Many years ago, in the southern village of Akara in Hindustan, lived a fowler. His family's livelihood depended on the birds he caught each day. If he failed to catch any, they would go hungry. The fowler's nine-year-old son, however, was unaware of his father's profession, as the father was too ashamed to admit it.
“Papa, what do you do for work?” the boy asked one day.
“Why do you ask, dear?” the father responded.
“Because my teacher asked us what our fathers do, and I didn’t know how to answer.”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” the father replied, hoping his son would forget by then. And indeed, the boy did.
They lived in a small, dilapidated hut with a roof full of holes. At night, the stars twinkled through these gaps, and the boy felt it was the best house imaginable.
“Mamma, look! The stars are smiling at me,” the boy exclaimed to his mother, who was cooking rice and Sambar on a mud oven outside, surrounded by smoke.
“Yes, dear,” she replied through the haze.
One evening, the boy shouted in excitement, “Papa, I saw a falling star! It looked like it was going to land on me but then disappeared.”
“Oh, that’s a moving star. Did you make a wish?” the father asked.
“No, I didn’t know I was supposed to.”
“If you make a wish when you see a moving star, it might come true,” the father explained, trying to keep his son's wonder alive.
From that night on, the boy eagerly awaited the appearance of a moving star but didn’t spot one for many days.
On a hot Friday in April, the fowler ventured out as usual. He walked through the beautiful countryside, but to his surprise, he saw no birds. “What a strange day,” he thought. Determined to catch something, he eventually spotted two large, beautiful birds perched on a tree. They looked like pigeons but were the size of turkeys. Unsure if he was dreaming, he hesitated, thinking they might be a bad omen, but hunger drove him to action.
With skill and precision, the fowler used his slingshot to hit one bird, which fell to the ground. It was the most beautiful pigeon he had ever seen, with feathers that gleamed even in death. The other bird, instead of flying away, made strange noises and flapped its wings furiously. The fowler, intrigued and a bit fearful, took aim again and missed, which had never happened before.
As he prepared for a second shot, a sharp pain hit his head. Ignoring it, he aimed again and this time hit the bird. The second pigeon fell, and he discovered it was a female, mate to the male he had first killed. The fowler was struck by guilt and wonder at the beauty of the birds he had killed.
Despite his remorse, he took the birds to the market, where they attracted a crowd. The bidding for the pigeons escalated rapidly, and an old gentleman eventually bought them for a staggering five thousand and sixteen rupees. The fowler was astounded and grateful, as this money would change his family's life.
He hurried home to share the news with his wife, and together they waited for their son to come back from school. They were eager to tell him about their good fortune but also apprehensive about revealing the source of their newfound wealth.
Meanwhile, at school, the boy was known for his cleverness and unusual appearance. He had made a bet with some older students to climb a forbidden wall and peek into an old water tank rumored to house a dangerous Black Mamba snake. The boy successfully completed the dare, only to be confronted by the snake, which spoke to him, further cementing his reputation for strangeness.
As the boy was heading home, he found an injured pigeon near the school. He cared for it, naming it Mr. Passenger Pigeon. The bird, in turn, shared its story with the boy, revealing that it was a rare passenger pigeon, thought to be extinct, and that its parents had been killed by a fowler.
When the boy told his parents about Mr. Passenger Pigeon, the fowler and his wife were horrified to realize that the birds he had killed were the parents of their son’s new friend. Overcome with guilt, the fowler confessed to his son, who forgave him after hearing the pigeon’s story of a cosmic curse and redemption.
From then on, the family, including Mr. Passenger Pigeon, lived together happily. The fowler stopped hunting birds and instead looked for a mate for Mr. Passenger Pigeon, hoping to atone for his past deeds and bring more joy to his family.