Swoosh! Down went Bhimi as he flew straight for earth’s
surface. His siblings – Korza and Khamki – had no choice but to do the same.
“Why in the world are we going to land in the middle of
India?” asked Khamki. “I mean, after all we are heading southwest, aren’t we?”
“Oh hush,” barked Bhimi.
“I grew tired. We’ve flown over 300 miles today.”
“Yeah, that’s what you get to look forward to with aging,”
joked Korza. “You will have to stop and take breaks.”
Khamki gestured as if her back was hurting to poke fun at
Bhimi. Both She and Korza got a good laugh out of it, but Bhimi – not so much.
“Look, just because I’m the eldest and most mature of us
three doesn’t mean you can disrespect me. Mom and Dad will be quite pleased to
see, so let’s just rest a little and make it back to see them in a few days,”
said the wise Bhimi.
“Now help me find a place for us to land before it gets too
dark.”
“How about we aim for that clearing in the woods where all
of those humans are gathered. Maybe there is some sort of a festival going on,”
declared Khamki.
The three finches slowed their descent and nestled on a tree
branch just a few feet from an eclectic bunch of fowls.
“Well hey there,” said an eagle perched right below them.
“What brings you to the battle for Hastinapura?”
“The battle for what?”
cried Korza.
“Hastinapura” shouted a vulture from a few feet down on the
field.
“I’m sorry, but we are just stopping by on our migration
west,” explained Bhimi. “We had no intent to participate in a battle.”
The fowls turned to look at the finches and burst out in
laughter.
“Oh my! No, we’re not going into any type of battle here,”
uttered a sparrow who sat just below them. “This is the battle for the kingdom
of Hastinapura.”
The eagle cut in, “We’re nothing but spectators for this
event. It promises to deliver plenty of action if you’d like to stay and
watch.”
“Why in the world are these two groups going to fight for
this – Hastinapura?” enquired Khamki.
So the three of the birds went on explaining the events of
the Mahabharata to their new companions.
“What a shame!” cried Bhimi. “This family had everything the
world had to offer at their fingertips: knowledge, prosperity, peace, and they
elected to pour it down the drain because of their vices.”
“And I thought that we migratory birds had it bad. No –
Duryodhana, Shakuni, and Dhritarashtra – these are men who disgust me with
their every being.”
The next day, the birds all spectated at the battle that
began to unfold.
“What a mess these humans
are,” said Khamki.
All of the birds nodded in agreement.
“Well, I suppose that we could sit around and be entertained
by the bloodshed all night if we pleased. We must surely make way our way west
before we lose another day of migration.”
After the finches bade their farewells, they were gone just
as swiftly as they landed.
Author's note: I again chose to write in third person with the hope of sharing the opinions of several characters in the story. My intent with this story was to illustrate that even the simplest of creatures realized that what was going on was wrong. I did not make any changes to the Mahabharata.
Bibliography: Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.
