Benebou

There were three massive mango trees beside our pond back in my ancestral home. Which were later chopped down by my sibling in his deforestation mania.. no he doesnot bothers about life or objections of others.

 

When I returned to burdwan after spending almost four years in delhi (a place where you wont even hear crows..) I landed in pure heaven. An old two storeyed house with a pond and garden. Full of flowers and birds.

 

My bedroom was in the first floor, the branches of one of the mango trees touched my window bars.. within one month my love with nature and its creatures started and that will stay with me as long as I breathe.

 

One day I was sitting beside my window when I heard an extremely sweet bird call, it clearly sounded like “ekti khoka hok” that means “may you have a baby boy”, I jumped out of the bed to locate the bird and did located him, what a beauty he was… I am enclosing his pic to show you. Dazzling yellow and black. He has two distinctive calls one I described above and the other is “O benebou” that means “hey goldsmith’s wife”. Well, its just co incidence that their calls sound like two bengali sentences but they do.

 

Well in case of this bird it was love at first sight, which is still there.. their gorgeous looks and equally gorgeous voice.

 

I have seen a couple here, near my home, but the funny part is back at my ancestral home it was next to impossible to see them, they are very shy birds.. and always hide themselves in leaves but the two I saw in kolkata are extremely brave, I even saw them sitting on a wall near my home.. but their call and looks is by no means inferior.. hope they will visit me next spring again. Their call is heard only during early spring, spring and early summer. Rest of the time they don’t call.

 

My constant companion is koyel or kokil, I have observed they sing through out the year and often I have heard them singing in moonlit nights. I used to relish teasing them when I was ahem, even in my early thirties.. now I think its not very nice to tease these sweethearts.

 

If you mimic them they will keep calling, and after a while will get really angry.. I used to mimic them to hear them. It was so lovely to hear them calling to defeat their rival.