You must be wondering whether I can really have so many best friends'

It's true'

After all, true friends don't always have to be of the same age, of the same region or of the same species either. They just have to be true to each other.

Blacky, naughty, Brownie, mixie, zebra, cutie, beauty, milky,sweetie, fighter'some of those sweet fifty-four names of each of my best friends. They used to sneak into my house, have great fun with me'

Most importantly'
They could fly. And with them my thoughts would fly and the fragrance of friendship would spread all over the crystal clear sky.

My mom and I never saw them as mere pigeons but as our own family members.

It all started when I was a sixth grader in the year 2004 in Pondicherry. An injured baby pigeon that was fallen from a nest somewhere near the terrace, which did not, yet knew how to fly. A cat was after it. She took it and bought it home. I was very happy to welcome such a cutie little birdie in my house since I always wanted to have a pet.

It was sick and wasn't eating anything. The next day, it was feeling a little better. It drank some milk that my dad gave. And I kept saying that I wanted to hold it. But it was feeling very tired and a little scared of us. It laid down on the same place the whole day. I kept looking at it all the time.

The next day it started to walk properly. My mom saw a pigeon outside our balcony. We thought maybe it was its mother. So we decided that we could let the bird outside in the balcony.
We did'
And the result was that it tried to flutter its wings very fast'screaming at its mother with full energy. It was going to fall. I somehow managed to catch hold of its wings and pull it. It looked so miserable. I kept thinking the whole night. The next day when I woke up, my mom said that it was dead. I was badly hurt. Every time I remembered it I felt so sad. I wanted to forget it.

I told my mom that I wanted to have a pet. So, we went out to buy a pet.
But I'm fortunate enough to have such a wonderful mother who opened my eyes to the reality of how miserable the humans make to the lives of those birds who are trapped in a cage and sold for money and how their wings become of no use to them. They are never able to meet other birds and remain alone and unheard in the company of their masters.

So we came back. I was still eager to have a pet but not stuck under a cage. A pet that could be free and come to me and play with me.

The next day, mom said she was going to feed the 2 or 3 birds in the terrace. I too decided to come along. It was so much fun watching them feed grains.

Soon it became our regular hobby. Six thirty in the morning and four thirty in the evening. Those pigeons weren't scared of us anymore and we became good friends. And the number of pigeons increased from 3 to 5, 10'. 12'15' and so on.
I wished for one but there were so many now.
Mom and I kept each one of them their special names according to their unique characters.

One day, we saw that a couple was searching for wigs and making a nest in our balcony corner. So my mom gave (gifted) them a wooden box and also helped them find more wigs and sticks. It laid an egg and by the end of the month there hatched the cutiest birdie ever! We kept its name as cutie. We saw how it used to talk to its mother'Chi, chi, chi'(Momma momma! I'm hungry). And there came the time when its mother started giving it training on how to fly. It would flutter its wings very hard with all its strength. Finally it flew'we were overjoyed to see it fly.
The number continued to increase till almost fifty. Our balcony was more like a bird sanctuary now. There were fights on occupying a particular place; they would all go to sleep till five in the evening.

Then some birds found a way to get into our house through the window of my study room and some came not flying but sliding through the staircase from the terrace to our house entrance. There was a bird, which was black and white like a zebra. So, zebra was the name I kept. It very much liked to eat pieces of bread I would give. It would sit beside me on the bed in my room, walk around the room, and jump from my TV to my music player, my poem diaries and so on.Then milky would come and both of them would always fight.

Everything was going great until one of our neighbors called us and complained us about the pigeons dirtying the surroundings and entering their houses (We never saw them entering any other house though). They actually blamed on us for that and told us not to feed them.
But we didn't realize the result of not listening to them. They actually called some people to come in the terrace and kill all the birds'I was so scared. My mom and dad somehow refused to let them do so. But they were all dangerous kind of people. That night my mom caught our neighbor's son trying to cut their wings'how evil they were to do such a crime to those innocent birdies who never caused them any harm at all.

Slowly and gradually one by one my friends went missing.

We decided to stop feeding them for the sake of their lives'but every time they would look at us we were helpless and could do nothing at all.

They all became so less day by day'It was over'

I cried a lot'

After a month dad had found a new job in Ballarpur. We had to move with those bitter memories. It has been years now' and I still miss my friends so much'

They'll always stay in my heart forever.

Today, humans have crossed the limits of their selfishness. Humans arte intelligent than other creatures but not superior enough from other creatures to hurt them and kill them for selfish purposes. All of us are the children of God no matter what we are. Be it a little ant, a bird, a cat, a fish, A snake, a lion or us' we are all the same and equally important to God. We are supposed to take care of all the creatures.

Love, respect and help not just humans but all. Will the humans and all other creatures be there for each other again?

Now'

It is up to us to to decide whether we make our lord happy or just move on and do nothing to save them or fight against the wrong done to them. Let there be true friendship'

Let there be peace on all creatures of the earth.