THE SPARROWS by K. A. ABBAS

     K. Ahmad Abbas (1914-1987) was a journalist and a creative writer. He is also an eminent and distinguished short story writer, novelist and journalist. He attained great fame as a good storyteller with two volumes of stories, namely “Rice and Other Stones” and “One Thousand Nights on a Bed Stone”. His stories genially reflect the feelings of the down trodden and the poor.

‘The Sparrows’ is remarkable not just for its narration but also for its characterization. This is a very moving story of sorrow and disappointment of a supposedly hard-hearted man. His transformation from cruelty to one of endearing love and compassion forms the life line of the narrative.

Rahim Khan was a fifty-year old peasant. Everybody in the village hated him for his harsh and cruel behavior. He was harsh even to small children and animals. No one dared to talk to him. The children would run away if they saw him. But he was a very different man when he was young. His parents squashed his ambitions of joining the circus and marrying a Hindu girl, named Radha. He loved Radha and found in her his soul mate But his Parents had other plans for him and they made him marry a girl of their choice and community, Radha in turn also married and settled in life.

He once heard his father boasting to his mother how well he succeeded in getting his son to accept his words obediently. Rahim Khan then decided to avenge his defeat at the hands of his parents, his family and society. Having decided to take revenge, his first and immediate target was his wife. He saw her as the scapegoat for all his failures. For nearly thirty years, he ill-treated his wife, his two sons and his two bullocks. He quarreled with everyone in the village. Subsequently the entire village developed a deep hatred for him.

Six years earlier his elder son Bundu ran away from home after an unusually severe beating. Three years later his second son Nuru also joined his brother. One day when he returned home from the fields an old lady from the neighborhood told him that his wife had gone to her brother's place and that she would be back shortly. Rahim Khan knew that she would never come back. He suddenly began to feel lonely not because he loved his family but because he had no one now to display his anger. Nobody was there to wash his feet; to give him food and other eatables. His wife’s absence made him feel uncomfortable as though a piece of furniture had been removed from his house.

One day when he was cleaning the roof, he spotted a small nest of sparrows in a corner. He initially wanted to exert his might on them. But good sense prevailed upon him after long gap and he left them undisturbed. He pulled a stool climbed on it to have better look at them. But the parent sparrows would not allow him to breach into their privacy they threatened him by hovering around him and fluttering their wings hard at his face. He was amused at the little bird’s heroic efforts to save the young ones. He realized their love and care for the family. Soon the young ones grew well and began to move around inside his house. He started feeding them with breadcrumb’s and other grains. He called them as Bundu and Nuru after his two sons. There was now total transformation in his temperament and outlook on life. The villagers too took note of the change in him. But they had their own reservations against him. He even stopped shouting at the children.

One day Rahim Khan noticed that because of heavy downpour, the roof had begun to leak near the sparrows nest. He immediately climbed the roof to close the gap. He came back fully drenched. He had already started sneezing.. He failed to take care at once. He woke up the next day with high fever. His only companions now were the two sparrows. He was worried as to who would take care of the two birds after he dies. Couple of days passed. There was no sign of Rahim Khan walking out. The villagers grew suspicious. They sent for his wife who arrived with her sons. When they came in they could see his body lying still and the fluttering of the birds the only sound to be heard.

---HAPPY LEARNING----