Some Things Never Change

* Still needs the early morning coffee. And that too will be licked off my fingers. And if one drop falls off before she can get to it, off she goes into a corner and frowns.

* Still needs the chapatti and rice with dal, cooked fresh. She wont eat the leftovers from yesterday.

* Still loves it when you run your fingers over her head. She could just let you do that all day.

* Will wake me up every morning, is waiting into the late hours of the night for me to come home.

* Still asks for a kiss and makes the best smooching sounds.


I am talking about my pet parrot back home in India. Sunny. Who we still refuse to accept as a female. Come on, we got him home when he was 15 days old and the person who sold him to us said "Its a male". Male parrots develope a round red and black stripe around their necks when they turn two or three years old. So we waited, for a good three years, checking everyday for when Sunny will grow that stripe. And one fine day (s)he laid an egg. So scratching my head and staring at that egg, I said, "So now what? We change his name to Sonali?"

Too late. By this time, Sunny was a well grown talking parrot. Not only would he say what we taught him, but he would also pick up lines which were not meant for him to learn.

When Dad used to get home, he used to walk up to Sunny and say, "Sunny beta, whats happening?" and very soon Sunny was mimicking him with a "Sunny Beta, whats happening?" Hence it was too late to change this to "Sunny beti" and despite laying eggs and exhibiting all the nakhras any female would, Sunny was still referred to as a male.

As a kid I used to kiss him, and thats how he picked up those smooching sounds. A very embarassing moment when guests are sitting in the living room and there are smooching sounds coming out of the bedroom.

This time when I was in India, we tried to get him to talk. No luck. When you want him to talk, he'll just sit there, staring at you like the Buddha. And when you lie down to sleep, he'll start off. Get up quickly, get out the camera, and he'll stare at you like the Buddha. Perhaps he is camera shy. No idea. However, I love to piss him off. So since he refused to talk one fine day, I decided to spray him with water. He loves the water but hates it when it gets in his nostrils. No points for guessing what I was aiming for (ok, not really, I love him too much for that, but once in a while I do like to piss him off). Dad was playing around with the videocam and it seems the water actually distracted Sunny from the presence of a camera and we managed to film him speak a few words.

Its basically two lines

1. Sunny Beta (no explanation needed for that)
2. Kashyala ooradto tu? (In Marathi, it means - "Why are you shouting?")

Check out the video and see if you can figure out what he is saying.





Up next: Why my friends hate me!

Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the making of this video. Cameraman does not discriminate based on race, sex, tv viewing habits or choice of underwear.

..... 55 days to go