Monsoon Delayed!

                                                               I hear the cry,
                                                               In mornings dry,
                                                               Near my kitchen,
                                                               Piercing into my ears,
                                                               I care not to listen,
                                                               As I've to hasten,

A Hornbill at our backyard

                                                                  Till one day,
                                                                  It rattled my home,
                                                                  I step out to probe,
                                                                  Nestled on a tree,
                                                                  The hornbill wails,
                                                                  Rain, where art thou?

Two days back I spotted the grey Indian hornbill at my back yard. As a child I had heard of stories and songs about this bird waiting for rain as it cannot drink water. They open their mouth to the rain and quench thirst. I lived in a very beautiful village in Kerala before coming to the city after marriage. All those years I never spotted a hornbill at my childhood home. It was a pleasure seeing this bird at the backyard where the migratory birds and other varieties flock. I did a research on this bird and found out that it never drinks water. Here, the monsoon is delayed and along with the hornbill we too are waiting desperately for rain.