5
Teetiraa
approaches the nest by walking away from it
He walked out of the small patch of
weeds around the stony rubble wherein he had slept the night. The orange band
of light in the sky was fading out and was now being replaced by a shade of
golden yellow. Teetiraa walked around the edge of the grassland, in a straight
line, pretending that he was going somewhere else. They could not risk the nest
being known to unseen watchers. There were several enemies, quiet, unseen,
hidden away among the trees, bushes, stones, grass and high up in the sky. They
could never be certain that they had not been spotted at the nest.
He stood straight, and walked in a
determined manner, calling out, "Teetiree, Teetiree", twice, clearly,
loudly, for all to hear. He did not approach the nest, nor did he seem to walk
away from the nest. Most smart predators would then be able to search along his
path and be able to spot the nest. That would not do. Another season would be
lost. Teetiraa thought of those unlucky times as he kept walking around the
nest with greater caution. He kept walking in a straight line, right upto the
babool tree.
Here, among the stony ground under the
branches, he suddenly started calling out loudly “Treeeee, Tteetiriiiii,
Treeeeee, Teeetiriiiii”, as though he had spotted Dhaman or Naag. He jumped up
and began to fly below the tree, creating a lot of noise. This would have all
the unseen watchers looking at him, wondering if there was indeed some problem
under the babool tree. Teetiraa knew, that,
at that very moment, Teetiri had begun to walk away from the nest, crouching,
taking care to see that her head was unseen above the grasses. This was the
best strategy, they had decided among themselves. All animals, seen and unseen,
would be looking at Teetiraa, as he was doing something like a loud, haphazard
dance, while Teetiri was quietly crawling away from the nest.
