Hyderabad: For years, the green-feathered parrot had lived inside a tiny cage, whispering fortunes to eager believers in the bustling streets of Parakala town in Hanamkonda district. It had become an indispensable companion to its owner, Ramaswami, a street fortune-teller who claimed the bird could predict the fate of those seeking answers. But destiny, it seems, had its own plans.
One scorching summer afternoon, Ramaswami took his parrot to Das, a local bike mechanic, hoping to earn some money through his mystical readings. As always, the parrot picked a fortune card from the stack, and Ramaswami promised an auspicious blessing in exchange for Rs 1,650. However, Das, caught in his work, asked him to return later.
When Ramaswami came back in the evening, he urged the parrot once more to choose a fate-defining card. But just as the bird fluttered inside its cage, fate struck – a loud explosion from a bike tire startled the parrot, making it panic and escape to a nearby cell tower.
For the first time in years, the parrot soared freely, away from the tiny cage that had been its home and prison. Ramaswami rushed toward the tower, desperate to get back his bird. He waited for three long hours, hoping it would return to his beckoning hands- but the parrot never did.
The fortune-teller’s livelihood now lay in ruins, and in his frustration, he accused Das of being responsible for the escape. A three-day dispute ensued, with both men entangled in a bizarre “parrot panchayat” (community arbitration), seeking resolution over the vanished bird. Eventually, the issue reached the local police station, where officers found themselves mediating an unprecedented case – a missing fortune-telling parrot.
After hours of deliberation, the police told Ramaswami something deeply ironic: “Let the parrot decide its own fate.” Perhaps, in escaping the cage, the bird had foretold its own destiny- a life beyond the bars that had confined it for years. As temperatures soared and the summer heat weighed down on the people, the parrot had flown toward a new fate, one that finally allowed it to be free.
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