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The ducks bent like a boomerang,
Huttle across the sky
To a swampy exile in Pakistan;
And like a boomerang they return
When winter is over
To the dark recesses of Siberia.
There they sit, running themselves,
On bare little islands – in the river.
With heads tucked inside their wings,
As if nothing mattered.
The hired man floats downstream pushing
An empty boat is in front of him,
And is now quite close.
At the right moment, he shows himself.
The birds rise noisily in panic
And the head for the tall grass
hiding us.
We carefully place our shots
Among the confusion of Brahmani, teal,
Pintail and mallard.
Five birds turn suddenly limp,
And are lowered by an invisible rope
Straight down to the guarded river.
The survivors wheel sharply left
(we guessed they would)
Making a bee-line for the sights
Of the second party behind the ridge
We lean back in contentment to see
Two, three, four Brahmani dangle
From the unceremonious sky.
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During the winter the Siberia, the ducks head towards
Pakistan which feels like exile to them for a while. These ducks are always in
the shape of a boomerang wherever they go, they enjoy the warm moderate evening
of Pakistan. Since these ducks are very beautiful and foreign to Pakistan, they
are such a pretty sight that they are looked at in awe. They tuck their heads
inside their wings and roam around carefree.
Sometimes, ducks while enjoying the warmth, do not realize
the impending danger and they cannot see the boatman waiting to catch them.
There are hired people to catch these ducks. There are many kinds of ducks,
Brahmani, teal, mallard, and pintail, they stay altogether but when boatman
appears to trap them, ducks react so violently in confusion. Some of the birds
become limp in the struggle, while some are caught with rope. The rest which
could not get into the trap wither around to save themselves. As soon as the
boatman disappears, the dangling limping ducks try to fly back in the
unceremonious and unwelcoming sky.
Themes
Unwelcomed migrants
Temperate region of Pakistan
Pakistan is a blessed country but the people of Pakistan need to be polite and ethically sound.
