Thread by @Hemanth02933027

Trying to be in the #WritingCommunity and wishing to write like @ramkid. Following story is fiction (well, at least some of it), so you all in China and CCP, just relax. Chill. Don’t try to erase me or my tweets. 1/16

CURSE OF THE SPARROWS

All families are alike but each is strange in some way. For our family it's the annual tradition of having a seance in January. Little did I know what a shock awaited me this time. 2/16

This year also, in the first week after new year, we gathered together for dinner and then made ourselves comfortable for a long session. For some years now, my 76-year-old mom has been calling on my (deceased) dad's spirit for talks and for her comfort. 3/16

Sheila, my daughter, joked: "Grandma, you won't leave grandpa in peace even up there. He must be grateful this is annual and not monthly event". And, my son Deepak, @RealRuskinBond fan quipped: "If the seance takes place every month, it might become brief." 4/16

"I'm ready to keep it brief," said my mom, "but you two jokers, you are the ones who wanted answers to so many questions." She was referring to the dinner discussion, which naturally centered on #coronavirus and its impact. 5/16

Deepak had showed us the list of casualties. Top 3 were USA, India, and Brazil. I wanted to see where China stood, as lots of people called it as #Chinvirus or #WuhanVirus. Deepak said we would get some idea today, as dad was one of the spirits given access to all knowledge. 6/16

The room lights dimmed and we watched silently as mom stretched her right hand on the table. Dad's tie she was holding began to wiggle. She asked dad, "Soni here. How are you, Babuaa. Can we talk now?" 7/16

Dad's voice seemed to come from the table's center, "You sound worried, Soni. What's the matter?" They used to argue and quarrel often as if to spice up their decades-long love fest. A lump formed in my throat when I heard the yearning and longing in their voices. 8/16

I turned my attention on the discussion between my dad and Deepak. Actually, it was a series of Q&A on #COVID19 , but quite wide-ranging and informative. It included Chinese history, the ways of autocrats, law of unintended consequences, role of food chain in an ecosystem. 9/16

Dad told us how the Chinese leader, Chairman Mao, unleashed the Cultural Revolution. The famine at that time. The horrors of starvation. Millions of Chinese dying. People killing all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and insects for food. 10/16

From then on, the Chinese became more open to the idea of eating anything edible. But the last straw, according to dad, was Mao's order to kill all sparrows, on the presumption that the hapless birds were eating grains needed for feeding the people. 11/16

Millions of Chinese went on a killing spree to rid of the sparrows. Anywhere up to 600 million sparrows were destroyed. The absence of sparrows boosted the population of locusts and other insects that ate away paddy and other crops. An action giving an opposite result. 12/16

The disruption of food chain in the ecosystem, rapid increase in pollution hampering Nature's efforts to repair it, and the curse of the sparrows combined to make it conducive, even today, for many viruses and diseases to appear and spread. 13/16

As the lights brightened to mark the end of seance, I was the lone occupant in the room. Dad had asked all others to leave, before giving his answer to the question. How many deaths in China? 14/16

His whispered answer was such a shock! The number was more than the number for top 3 countries combined! And more deaths to come. I was numb with the shock. Who would believe me? Anyway, dad had sworn me to secrecy, so I could not even satisfy Deepak's curiosity. 15/16

Dad had also said the collective 'Atman' of dead sparrows had a big impact on the happenings. How many more Chinese had to die for the sparrows to lift their curse? I could only pray that the dead sparrows forgive the Chinese and not insist on the toll yet to come. THE END