“Why don’t you sell those loud birds?” said her cousins, who donated some of their furniture to her before leaving the city behind for Australia. They told her about pet markets where ring-necked parakeets were in high demand, especially ones as beautifully colored as Abba and Bee Gees, with their green feathers luminous as rain-washed leaves, a touch of peach about their necks, and beaks bright as cherries. Their eyes, all knowing in the manner of elephants. But Mrs. Sen refused to consider such crude advice. After the door closed on those cousins, she thought: Why don’t you sell Pikoo, who
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