House Sparrows

These cheery and sociable house sparrows we used to have around us so much was truly a pleasant company few decades ago . My father fixed a shoe box at the balcony of our house for them to come and make themselves home. For years and years they were there nesting from one brood to the next. Every morning it was so lovely to listen to their songs which often became a noise.

My father had to leave Sri Lanka to take up an assignment in the National Agricultural Board in Zambia in 1978. The house sparrows continued to be with us. On July 1st 1980 early morning the shoe box fell down and nest shattered with broken eggs. The grief was unbearable we cried I remember. However, none of us ever thought it was an omen a bad omen. That this warned us on our own nest falling apart.

My mother received the news that my father passed away in an accident in Lusaka , Zambia same day at about 10.30 am after a about three hours of falling of the nest.

Whenever I hear about house sparrows I can't help remembering this story with pain. The house sparrows left our house for good and left us all alone to bear our grief also as there was no one to fix a box for them to make a nest.