My Rambles

There lived a sparrow and a squirrel on a mango tree who were best friends. Sparrow stayed in a nest and Squirrel in its tree den close by. Sparrow was kind and could be moody, whimsical, and rude at times while squirrel was caring, jovial, and occasionally short-tempered. They were an odd pair where one could only dream of the skies and other of the earth. One had no business walking and the other was swift and loved to run up and down the trees. One preferred to stay up a tree and other deep in the trunk.

They both foraged for food and shared with each other happily. In the evenings, the squirrel would chase the sparrow up the tree and Sparrow would fly just out of its reach. Sparrow would hover above the Squirrel and peck with its beak and Squirrel would get exasperated. To get even, Squirrel would hide the favorite toys of Sparrow deep in the tree trunk and would not return unless Sparrow would beg and apologise.

In their little games, life was fun and frolic most of the time. They knew the vices and virtues of each other perfectly well and bore with the idiosyncrasies with as much equanimity as possible.

The life went on until one day the squirrel in a fit of anger vandalised the beautifully weaved nest of the sparrow. The sparrow was upset and the squirrel was remorseful. On seeing the guilt, the sparrow forgave her friend squirrel. The sparrow carefully went about mending her nest. After a few days, both forgot the incident and moved on. Life again went back to normal and their antics resumed. The squirrel would sneak up to the sleeping sparrow unaware and tickle her with his tail and by the time Sparrow would wake up and start the chase squirrel would be burrowed deep in his den. 

One day they quarreled again over a trivial matter and the squirrel repeated his folly. He broke the sparrow’s nest. Sparrow was heartbroken this time and didn’t speak to the squirrel for days. The squirrel was sweet and funny and eventually won over the sparrow and got her to reconcile. 

The sparrow’s faith was shaken but with great care and deliberateness, she mended her nest and hid away any signs from the world.

The sparrow could not forget what had happened but decided to move on but this time more cautiously. Things again went back to kind of normal. They laughed, ate, and played games together. 

Till again one day, the squirrel threw a tantrum and ransacked the sparrow’s nest. This time the sparrow was livid and was in no mood to make peace. The squirrel was ashamed and contrite but also certain of forgiveness. He apologized profusely blaming his temper, the minor loss in judgment, and even hinted at sparrow’s responsibility for fueling his anger. 

The sparrow kept looking at the defilement and kept wondering that while she would be able to mend the cracks but would the marks ever go away; even if she hides from the world but she would always know. She sat confused and despondent that what gave the squirrel the liberty to take such a step? 

Forgiveness is a virtue and especially amongst friends and loved ones but what is the threshold, lest it is construed as a weakness?