Mojo - The Magic of My Life

 MOJO

Today is all about a person who is really close to my heart. Never did I ever know that the word 'Mojo' that means 'Magic' will have such a significant impact on my life. My magic came into my life in 2018.

I have always been a pet lover and pestered my parents to get me one. In 2018, upon viewing a Facebook post, we decided to go and get him. It was a 3 hrs drive but it was worth it. As soon as we entered the house and spotted him, that's when I knew, he was the one. A little one with grey feathers, a black beak, pretty blackberry round eyes and an adorable red tail, an African grey parrot. He was perfect. It was love at first sight. They were desperate to give him up and we were pretty happy to take him. We took him into our family on 24 June 2018 and our life was to be changed forever. He was our bundle of joy. We changed our travel plans according to him and took him wherever we went. It was either travelling with him, or nothing at all. He gave a new dimension to our lives where we started feeding pigeons and placing water for birds on our terrace. We started rescuing injured animals and birds, fed strays wherever we could. We added little Budgies into our family too. Life seemed really perfect.

It was the 10th of May 2021, a scorching summer morning. Everything started functioning as per routine. My brother and I were sleeping while our parents and Mojo were already up. Mojo had been really restless all morning. He hadn't eaten anything from the night before. As usual, Dad went to the terrace to water the terrace garden and Mom wanted to accompany him to feed the pigeons. She opened up the door to carry the supplies outside. Mojo who had been sitting on the nearby couch suddenly flew out. He circled the area and sat on top of the gate. Mom tried to get him down, but to no avail. My neighbor went to fetch my Dad. My Dad upon coming down tried to get Mojo to step onto his hands, but Mojo suddenly took off again. Seeing my neighbor standing on the flight of stairs he changed his flight direction and flew right out of the building. My parents were stunned into silence. They couldn't believe what they just witnessed. They rushed outside the apartment to the roads hoping they could spot our baby. But we were unlucky. Mom woke us up informing the both of us about the turn of events. It was the most shocking and soul crushing day. It was only 2 days prior that one of our budgies (Bubbles ❤) crossed the rainbow bridge and we hadn't recovered from that. But all we knew was that we had to search for our Mojo.

It was the first day of complete Lockdown (Covid 19 lockdown in 2020) and we weren't allowed to take our vehicles. We didn't have any witnesses to inform us about the direction in which he flew since it was really early in the morning. Thus we didn't have any leads. Each of us went in search of him in different directions and called out to him hoping for a response. After more than 2 hours of search by foot, we returned home heartbroken. We were clueless about the next course of action. It was the peak of summer and we were dehydrated. We hadn't eaten anything from the morning and we were completely tired. We imagined the plight of our Mojo. 

After a few more hours of unlucky searches, we decided to design posters to circulate around in social medias such as Facebook and Instagram. It was really mentally tough for me to create a digital poster of my baby brother with the word 'Missing' written on top. Mom was really devastated and I had to take up the responsibility of managing the social medias and communication with people. The search was resumed again in the evening. We were not allowed to enter into most of the apartments due to Covid. By this time we already had his favorite whistle routines being played in Bluetooth speakers. We roamed each street by foot, hoping that we would hear a response or spot our baby somewhere. Upon reaching one of the tallest buildings of the area, we saw how widespread the search area had to be and we felt weak at our knees. We could do nothing more than taking rest and planning to resume the search the next day. Sleep was not easy for us, as we couldn't get a shut eye, knowing our baby is all alone in the dark, hungry, thirsty and scared. Even the little Budgies felt their Big brother's absence and were unusually very silent.

Each and every day, it was the same heartbreaking routine. We would wake up at the break of dawn, our parents would go on the search and my brother and I stayed up on the terrace, watering the plants and feeding the pigeons, keeping his travel cage with seeds and water, hoping for any miracle. We had planned on printing posters to stick around the areas of 2 km radius in every vantage points like pharmacies, road junctions, where people might pass by. Every time we had to stick the posters on any walls or poles, it was really shattering. We still couldn't believe that we lost him. The 40+ degrees scorching sun didn't bother us. All we wanted to do was to find him and bring him back safely to our home. 

In the following days, we received some leads where people called us saying that they spotted a grey bird with a red tail. Each lead was in a different direction. But whenever we reached the scene, Mojo was nowhere to be found. We even had some false leads and people spreading hate comments on social medias. But we didn't let it stop us. We were perplexed about the direction and whereabouts. We didn't receive any leads for 14 days. All we could do was pray for a miracle. Many people across the globe were circulating the info about Mojo and prayers were continuously made. Each day it was devastating to convey to everyone who enquired about him that he was still missing. The health of every family member deteriorated and no celebrations that came during that time cheered us up. Every inch of our home was filled with Mojo's essence. Every day waking up with a hope that we would find him that day, to returning home empty handed, it was torture. Our neighborhood was filled with flyers from local newspapers, posters on walls and social media filled with news about Mojo's disappearance. Mojo became the talk of the neighborhood. People were empathetic and saw Mojo not as a bird, but as a little baby boy waiting to be found. We were at some point torn between giving up and continuing the search. We fell sick at some point and we were faced with many more challenges. We didn't even know if he was alive or not. The weather changed on a daily basis and we were encountered with unexpected rains and dust storms. We couldn't even imagine how our Mojo would survive in all the harsh weather conditions and we were struck with dread. But there was nothing we could do unless we received a lead. This same routine continued on for 21 days. 

