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 Ava Sarkar Mondal Raiganj, Contents | During the Durga Puja holidays, Tama came to visit her sister's new apartment with her son, Rupam, just as they had planned earlier. For a long time, she had been meaning to visit but somehow never managed to do so. Rupam gets along very well with his cousins, Pritam and Ritam, her sister's two sons. Whenever they are together, the Puja holidays become full of joy and excitement. It seemed that this year's Puja would be wonderful too. This township in Boishnabghata is exactly the kind of place Tama loves. Almost every house has a wide road in front of it and a tree beside it. Most of the trees are surrounded by circular platforms. Birds chirp everywhere. Nearby lies a huge lake. Many people come to walk along its banks in the morning. One side of the lake faces the apartment complex, while the other faces the main road. Between the lake and the road are numerous shops and benches for people to sit and relax. With a small temple and several statues, the lakeside sparkles with lights as soon as evening falls. It attracts large crowds every day. Many people can also be seen sitting and chatting on the paved ghats along the opposite bank of the lake. Food stalls on both sides of the lake do brisk business selling rolls, chowmein, seekh kebabs, fish fry, spicy puffed rice, phuchka, and other snacks. A narrow footbridge stretches across the middle of the lake, connecting one side to the other. Tama had taken everyone there for an evening stroll. Rupam loved this lakeside area of Patuli. He wished he could visit it again and again. Everyone in the house, including Rupam, usually wakes up late in the morning. Tama, however, always wakes up before sunrise. On the night of Panchami, everyone went out to visit the Durga Puja pandals. Tama has never liked spending the night wandering around to see idols. Besides, whenever she visits a new place, she enjoys observing it from different angles at different times of the day. She also loved the name of the apartment complex, "Tapoban". Just saying the name made her feel calm and peaceful, as though it invited her to spend some quiet time away from all the noise and excitement. For all these reasons, she had already announced that she would stay back and look after the house. No matter how late she goes to bed, she wakes up before dawn every day. On the morning of Shashti, she was walking on the terrace of the five-story building. From there she saw everyone returning noisily after a night of pandal-hopping. She called Rupam and asked him to bring everyone up to the terrace. "Come and see the magic of dawn," she said. As soon as Rupam reached the terrace, he complained, "Why do you wake up so early, Mom? Can't you sleep? We stayed up all night visiting pandals. Let us sleep a little!" Ritam and Pritam agreed with him. "Exactly, Auntie! You're so strange! Who wakes up this early?" Tama pointed toward the sky. Everyone looked and stood stunned. They had never seen such an astonishing sight before. The sky was painted with shades of crimson. A sun, like a golden platter, was just beginning to rise. From the huge pakur tree standing beside the road in front of Tapoban, flocks upon flocks of birds were flying out together and then returning to perch on its branches. The children had never seen so many birds at once. Just a few yards away from their eyes floated a colorful fair of birds in the air. The only sounds around them were the birds' cheerful chirping. Their eyes were filled with wonder. Almost at the same time, they all whispered, "Wow!" No one kept track of how long they stood there speechless, watching the spectacle. Gradually, as the sun rose higher and began spreading its warmth, the birds stopped flying about and settled one by one on the branches of the tree. Only then did the children come back to their senses. They hurriedly took out their cameras, but by then the number of birds had already decreased considerably. Rupam sighed regretfully. "Oh no! There were so many birds together, and I didn't take a picture." Tama smiled and said, "So what? You can see this scene every morning. If you want, you can watch it every day and take as many pictures as you like. Not only in the morning, even before sunset, flocks of birds gather and bathe in the sunlight before returning to their nests." Ritam and Pritam were amazed. "Really? So many birds fly around every morning? So close to us? And we never even knew! That's incredible! Tomorrow we'll wake up at dawn and come straight to the terrace." Tama replied, "Those who sleep until ten o'clock in the morning miss many beautiful sights like this at daybreak." Rupam said, "From tomorrow, I'll wake up very early too. I loved watching the birds bathe in the sunlight. I want to experience this wonderful feeling every day!"
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