What Happened to Dhani (standard:non fiction, 2384 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Dec 03 2013	Views/Reads: 4385/2025	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A short story on Juggernaut's pet parrot Dhani

What Happened to Dhani 

Subba Rao 

Juggernaut bought a parrot chick in daily market from a 

tribesman for a mere 5 rupees. The chick appeared as if it just emerged 

with very little feathers more like stubbles spread thin over its 

delicate pink wrinkled body,  If not for its prominent light red curved 

beak, it is hard to identify as a parrot. 

“What kind of name is Dhani for a parrot?” asked Srinivas, 

Juggernaut's older brother. 

“It just a name occurred to me spontaneously,” Juggernaut 

carefully fed the chick with crushed tiny pieces of soft guava. 

“How you spell Dhani,” Srinivas was looking curiously at the 

chick. 

“What it matters, you don't have to spell its name; just call 

it Dhani,” 

“Are you going to keep it in the back yard?” 

“No, Dhani is too young, I want to keep in the living room, I 

want Dhani to be an indoor pet not like pigeons and other outdoor birds 

in the backyard.” 

Juggernaut placed Dhani carefully in a bird nest he collected 

when it fell to the ground from the Neem tree in the backyard during a 

wind storm. The bird nest was compact and sturdy with dry twigs tightly 

built by crows. After cleaning free of feathers and debris, he kept the 

empty nest on top of a tall glass show-case in the living room.  In the 

show-case, Juggernaut's father kept some of his collectables for 

visitors to see. The case has two sections, one top of each other three 

feet in all directions. At the center of the lower section was a 

beautiful idol of baby Krishna made of white plaster-of-Paris. The 

young Krishna was in standing pose with legs crossed playing flute with 

both hands and leaning comfortably on a white cow in the background. 

Apparently, the idol was purchased when Juggernaut's father was 

stationed at the army cantonment in Madras in early 40'S south India. 

Like many of his collections, he meticulously preserved it.  When not 

in display in the show-case, the Krishna idol was kept in a long wooden 

box that looked more like a casket with sliding door was custom made 

for safe keeping of the idol. The storage box was one of several wooden 

boxes Juggernaut's father got custom made to preserve various stuff he 

collected throughout his life. Many were still in the boxes several 


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