The bird which flew in

Monday morning - the most hated morning among the working class. It was a typical Monday morning when a bird came calling to our office. I first heard it when I entered my block. It was a very gentle "tweet..tweet". These days, any abnormal noise in the working space comes from a mobile phone because some people are just ignorant about the fact that there is a silent mode in the phone. So I assumed that it is one of those weird ring tones. I put my phone in silent mode and started to work.

Suddenly, one of my colleagues shouted "look..it's a bird!!!". Before he could continue "it's a plane!!!...it's Superman!!!" I gave a stare at him. He pointed at something which initially looked like a fruit in a tree. On closer look, it was indeed a bird. Before I continue, I have to say that our office cubicles are set around a fountain and a small garden. This central area has a transparent roof which ensures that our workspace is lit by natural sunlight rather than artificial fluorescent light. But there is no open space for a bird to sneak in. Various theories started floating around to explain the unexpected entry of the bird - an employee brought it in his/her bag, someone opened the window and in came the bird, the bird is an auditor in disguise and it has come to inspect the quality of our work and so on. The weirdest one was that an egg was buried when the building was constructed and the egg somehow hatched and we have the bird now!!!

Whatever the mode of entry was, it was struggling to get out. It could see the clear blue sky but it has no idea how to reach there. After getting hit by the transparent roof a couple of times, it decided to check out the plants. I could hear a nature-loving colleague of mine pleading to someone on the phone - "please let it out. It will die if it is inside". The fact that it was disturbing some productive work did not seem to bother him. I love this guy. Suddenly, a couple of security guards came to check out the situation. It was pretty obvious that they have not been trained to catch an intruder like this. An attempt was made by placing some rice on a plate and the plate was coated with glue. The bird managed to have a quick snack without getting stuck.

The bird provided excitement for one full day. We could not see it the next day. Its exit was as mysterious as its entry. But I do hope that the bird liked the one-day visit to my company. Now everyday I can see some birds sitting on top of the transparent roof and having a look inside. Word spreads fast even in the bird kingdom.