The sparrows and a boy

Anand was playing with his younger brother in the backyard of his home. All of a sudden, his eyes fell on some sparrows who were busy building nests. Two of them were building a nest on a branch of an ornamental tree. Another pair of sparrows were busy building nests in a space under the eaves of the roof, and the third pair was trying to build the nest among the conduit pipes on the wall. Both the brothers got fascinated with the sparrows and began to observe how these sparrows build nests, and how these sparrows bring straws and dry grass from the garden and arrange them to shape the nests.

Anand was a fourteen-year-old boy studying in a high school. His younger brother, Vinod, was ten years old and studying in primary school. Both of them were clever boys. Their father was a shopkeeper in the town.

The next evening, when they went to the backyard to play, they found sparrows busy building nests. All of a sudden, mischief came into Vinod, and he picked a pebble from the garden in the backyard and threw it on the nest under the eave. Fortunately, the pebble missed its aim. Just then, their grandfather, Prakash, came out of the back door and asked Vinod, "Why are you throwing pebbles?"

"To remove the nest being made by the sparrows," Vinod replied.

Prakash said to him, "It's very bad to throw stones at these innocent sparrows. God will get angry if you do so."

Saying so, Grandfather took him for an evening walk.

Anand was good at studies and was taking coaching for football. He wants to be a football player at the national level, but his coach was not satisfied with his performance. Here, his father was not satisfied with his studies. He wanted his son to score more marks in maths. Actually, Anand was weak at maths, and he was a bit lazy, irregular, and careless.

His mother used to say, "You can do better, but you don't take interest."

Anand used to reply, "Mother, I am trying my best to get more marks and play football well."

It was Sunday morning, and the weather was fine. Anand, Vinod, and Grandfather were having tea in the backyard after breakfast. Vinod was looking at the wall where two sparrows were trying to set the straws and dry grass in a space between the conduit duct and the wall, but they were failing. Every time the straw or dry grass fell down, the sparrows came down, picked it up, and again tried to set it, but it fell down again. He said to Anand, "These two sparrows are still making their nest, while other sparrows have already made their nests."

Anand said, "I think these two sparrows don't know how to make a nest. They are idiots."

Hearing this, Grandfather said, "All the birds know very well how to make a nest. I think they failed in choosing a suitable place for the nest. That place is not suitable. They should choose some other place."

Vinod said, "Who will tell them about a suitable place?"

The grandfather replied, "No one needs to tell them. They will soon realise it."

Anand said, "An idea came to me for these sparrows."

Vinod asked, "What idea?"

Anand replied, "Why not buy a bird house and keep it in a suitable place?"

Vinod got happy and said, "Good idea." And then looked at the grandfather.

The grandfather began to think about something. After a short while, the grandfather said, "Yes, it is a good idea."

Vinod asked with enthusiasm, "When will we do it?"

Grandfather replied with a smile, "Today evening."

They bought a bird house in the evening and kept it at the place where those two sparrows were trying to build a nest. Anand and Vinod hoped that the sparrows would adopt the bird house.

The next morning, Vinod saw that the sparrows were still trying to make a nest by arranging straws and grasses, but all their attempts were going in vain. Seeing this, Vinod went to Anand and said, "Brother, the sparrows didn't like the bird house. They are still trying to build their own nest."

Anand said to him, "Actually, they are fools. They don't know how and where to built a nest. We can't do anything for them."

The next day, the entire family was out of the home for two days to take part in a marriage ceremony in a nearby city.

They enjoyed the marriage ceremony and the party. Returning from the ceremony, when Anand reached his room, he heard the fluttering of wings. When he looked, he found two sparrows on the ventilation hole of the room, and their nest was about to be completed. He told his grandfather about it. The grandfather said to him, "I knew that these two sparrows would build their nest because they were working wholeheartedly and with full confidence. If one works wholeheartedly and with confidence, one will surely get success."

"And this applies to you, too," Anand's mother chipped in.

Anand looked at his mother. His mother continued, "If you want to do well in studies and become a football player, you should study and play wholeheartedly and regularly."

The grandfather said, "The example of these sparrows is before you."

Anand said, "Yes, today, I have learnt a lesson from these sparrows." And he began his studies and football coaching with a new attitude.