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Teetiri decides on the plan to fight Billi
Teetiri quickly outlined her plan to
fight Billi. It would require the participation of all the birds of the
grassland. Each one would have a separate role to remove Billi from the marsh.
First, she called Bater aside and told him about his and his family’s role in
the plan. Next, Kotwal was told to bring together his family and explain to
them about their part of the strategy. The plan would require excellent
coordination between Kotwal and the drongos and Bater and the jungle bush
quail. Teetiri would lead the attack like the leader that she was just elected
to be.
Next, came the role of the lone birds,
Darzi, Phoolchuki and Bulbul. Darzi was asked to go with Phoolchuki and play
their roles exactly as Teetiri had told them to. After the lone birds, it was
the responsibility of the large flocks, namely the mynas and the sparrows. Salonki
was asked to explain to her family of more than a hundred mynas about their
role. Chimini had come back from the cropfields with her large family of
sixty-seven sparrows. They were also given a role in this plan. All the birds
of the grassland went about to begin the war against Billi. Except Bulbul.
Bulbul sat on a low babool branch that
swung low over the marsh. He had not been told about the entire plan. He was
only told that his role would be to sit on the low babool branch and keep
watching Billi. That was to be his entire role. Teetiri had worried that he
would perhaps not be able to keep it as a secret. But because of his location, Bulbul
saw the entire war happen out there that day in the grassland. He went back to
tell other bulbuls in the village of what he saw, and how the birds defeated
Billi and chased him away from the grassland. The bulbuls later told the story
to Bade Miya and Chote Miya. Bade Miya told the story to Kaawla Chacha while
Chote Miya excitedly added some unrelated parts while telling the story to
Guturgu. The “War of the Marsh Waters”, as it came to be known was later told
by Bade Miya, Guturgu, Kaawla Chacha and Bulbul to several other birds and
animals. It became known as a famous war, and the story is still being told out
there in the grassland. Here is how it happened.
