The Birds In The Cage

I recently shifted to a new place with an existing occupant of the house. I keep drifting here and there living the way I don't want to live but right now I am in a cage.

I was just a week in the apartment when my acquaintance brought a bird cage with four love birds in it. I learned that he wished to gift that to his girlfriend who was drifting away from the relationship. I wondered whether it would mend anything and I got the answer pretty soon, it didn't. The girl refused to keep the cage and entertain the boy any further. He came back home, heartbroken and decided to take care of the birds, so did I. I wanted to set them free but I never bothered to raise it with my acquaintance. All I did was feed them with food and water in time, watched them moving inside their cage. Sometimes I felt they were trying to break free and ah I pitied them at those times. They didn't have a particularly melodious voice but their chirp still made me happy, I felt they were reveling in the cage. Days went by and soon the birds became a routine for me, by now I was habituated to see them scrambling at the corners of the cage. For a few days I got involved in my activities and forgot to check on the birds thinking that their owner might be taking care of them.

One day when I got up in the morning, I was stunned to see one of them actually making it's way out of the cage. The thing that amazed me even more was that even though the bird was now free to fly out of it's prison, it didn't leave. It kept hanging out there on the cage. I couldn't understand why.

Today when I got up in the morning, I found that my acquaintance was already out, probably gone for the weekend, I went to the cage to find the one missing. The most notorious one was no where to be seen. I peeped inside the cage and to my horror it was lying dead there. Silent tears filled my eyes. The other three birds were flying restlessly, trying hard to make there way out. I removed the dead bird out of the cage and went to bury it. I returned to feed the three birds for the last time before I opened the doors of the cage to set them free. Right now when I am writing this, I can see the empty cage in front of me. I can feel the guilt of keeping the birds caged for so long.

I question self why I haven't done that earlier. But you please don't blame it on me, I told you I too am living in a cage.

6 comments:

  1. Indeed touching...

    A rose if pluck from the plant, the flower will wither in a day or two.However, if its beauty admired from a distance, it blossoms its fragrance until its death

    More the freedom bestowed upon, wider is the space to open the self

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  2. Excellent very poignant..well written...I liked it...

    And set yourself free too..not very difficult.. trust me.. The day you choose to so, you will..all our resources are within us..nothing exists outside..

    RS:)

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  3. I have nominated you for the Liebster Award. If you choose to accept, its all in here:
    http://meghnagarg.blogspot.in/2013/07/this-post-comes-very-late.html
    Have always loved your writing!

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  4. But in the end you did the right thing, and you should be proud of that :-).

    This dilemma is precisely why I would never want to keep birds.

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  5. Birds die. So do relatioships. Neglect is a silent killer. The bird taught you an amazing lesson.

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  6. Beautifully written, You did the right thing in the end.. :) One day I just bought two birds just to free them.. It was an amazing feeling.

    Best wishes
    Ankita

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