31 May 2021, the day started as usual. We were numbly doing our chores when we received an anonymous call at 10 am. A caller stating that they saw Mojo at a neighborhood 5 kms away from our home. We received an image in Whatsapp. I was the first one to open it up. My heartbeat was racing as I opened the image. Mom and Dad were nervously pacing beside me. The moment the image opened, my heart stopped. An African grey parrot, ring on his left leg, looking as handsome as ever. At that instance, I knew, He was my Mojo. My parents wept with tears of joy. Mom and Dad rushed to the location, but we soon heard that Mojo flew away that morning and was never seen since. It was another blow to our hearts. My brother and I were anxiously waiting at home for a good news and every minute felt like an eternity. We received a video call one hour later. In the screen was our baby brother, eating a tomato, sitting on my father's lap. It was a sight of pure bliss that has been engraved into my mind. Dad rushed back to get us both and the travel cage to bring our baby home. On that day, the nearby police station officers and other people were really helpful and supportive. Thus we were able to take the car to pick him up inspite of the lockdown. 

We heard the story of the reunion only on the way to their home. Mom and Dad after arriving at their home found out that Mojo flew away that morning after he got scared of some crows. It had been 4 hrs since they last saw him. Mom was shattered and by a sudden miracle, someone called them to the terrace. When both of them rushed to the terrace and looked around, there he was, 50 feet away from the building, sitting on a highest swaying branch of a Peepal tree. Upon seeing my parents, Mojo immediately recognized them once they removed the face mask. But he didn't fly down to them. They were not able to whistle as they were choked up with emotion. He just sat on the branch, preening. They were puzzled as to how to get him down to them without scaring him or making him take off again. The neighborhood was surrounded with thorny bushes, quarry hills and dense suburbs. Mom tried to lure him by shaking his favorite fluorescent snack containers. He stopped preening and gave them a fixed stare. At that moment, Dad cried out to him ' Mojo, Appa kitta vaa' meaning 'Mojo, Please come to Daddy'.  Then the miracle happened. Mojo prepared himself to fly towards them, started flapping his wings and took off. It was a time stopping few seconds of their life. Mojo landed on Dad's shoulder and he took him into his embrace. Mojo received lots of kisses and in return Dad received a strong bite where Mojo conveyed, 'why did you leave me all alone these days?'. It was all cheers of happiness around, as all the people of the area assembled to watch the spectacle. They then brought him down to the house of the family who lovingly took care of him for 2 weeks and fed him. It was a family of four, the head of the family was an auto driver and in spite of their financial and family situations, they took care of Mojo with whatever they had. Their golden hearts didn't allow them to give Mojo up when their neighbors lured them to give him up for money. 

It seems Mojo reached their home 5 days after he flew away from us. He had been dehydrated, starved and worn out. His wing had been hurt badly and was drooping on one side and thus he landed on a veranda in front of their house door, where the lady of the house fed him a tomato and took him in. He willingly accepted their kind gesture and felt safe with them. It was a complex with cluster of houses and Mojo had a lot of kids around him. But due to the trauma he had been silent all along. They had been taking care of him for almost 15 days. On the night of 30th May, their house owner's daughters visited to collect rent and upon seeing a unique bird, clicked a snap and returned home. They happened to reside 1 km away from our home. Next day early in the morning, their mother upon seeing the image on their phone, recollected seeing a similar bird in posters a few days back. They rushed out to see but rain had smudged the details of the poster. One of their neighbors gave the flyers that was circulated in the newspaper and that's when they contacted us.

My Dad, Brother and I reached the home carrying the travel cage. I entered the house and saw my mom seated beside a netted basket. She opened it up, and there he was, sitting as a cuddly one. I gave him my hands and he stepped onto it. He had never stepped onto my hand willingly before. I then gave him back to Dad.  Later we transferred him into the travel cage, conveyed our hearty thanks and returned home. We looked at them as God sent messengers who were taking care of our little angel with brimming love right from the day he landed. On our way back home, we still couldn't believe the reality that Mojo is back with us.

Being a loved one among the feathery community on Instagram (@mojo_grey), we were pumped with joy and informed everyone that our boy was back. There were a lot of pure souls that encouraged us, motivated us, showed us love during our tough times and we are forever grateful.

After his adventure, Mojo was skinny, worn out and had an injured wing. He didn't talk much as he used to but we decided to give him some time. After a few days he was better and started returning to his original self. We took him to the avian vet after he settled down and it took him a month to heal and regain his stamina. Thank God, it was just muscle fiber damage and nothing severe which was due to his excessive usage of his wings. He is back to his naughty self now. He has become more attached to everyone of us. We don't leave him out of our sight anymore and we are 10 times more careful while we open our doors. He is a really crucial part of our lives. He brought magic into our hearts. 

A few weeks after we got him back, his story got published in The New Indian Express Newspaper after an interview with us by an editor; Suryan FM Youtube Channel released a video of his adventure and we recently came to know his story is featured in the Parrots Magazine in US and UK of September edition. Even till this day people call or message us asking us about Mojo's well-being. We are not about any publicity, but we are happy that our story brings hope and empathy into the hearts of the readers. We have been helping other families and instilling hope and 'Never Give up' attitude to those who lost their birds.

It was evident that humanity still exists. There were, to be honest, a few instances and people who tried to pull us down with their negativity. We stayed strong for our baby boy until the end. It was all due to prayers of many and luck that we got our Mojo back. It is one of the adventure where only Mojo knows the intricate details of the days where we didn't receive any leads about him. It is his little secret. 

All we know is that, whatever happens, never lose hope, never give up, be a beacon of light to others who need it, stay positive. because miracles do happen and magic (Mojo) still exists....If you are ready to believe....

~ Athena Valencia