माफ करदो चिड़िया

Summary

Pinki is a young girl visiting her grandmother during school holidays. Her grandmother is a disciplined woman who keeps the house spotless and expects Pinki to manage her own chores. Pinki enjoys watching birds from the kitchen window, especially a small brown sparrow carrying straw to build a nest. She discovers the bird is building its nest inside her late grandfather’s locked room, which her grandmother keeps closed and tidy. Pinki worries her grandmother will destroy the nest if she finds it. To protect the nest, Pinki decides to move it to a safer place. She waits until her grandmother goes for a bath, takes the keys, and enters the room. She finds the nest high on a shelf, carefully removes it, and places it above her own bedroom window, thinking the birds will continue using it. However, the next morning, Pinki and her grandmother find two eggs on the floor of the grandfather’s room—one broken and one cracked. The birds sit sadly on the terrace railing. Pinki confesses she moved the nest. Her grandmother explains that birds abandon a nest if it is touched by humans. Pinki did not know this and feels deep regret for causing the loss of the eggs. She apologizes to the birds and promises never to touch a nest again. The story highlights the unintended consequences of well-meaning actions and the importance of understanding nature.