Mother Bird and The Crow

Once upon a time in a green forest there lived a Mother Bird and a Crow. The mother Bird's house was made of stones and Crow’s house was made of mud.

One night there was a storm and the Crow’s house was washed away because it was made of mud. Now the Crow had nowhere to live. Crows feathers were all wet and he wasn’t able to fly away.

Desperate to find shelter, he knocked on Mother Bird's house.

“Who is this in the middle of the storm?”, Mother Bird asked.

The Crow replied: “It’s me, your old friend Crow."

“Please wait for a bit dear friend, I am cooking dinner for my kids.” The Mother Bird replied.

A bit later, the Crow knocked again.

Mother Bird replied: “Please wait for a moment dear Crow, my kids are hungry I am feeding them.”

A moment later, the Crow knocked again.

“Please wait, dear friend, my kids made a mess, I am cleaning them.” Came the reply.

So, the Crow waited and then later knocked again.

Mother Bird said: “Please wait, dear Crow, my kids are sleepy. I am taking them to bed.”

So the Crow waited again. Few moments passed. He knocked again.

Finally, the mother Bird opened her door. The crow went in.

As the crow's feathers were all wet he asked the mother bird -- “My dear old friend, I am all wet in this weather could you please give me some towels to dry up?”

The mother bird got him some towels so the crow could dry himself. Then the Crow asked -- “Mother Bird, I am very hungry could you give me some food?”

She got him some food. Crow ate all the food until he was full. Once he was done. He asked the mother bird if he could sleep in her house tonight?

She replied: “okay, you can sleep here on the living room couch.”

“No way! I can’t sleep here it’s too cold. I will freeze!” Said the Crow.

“You could sleep in the kitchen.” suggested the mother Bird.

“No! No! Kitchen will be too hot. I will burn!” Said the Crow.

So the mother said --“Then you can sleep in the kid’s room”

The crow said -- “My wings are too big, I won’t be able to fit in the kid’s room.” Now, The mother bird was annoyed.

“The only place left now is a bag of rice and a bag of nuts! Which bag do you prefer?” Quick come to the reply -- “On the bag of Nuts!”

So the crow comfortably settled down on the bag of nuts and the mother bird went to sleep. Soon she was sound asleep.

A few moments later the mother bird was awakened by the sound

Crunch…Crunch...Crunch…

She asked - “What is all this noise? Crow, is that you?”

“Oh that’s nothing Mother bird.” said the crow. "I'm a bit cold and that's my teeth chattering."

"Well," said the Mother bird -- "Here you take this blanket cover yourself, and go to sleep!”

Mother bird also went back to sleep. A few moments later she heard it again.

Crunch…Crunch...Crunch…

“Crow! Is that you? You are eating something, aren’t you?”

“Oh it’s nothing Mother bird.” said the crow.

“My mother-in-law gave me some pulses. I am just eating them.”

The mother Bird went back to sleep again. but, the noise kept coming all night long.

Crunch…Crunch...Crunch…

Crunch…Crunch...Crunch…

The next morning, the kids woke up to a bad smell! "Something smells bad!" they said.

The Mother Bird ran to where the crow was sleeping and to her surprise the crow was nowhere to be found. Instead, the sly crow had eaten all the nuts in the bag and dirtied the rice bag, and flown away!

This made the Mother Bird very angry. She swore that she will never let that ungrateful Crow into her house again!

As the days passed the Crow forgot the night of the storm. He had his mud house rebuild and was living happily.

After few days one evening, there was a storm again. His house made of mud got washed away. And once again the Crow was all wet, wasn’t able to fly. So he went to the mother bird for help.

The Mother bird refused to let him in and the crow had to stay out in the storm. Jumping from one branch to another. Wet and shivering from the cold all night.

The moral of the story: To be grateful to the people who help you.

This is the story I have heard again and again as a child. Which has been passed down from generation to generation. My grandmother to my father and from my father to me. As a kid, I was fascinated by this story. I would ask my father to repeat this story, every night!

Maybe to my childish mind, it was the fascination of a bird having a house, a kitchen, or maybe it was the funny sound my father made describing how the crow ate all her nuts. This story is my earliest memory of a bedtime story my father used to tell me.

He would patiently answer all my questions. My curiosity as a child was endless.

“Did the Mother Bird’s house had windows?”

“If Crow house was made of Mud, did he have a roof?”

“How many kids did the Mother Bird have?”

And the list goes on.

My father is a great storyteller. He would magically transform you into the story as he begins. You are soon a character or a friend and you begin to see yourself in there as the story unfolds.

Storytelling is an Art. Which is more powerful than watching any visual story. Stories that make you use your own imagination to think of the characters you haven't seen, feel their emotions and, hear them talk without ever hearing their voice. Now, that is an Art! To transform words into your imagination.

I believe stories are an integral part of who we are. And yes, I agree they do shape our personality. They reflect who we become. Stories make us connect to something bigger than ourselves. Sharing stories make us connect better. Expand our minds, inspire us. Fuel our curiosity, transform our beliefs, and most of all -- they give us imagination!

Like Einstein said: “Imagination is more powerful than knowledge.”

A child who can imagine is creative and creativity is the sign of a Genius.