There's something about parrots that awaken the knobby-kneed girl I abandoned to childhood. The girl with so many unrequited dream pets. I wanted squirrels. I wanted grey rabbits. I wanted tiger cubs. And yes, I wanted parrots. These green velvet birds that look like they were hatched inside a rare oriental jewel. Even yet, the parrot screech echoes of jade paddy fields that glisten under the Kerala countryside, the fragrant shadow of a mango tree and evenings when summer turns into a careless duchess and drops a golden dusk. Lately they've taken to munching on some beans growing below my window. They squeak and giggle and chatter with such obvious delight. And a shiny-eyed, knobby-kneed girl runs to the window. Convinced that they're calling her to play with them.