Ever wondered whatever happened to the chirping of sparrows in the courtyard, waking up to that breeze of fragrant magnolias and walking by the street greeting your neighbours and friends? They all seem to have become wishful thinking nowadays. I was complaining about this one morning to my mom, comparing my life today to what it used to be in my childhood. She thought for a moment and asked me to look for it instead. She didn’t elaborate further but she figured I didn’t need more advice.

That weekend, a bunch of us from work had planned to go to Coonoor. The last memory of Coonoor I had was when I went there with family five years ago. I recalled staying besides a beautiful hillock with an army barrack alongside the road that led to our homestay. The homestay was adorned with beautiful wild flowers and the chill of the night had brought smiles to all of our souls. I pictured a similar trip this time when I set out with my colleagues on an early Saturday morning. We drove leisurely along the lovely Tamilnadu highways, enjoying the sumptuous breakfast served at the highway side eateries. The resort we had booked ourselves in was perched atop a hill. We had some difficulty in finding it but the route was picturesque; so we didn’t really mind driving through winding roads along tea estates and farm plantations. As I parked my car, I noticed wild flowers laid beautifully across all pathways. Squirrels were dancing up and down the trees and there were plenty of colourful birds, belonging to species I can’t name, hugging the trees. The sparrows were still missing or maybe I wasn’t looking in the right direction. As afternoon began to turn into evening, the heat of May began to turn into the chill of November. With gentle breeze crisscrossing the hills, suddenly from nowhere I heard a chirp. The sound was familiar and I ran to my balcony to see where it came from. As I fixed my gaze on a green patch of grass on the courtyard, I found my sparrow pecking at a grain or finding an insect. From her mannerisms, she seemed to be from the city, familiar with her surroundings and comfortable in her skin. She danced around the courtyard for a while and then flew away; just like the gentle breeze that was constantly flowing through my balcony. As the evening turned into dusk, we decided to walk to a dam close by to get into the mix of our surroundings. The silence of the hills was only interspersed by sounds made by crickets and of course our casual banter. The dam trapped the waters of a lake and was beautiful. That we didn’t know it was a restricted area and were shooed away by the army patrol when we began clicking pictures made for an amusing end to our walk into wilderness. A late night party ensued and as I walked back to my room that night, my thoughts were fixated to the next morning. I wanted to wake up to that chirp again; and the sparrow did not disappoint. The magnolias were missing but there were night blooming jasmines instead sprinkled all over the courtyard.

As I walked to the restaurant, there was music playing in my head; and it rhymed perfectly with the mood I was in. Turning strangers into friends is an art and very few are skilled at that art. I tried my hand at it while I was at the restaurant. While some shooed me away just like those army patrolmen the previous night there were others who were warm and kind. We shared a few stories and laughs before parting ways. As I got home later that night, I compared and contrasted the shifts I introduced into my life to go with the trend with what the sparrow must’ve done to keep up with its needs.

The word of wisdom that my mother filled me with began to sink in. I woke up the next morning and heard the sound of basketball bouncing against the floor. There’s this sweet little kid staying on the second floor of our building who has a beautiful and disarming smile and he starts his morning by practising his basketball skills. I went out and wished him a good morning. Though surprised, he smiled and reciprocated. At some point in time, I will find the courage to go and play with him. My mother has built a beautiful terrace garden almost entirely on her own. It has roses, jasmines, chrysanthemums, phloxes, hibiscus and a few other wild flowers. I am now going to add magnolias, dahlias and orchids to the collection. The sparrow will then find its way back home.