Series of conversations between a girl and a bird which reflects light upon the relationship between a parent and a child (specially girl child).How a parent realises that becoming so much protective about the child can dig a grave for the child instead!

 

One day Kyra’s father brought home a bird. It was a sweet little bird. Kyra was so happy to see her. The bird was kept in a pretty pink cage.

 

Kyra named her Twinnie. One evening Kyra was sitting on a garden chair and saw some birds flying in the sky.

“Twinnie I’ll never let you go out there. You will get lost and I love you so much,” said Kyra.

“But what if I like the sky and I want to go there!?” questioned Twinnie.

“Oh! First learn to fly, try it in there in your cage,” replied Kyra.

“But Kyra……”.

The bird wanted to say something but Kyra left.

Another day Sun came up with a light of hope. Twinnie, inside her cage, saw a bird nearby. It was doing some movements which mesmerized her like walking swiftly, sitting sometimes on a tree, sometimes on fresh grass, eating worms, playing with other birds and flying carefree. Just then Kyra came to her and opened her cage to give her food.

 

“Kyra I want to come out and enjoy the weather,” said Twinnie.

“But Twinnie you get it in here. This cage isn’t all closed. It has wide openings for winds to come in. You get it all here!” Kyra explained.

“But you see I also want to fly. I saw other birds flapping their wings, so I also tried to do so. But this cage is so small,” complained Twinnie.

“Oh!Twinnie” sighed Kyra” I will bring you a bigger one. But you don’t come out. You don’t know conditions out here. These birds you see are eaten by others animals. It is dangerous out here. I am just …you know. Just protecting you.”

She then went out to buy a bigger cage for Twinnie.

Next day Kyra came with a large size cage. She asked Twinnie to switch to her new cage. Twinnie was happy to see more space. She flew and flew and flew until she got tired and slept. Another day came she woke up started to sit on some branches which were peeping inside the cage.

 

“Oh! I love the smell and taste and colour and freshness, it feels so new and great,” said Twinnie joyfully.

Days passed she did the same thing again and again, but not able to go beyond those iron boundaries. She never learned to fly in a carefree manner.

One morning Kyra came to her.

“So, enjoying the weather. Are you flying?” asked Kyra.

“Mmm…flapping my wings to go from one corner to other and then to another and yes! Sometimes feeling the freshness of one or two leaves, if this is flying then yes! I am flying.”

“What do you mean? Why are you sounding so dull and sarcastic? I brought you this big cage so that you can fulfil you dream to learn to fly and you should be thankful to me,” burst Kyra.

“But I don’t think it should be like this. Somehow I feel something is lacking but I am not able to guess what it is. Don’t you think I should also come out and fly in a better way like others do?” asked sad little Twinnie.

“No, not at all …you see you are getting everything in here.You don’t have to search and do hard work for your food, you are not harmed by other animals, you are so safe in here, everything is just so easy. And you are complaining about this?” again burst Kyra.

“I don’t want you to come out and get lost or exploited. You know I love you!” said Kyra in upset tone and went inside.

Twinnie sighed helplessly and said, “This easiness is making me uncomfortable”.

 

Days passed Kyra never let Twinnie come out of the cage.Twinnie many times talked about her confusions about life and experiences but Kyra’s answer was same -“You are getting enough. There is no need to come out”.

 

            More days passed, then weeks, months. One afternoon Kyra was talking with her college friend and she came to know that she too had a pet bird. So her friend invited her to see the bird.

When Kyra entered her friend’s house she opened a small garden gate and saw some birds drinking water from the same bowl.

“OH! How beautiful!” she exclaimed.

She then entered a room and saw her friend.

“Hi! Kyra where have you been?”

“OH! Sorry actually I.. “Kyra was interrupted by her friend.

“Chippie…Chippie…hey! Come see your new friend Kyra,” said her friend.

“Hey! this is one of those birds I saw in your garden,” said Kyra.

“Yes! This is my chippie,” said her friend.

“But how do you recognize her?” asked Kyra.

“Oh!…she is my bird Chippie..I know her…and every bird has their individuality. You just need to look keenly at them,” replied her friend.

“Your bird is not in a cage. Are you not afraid if she forgets you and get lost or harmed by others?” again asked Kyra.

 

“Oh! Kyra, they are living beings, they need to grow. They cannot grow in cages, they only age in that cave. And if you will not let them out, how they will learn to handle their problems, they need to catch their prey and earn their food, they need to fly up high in the sky. They are born for that, you know. They are not your slave. They will not learn something until they will experience it.They…they need to live Kyra,” explained her friend.

Kyra was silent for a moment and said, “Sorry dear! Actually, I just got reminded, I have something important to do,” and she left for her home.

She ran as fast as she could to reach her home. She went straight to Twinnie’s cage.Twinnie was sitting inside her cage. Passing time made her hopeless and helpless with gloomy eyes.

 

“Twinnie! I think you should be out here with me.I love you but I cannot stop you from doing something you love. I am sorry!” said Kyra regretfully. And then she released the bird and did the right thing for her in which Twinnie had joy.