"Gillu" the Squirrel

It was a Winter season in Budapest, Hungary where I was staying with my family. My mother used to keep small pieces of bread and also grains outside our kitchen window as a feed for the birds. One day my mother noticed that a squirrel appeared outside the kitchen window and was eating the pieces of bread and grains. It was really a cute animal and the European breed of the squirrel which is quite different than the one found in India. The European squirrel is dark brown in colour and is covered with thick fur probably to protect itself from the acute cold surroundings.

When my mother showed it to me, I was very much attracted to it and developed a feeling of affection for it. When it used to eat those feed with its hand, it looked so cute that I used to keep on watching it from inside the window. I immediately named it 'Gillu'. Sometime later 'Gillu' used to come with another squirrel which was little smaller in size. If 'Gillu' got scared on seeing something, it would immediately run away and climb upon the adjacent Walnut tree and would keep on watching here and there. Then after sometime it would come again alone or with its friend on the platform near our kitchen window. During holiday, whenever I found 'Gillu', I would quietly stand there watching its activities and also took pictures on my mom's phone. My parents and my brother too loved 'Gillu' very much. One day, when 'Gillu' found no food as the one given by my mom was already eaten by birds, it was looking towards the window so innocently with a feeling of sadness that I too felt sad and asked my mom to keep some food always outside the kitchen window.

Although I left Budapest many months ago, I still feel sad at times