Birds and the Urban Jungle

by Vasudha Malik

Victor, the peacock and Mabel, the peahen live on a dry patch of land, which is surrounded by a cluster of houses and filled with a distant drone of traffic. They are sad because there are no forests left. Moreover, the summer is too hot and the lake has dried. Carolina, the cuckoo, sings a tearful song about how the birds lost their forest to the city, whereas other birds suggest leaving the city in search of green spaces. They get a surprise when one fine afternoon, Saelig, the kingfisher, swoops down from a building and brings along a piece of news, whirring with excitement. Then for the first time since the start of summer, it begins to rain.

28 pages, Paperback

Published December 12, 2014