It was one of those typical grey, bleak, wintry London mornings when you go through the motions of the whole day, having seen nothing but different shades of grey. I had woken up later than usual and later than what would leave me with a decent amount of time to get ready and go to office – I decided to work from home. So, it was that I had the luxury of time in my hand and was standing in the balcony of my 11th floor apartment overlooking the expanse of Croydon, when a house sparrow decided to pay me a visit. It flitted on to the railing to the right of me, hopped around my legs a couple of times, wandered along the length of our balcony in a rather forlorn manner and then took flight and disappeared as suddenly as it had come.
It was there for a mere 5 minutes, but it suddenly made me realize how infrequent sparrow sightings have become in urban areas (and I am not speaking of London alone – I was in Bangalore and Mumbai for considerable periods of time before coming to London and try as I might, I couldn’t recollect seeing a single sparrow ever). Yet, they had been such a familiar sight when I was growing up that one would pass by without even a glance or not notice their chirping amidst the general din and even, I guess, get irritated at times, when too many of them would hover around, on the balconies and the rooftops.
What exactly is the reason for their diminishing numbers in the cities, I do not know. But what I definitely do know is that their numbers must be drastically falling for I do not see them up and about ever and I doubt my children, when they grow up, would ever see one outside of a text book.
My guess is that they have fallen prey to technology and have lost their nestling sites – how many houses do you see today that have holes and nooks from which, straws are sticking out?
How I wish mine in London had not been a modern apartment, but an older house with its sealing not so tight. That fleeting sparrow visit definitely made my day, a lot less greyer.
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