Dhobi Talao, Mumbai: It was a pleasant winter noon. Makar Sankaranti was in the air. Vivid kites, occasionally glistening against the golden rays of the sun, were carelessly sprinkled around in a January sky, their vivacity reflected in the cheering youngsters flying these kites at Azad Maidan. The sky was criss-crossed with fine streaks of manja with which kite-fliers were constantly trying to snag and eliminate the others. These abrasive strings, which are coated with a fine glass powder, loyally tailed their respective kites to giddy heights.Air traffic was at its peak and the birds seemed visibly flustered by these constant obstructions that were affecting their flight paths. All seemed well until, suddenly, a stray corvid was caught between the manja of two particularly aggressive kites. On the ground, preoccupied office-goers walked mindlessly to and from Victoria Terminus, dodging oncoming crowds. Sometimes the sidestep fails you and that is what happened to this unfortunate crow. In no time, he was entangled in the manja and hung mangled in a tree.The aimless crowds stopped to stare at the crow. The crow fluttered helplessly, entwined in the deadly string. The onlookers stared, appearing to flinch every time a black feather fell on the ground. Suddenly a strange bond seemed to have developed between this random crowd and the helpless bird. The fire department was alerted. A red truck emptied out determined fire-fighters in deep-blue uniforms like blue seeds exploding from a red jalapeno. The man with the maximum amount of brass on his chest formulated an instant plan of action and in no time a ladder was rolled out. A grave fire-fighter, all set to take the heat if things went wrong, began climbing the ladder. A long rod was passed to assist him in his operation. After some careful wriggling and nail-biting manoeuvres, the crow was freed! A wave of collective relief ran through the crowd below, as the crow flew away. Fire-fighters are shown rescuing cats in Hollywood movies. Here an Indian fire brigade unit saved a crow. It reaffirmed my faith in humanity!
