The Whistling Schoolboy

The Whistling Thrush is a mystical bird found in the Himalayas and the Western Ghats that whistles at the onset of dawn and dusk. Interestingly, it's whistle is identical to that of humans! Owing to it's awe-inspiring gift, it is also known as the Whistling Schoolboy. Read Ruskin Bond's intriguing understanding of how this nature's marvel got it's talent.


From the gorge above Gangotri
Down to Kochi by the sea,
The whistling thrush keeps singing
That same sweet melody.

He was a whistling schoolboy once,
Who heard god Krishna's flute,
And tried to play the same sweet tune,
But touched a faulty note.

Said Krishna to the errant youth-
A bird you must become,
And you shall whistle all your days
Until your song is done.


                                          -Sir Ruskin Bond,
                                           Himalayan Tales

The Whistling Schoolboy.