Goa of the 1960's,

The Multilingual Myna

We had two cages on both sides of our “balcão”, hanging on the beam across the two pillars that held the roof of the entrance. There was a myna in one cage and a parrot in another. They could both speak three languages, and had a remarkable memory and extensive vocabulary that included certain Konkani words for which I would have definitely been reprimanded if I ever dared to utter or repeat them. Perhaps the parrot was more adept of the two. I have no idea where the parrot learned swear words. Maybe from the previous owners I guess! These birds entertained people passing by our house who stopped for a while to hear some of their colourful and amusing vocabulary and their prowess in singing several short clips of the latest prevailing English and Konkani hit songs of the time that played on the radio that received optimum reception if it was only placed in its especially reserved corner of the red 'sopo' (seat in red cement). The cat sometimes slept most of the day, but justified its lethargic behaviour by catching the erring naughty mouse in the night and displaying its catch early in the morning and expecting a breakfast. The dog was well behaved, got its regular feed for doing its barking duties most of the time and maintaining law and order among the chickens and the piglets around the hut at the back of the house. And surprisingly both the birds mimicked, with a flair of their own, with a meow-meow here and bow-wow there, perhaps in an attempt to tease their canine and feline friends while they felt safe in their cages!