Seven sisters is an English translation to- 'Sat Bhai', a group of birds that forage together in a group of five to six. They are very notorious and at times bold and loud creatures. It happened that I had to stay for fifteen days in my village. I noticed a change, sparrows were not there.
As a child when I used to visit my paternal grand parents when my grandmother was alive, I could find them in our premises. I was puzzled sparrows gone and what are these birds. After sometime I realised as she used to throw grains on the roof, sparrows came. And now they had abandoned our home because she had left for the heavenly abode.
Anyways, these seven sisters, they are better called, 'Sath Bhai', in local languages in India are Jungle babblers. Gregarious dusky birds, these babblers are very social- can tolerate other species also.
I remember lines that are recited in a hindu puja- Godhan, local name of Govardhan Puja in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.
"Saton Bhaiyya gaye Bidesh, Anjhul royein beech bane"
Translated as- "Seven brothers have left for foreign land and Anjhul cries in the forest".
This a painful story of Anjhul, an only sister of seven brothers. She is tortured by her sister in laws when her brothers used to leave their home for some foreign land to earn. She is told to do difficult tasks by her wicked sister-in-laws called 'bhabhis' in hindi. Whenever she is given a difficult task she gets out into the forest and cries for her brothers. Then these birds: 'sat-bhai', would listen to her weeping and help her. Whenever Anjhul was troubled she used to cry, and the birds would sing aloud to call creatures to help her, "Saton Bhiyya gaye Bidesh Anjhul royein beech bane".
How nature is embedded in Indian customs is commendable. It would prove to be a wide leap in conserving biodiversity, if a serious try is considered to follow what is being practiced since time immemorial.
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