Cock-A Doodle

Cock-A Doodle

It was a pleasant May Morning at Nagpur. I was woken up by a familiar sound. It was the sound of a Rooster. No doubt, I was amused and refreshed at the same time. I could hear the sound but could not see him from my flat’s balcony.

For the past three decades staying in Nagpur, I'm more used to hearing Parakeets, occasional sounds of Doves, Rock pigeons, Weaver birds, Robins, Red Vented Bulbuls, Ashy Prinia, Babblers, Sunbirds and so on. But, the sound of Rooster was welcome change.

My wife shared the same feeling. I went downstairs to bring some grocery. The owner of the store was also wondering that he could hear the rooster call but could not see it. I came back. Till then my kids were awake and  preparing for the online classes. I just asked them about the sound of the rooster. I was  startled by their ‘numb’ response. I ignored them and had my tea. In the mean time the sound continued for an hour or so. 

We are  very much used to chirping sound of birds during the lockdown. The cuckoo’s voice  takes the lead as usual. But today’s morning was special as I just could not get over the  rooster’s call.

Just then a dear friend called me for some work. I shared this incidence with him. His response was hilarious. He said that someone has taken the call of  our respected PM’s 'Atmanirbhar bano'   ( be self reliant ) seriously in your locality of Nagpur and opened a poultry  for  raising chickens, roosters as a livelihood .

You must be wondering what is all this fuss around the Rooster call  and why  I am so much excited? 

Well, to tell you the story, the sound of Rooster took me back to my days as a youngster in Bhilai. We used to stay in quarter in sector 6. Our quarter was a triple storied building with 18 units. We used to stay in a small unit on the first floor. Just behind our building was another building of the same structure. So there was enough space between the buildings to let us play and make merry.

Our neighbours consisted of families- Malyalam, Telugu, Tamils, Bengalis, Punjabis, Oriya, Gujaratis...in short it was little India. Our kids group was of similar age and we used to play a lot. In these quarters the ground floor was generally occupied by the Malayali families. They used to take advantage of the space and they were fond of raising these hens and roosters and cows as well .

For me it was an introduction to the livestock observation. Especially  the hens.  I used to keenly observe them play, quarrel, running helter-skelter around our quarters.  Often, there were quarrels among the families over the hens.  It was an entertainment for us living on the first floor. Many times the roosters from one family used to take a fight with another one. This led to the quarrel between the families over the roosters.

Still the families greeted each other during the festivals and to put it on record,   I have witnessed each and every festival here. My overall upbringing had been strongly influenced by the various cultures I was exposed to. Holi, Diwali, Christmas were celebrated by all equally.

I would like to share the most enjoyable incidence here . The hens, roosters, chickens could play all the day long. But once the playtime was over came the most intriguing part…. The  'call '  of the owner of the hens. The adorable  mallu aunty in her typical voice would shout  as ' uudeee ba ba ba ba ba' .....and all hens, roosters, chickens would run towards her    making ' cluck cluck ' sound . It was a sight to behold.  I  can still imitate her call....and kasam se you all will enjoy ....😄 !!!

In short, the sound definitely took me back into my childhood days. My sons who have been ( are being) raised in concrete jungles won't understand the pleasure. A lapse on my part as I have  not been able to introduce them to the sounds of the nature in the 'urban settings'. The only  consolation for me is their interest in the sound of music. Both of them  play harmonica, flute, mouth organ, guitar, keyboard, tabla etc.

I sometimes feel that  they should  start appreciating the  silent sound of nature and get more inspired.  

Till then, I expect a regular wake-up call   ' cock - a - doodle ' instead of my cell alarm. Enjoy!!!

 

Amit Naseri

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