March28th 2012

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  6 hours ago

  Hazelene Bhavsar

  • March 28th Session
    During this session we discussed the story,”Arnie the Darling Starling”. I must admit that, when we decided to pick this book, I had my doubts as to how are we going to discuss a fictional book and what am I possibly going to say about a make believe story!!But surprisingly it was one of my favorite
    session .It took us down to the memory lane.
    Nilakshi gave us a summary of the book. This is a story of a talking starling and the grandmother who raised him is as heartwarming a book as you will ever read .When Margarete first came upon Arnie, he was just a familiar springtime sight: a baby bird lying helpless in the daisy patch. After unsuccessfully trying to return him to the nest, she took him into her Texas home and raised him as carefully as she had raised her own child, teaching him to perch, to fly, even to talk. Arnie resisted all attempts to restore him to the wild, preferring steak and canned corn to worms, which frightened him, and even developing a taste for wine.
    
    Most astonishing of all, he learned to talk and sing, and he had a remarkable influence on a number of lives. Lenny, the young drug addict, paused on the road to self-destruction, so enthralled by Arnie that he carried a dog-eared picture of him in his wallet. Suzanne, the Vietnamese refugee, learned from Arnie that wrong home can be a prison and fled to Colorado to start a new life. Margarete's grandson, Travis, who called Arnie "Super bird," gained a new respect for wild creatures, and even her three cats came to love Arnie as one of their own.
    Arnie is full of life, laughter, and love. It is a completely irresistible book.
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/379344.Arnie_the_Darling_Starling
    This book brought back her (Nilakshi’s) childhood memories when she and a friend took care of a puppy. It also reminded her of the good old days when there was lesser TV watching and more playing outside.
    Arnie the bird mentioned in the story reminded Gayathri of her own experience of having a sparrow’s nest in her loft and also how once the baby bird, if once fallen from the nest or touched by human, will not be accepted back. She wondered if that was the same reason why Arnie was repeatedly rejected by his mother. She shared about her pet dog Rakhi, whom she fondly remembers till date.
    To me,Arnie’s story took me few decades back to TV-less and safer times, when we all played with friends all day and mothers never worried about too much screen time or weird strangers. It reminded me about how rich and eventful our childhood was without shelling out a dime from our parent’s pockets.
    Arnie also reminded me of my pet Snoopy……..and how he could read my emotions!!!I also feel children learn a lot from caring for animals. They learn unconditional love, loyalty, responsibility etc.
    Varsha shared her wonderful childhood experience of having a dog and a stray cat……and how the cat like Arnie was persistent on being cared for, by her family……..how her mother couldn’t resist feeding the cat........and how the cat wouldn’t eat the prey that she (the cat) had just hunted, without the permission of Varsha or Varsha’s other family members. The cat’s appearance and disappearance (almost exactly 1 yr. after Varsha’s mother’s demise) still remains a mystery to her. She also shared about the days when she used to work for a non-profit organization which took in animals and took care of them. She also had a mini clinic in her own living room. She still loves and misses spending time with animals.
    The story reminded Seema of her days back in time. She expressed her wishes for her son to have the same kind of values. She finds it unnecessary for children to have the access to TV, Iphone, and WII etc. She herself does not use a cell phone. We all applaud you for that!!!She also doesn’t find the need to buy too many toys for the kids which somehow is becoming the latest trend in many families. She also shared with the group, her recent experience on how her son was persistent about getting snow boots because all his classmates had it……..how the kids do face peer pressure and sometimes worry about it.Explaining the concept of NEED and WANT is a challenge we all parents face.
    Thank you all for sharing their personal experiences. All in all a reminiscing discussion!!!Looking forward Ato many more!!See you next Wed 4TH April. Each of us will get our own topic (7mins long) and share with the group. Same format as mentioned before. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!!See you all next week.
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    Arnie the Darling Starling

    www.goodreads.com

    This true story of a talking starling and the grandmother who raised him is as heartwarming a book as you will ever read - a new classic in the tradition of Rascal, Born Free, and That Quail, Robert. When Margarete first came upon Ar...
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