each other. Their hands would brush when at the dining table, their knees would touch when they sat next to each other. Mama would always latch on to his arm when they walked, and given a chance, Papa's arm would always be around her. And they would always be stealing kisses, you just have to turn you back on them and they will kiss, they never realised that even if my back was turned toward them, many a time I would catch their reflection in the mirror or glass panes. It would always make me smile.

The only time they would not touch would be when they were driving. Both Mama and Papa were fast skilful drivers, and we enjoyed every long distance drive with them. Mama being an automobile engineer was also a very good mechanic. It was always she who would take care of the cars, brief the service centres on what she wanted done when the cars went for servicing. And when the older cars were replaced, its was she who took the decisions of which cars we bought. But when they drove, they would be ever aloof, yet be expectantly waiting for the next refuelling stop or a break for food. The hands would clasp the moment the car stopped and their eyes would signal each other a secret message which none of us would understand.

We were looking at their pictures, the beautiful pictures taken at their engagement and then at the wedding. There was a flapping sound outside. Two shikras were perched on the railing, one with orange coloured eyes and the other with deep red ones. They looked at us, rubbed their beaks against the railing, and then with a powerful thrust of their talons against metal and a mighty forward impetus of their wings, they took flight. Soon they were two specks in the sky and then we lost sight of them.

Nihir looked around, there was a tin of bird-feed in the corner. Maybe Mama and Papa used to scatter bird-feed on the balcony. We never saw the Shikras there again.

The bird bath was delivered. When we went to install it, there was a small sapling growing there. So we installed the bird bath in the other corner. There would always be birds in our small garden.

Life flows on very rapidly, the sapling grew into a tall red silk cotton tree, its blooms would be a fiery orange that would turn a deep red. The grandchildren that Neela and Narasimha would never meet arrived. Neelima and I had our daughters within a few months of each other and then again, two years later, our sons arrived, just a few weeks apart. Those genes are very dominant, they all have the long eyelashes of Papa and the exquisite lips of Mama.

We had convinced Mom and Dad to move in with us, and they provide the support that the grandkids need. Sulochana, Champa and Rekha are still going strong. We realised we are a very special family. We have one set of parents who were born on the same day, two sets of couples who married on the same day and a set of parents who would move on together on the same day, to rest with nature and be one with the stars.

Five years to the day, we went back to the 'love nest.' Our kids were playing on the bed, having a rollicking time. We had decided to bring the photographs of Neela and Narasimha to our living room, they will occupy a space next to their parents.

It was Nihir, my husband, the evolutionary biologist who spoke.

"It says in almost all the scriptures that man is known not by his birth but by his deeds. They are all off the mark. A million years from now, when Homo sapiens would have branched out into some other species, when we would be a part of pre-history, where just as today we do not know the name of the person who invented the wheel or the one who first used a hammer, so too will we be known as an ancient species of an ancient culture who dared to eradicate diseases, and who were brave enough to cross the boundaries of the solar system. And in those days, there would still be large populations of individuals who will have very long eyelashes and very exquisites lips, some will have both. It is the genes that will live on, deeds will be irrelevant."

We each picked up a kid that was closest to us in our left hand and our right hand extended towards the next person into our family huddle. Only Suman and Vivek, best friends of Neela and Narasimha and our parents and guardians had two hands free to take us into a protective embrace.

The Shikras had long flown, now it was our hopes and aspirations that were soaring.