If I Were a Bird

If I were a bird
If I were a bird, I would like to be one of the small species, cute and beautiful.
I would love to be a tiny maina who is beautiful, tiny and above all, it is a bird that man can keep as a pet. I would love to stay with men, study their ways and enjoy their company. This I would be able to do with men as, God has given the maina a power of speech just like men. It talks like a human being, has a sweet voice and, above all also has a great capacity to learn whatever it is taught.
If I were to be a bird, I would like my life to be a beautiful blend of freedom of flying in the high skies and the love and care given by man. I see advantages in both and find it difficult to make a choice.
My ambition as a bird would be able to fly high as high can be, like any other bird. This would give me an insight into what all exists in the atmosphere. I would also be able to assess first hand, the life of birds as a community, the advantages and the disadvantages they live with. I would share my experiences with my kin and understand the difficult ways of life. I would attain knowledge of lives of birds big and small as I would move with them and conversing with them while flying high in the air, or sitting on trees with my other colleagues.
Though I would love all this, at the same time I would love to become a pet in a nice family. This family would keep me closed in a cage lest I fly off. Here, in the family I would learn to be controlled and restricted. It would be no doubt a punishment of sorts to be tied down in a cage but I feel so happy imagining the love and care I would get from each member of the family that would adopt me.
Here, at home, I would be served food in a platter, water in a dish in a right royal style. Aha! what a life that could be for me. Hunting for food and being frightened of bigger birds attacking me would not be a care for me. I would be a loved one of many – what a wonderful feeling it gives.
While living with a family I would