दादास पत्र A Letter to Dada

आयेशा आपल्या दादाला पत्र लिहिते आणि सांगते की शाळेत विज्ञान केंद्रातर्फे पक्ष्यांविषयीची एक चित्रफीत दाखवण्यात आली होती. ती पाहिल्यावर मुलांना पक्ष्यांबद्दल खूप कुतूहल निर्माण झाले, म्हणून त्यांनी यंदाची सहल एखाद्या अभयारण्यातच नेण्याचा हट्ट धरला.

At the start of the letter Ayesha narrates an incident to her brother. A few days earlier, a science centre had screened a documentary on birds at her school. The fresh knowledge from it stirred up curiosity about birds among the classmates, and it was this curiosity that led them to place one demand before the teachers - that this year's outing be organised at some bird sanctuary.

आयेशाची सहल सोलापूर-बार्शी मार्गावर असलेल्या नान्नज गावाजवळच्या माळढोक अभयारण्यात गेली. तिथे तिने माळढोक हा भारतातून नष्ट होण्याच्या मार्गावर असलेला पक्षी अगदी जवळून व बारकाईने पाहिला. तिला तो पक्षी खूप देखणा वाटला, त्याचा रंग आणि चोच पाहून ती चकित झाली.

Next Ayesha tells her brother about the sanctuary's location - it lies near Nannaj village along the road heading from Solapur towards Barshi. The star attraction of this sanctuary is the Maldhok, a bird that is becoming rare across India today. Ayesha got the chance to observe this bird from very close, taking in every fine detail, and its colouring and distinctive beak left her so astonished that she made a point of telling her brother she had never before laid eyes on such a striking bird.

सरांनी सांगितले की माळढोक पक्षी शेतातील किड्यांवर उदरनिर्वाह करतो, त्यामुळे तो शेतकऱ्याचा मित्र आहे. त्यांनी हेही सांगितले की माळढोक वर्षातून एकदाच अंडी घालतो, आणि इतर प्राण्यांनी ती अंडी तुडवली तर त्यांची संख्या आणखी कमी होते, म्हणून त्यांचे संरक्षण गरजेचे आहे.

While walking through the sanctuary, the teacher explained another important fact to the children - this bird feeds on the tiny insects found in farmlands, and this is exactly why it benefits the farmer, since the pests troubling the crops naturally decline. The second fact was that very few chicks of this bird are born, because the female lays only a single egg in a whole year; and if that one egg happens to be crushed under some animal's foot, the already small population shrinks further, making conservation of this bird an urgent necessity.

सरांनी सांगितले की पक्षी हे संतुलित पर्यावरणाचा अविभाज्य घटक आहेत, कारण ते प्रदूषण टाळण्यात आणि बियांचे वहन करण्यात महत्त्वाची भूमिका बजावतात. फोटो काढण्यापूर्वी वनखात्याची परवानगी घ्यावी लागते हेही आयेशाला कळले. शेवटी आयेशा लिहिते की दादालाही पक्षी खूप आवडत असल्यामुळे अभयारण्यात फिरताना तिला त्याची खूप आठवण आली.

Ayesha goes on to write that the teacher gave the class a broader lesson - how large a share birds have in maintaining nature's balance, since from keeping the air clean to carrying seeds to different places, birds contribute to many tasks, without which nature's cycle would remain incomplete. Besides this, she also learned there that taking a photograph of any bird requires proper clearance from the forest department beforehand. Closing the letter, Ayesha mentions a tender detail - since her brother has long loved birds, she kept feeling his absence throughout these beautiful moments, and that is exactly why she decided to share all this information with him.