Cookie of Abbottabad

I would like you to meet this little guy. His name is Cookie, and as you can see, he is in the process of writing a hub. I haven’t asked him yet whether the hub is of common interest or whether it is specific.

So whether his hub will appeal to those of you with esoteric or eclectic tastes remains to be seen.

Time will tell. Not because he is shy, or not forthcoming. Heavens no! He is not one little bit reticent. It is I who am at fault.

You see, Cookie lives in Pakistan, and although I was born there, I am afraid I do not speak his language. Cookie, as any linguist must realise immediately upon watching, and more specifically, listening to his video, speaks Hindco.

Cookie lives in the North West Frontier Province (N.W.F.P. – recently changed in name to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), one of the four provinces of Pakistan.

Hindco is the language of the area. He also knows a little Urdu. When he was just a little guy, very little more than an egg, he lived in Lahore. Well actually he was born in Lahore, and I believe that while he was there, he also spoke Punjabi quite well, considering his age. But when he was slightly older he adopted a Family in Abbottabad, and realising that he couldn’t do better than that, he stayed and now lives quietly and respectably with that same Family.

That was about nine years ago, so he isn’t a teenager yet, and one hopes that he will always remain a well behaved and responsible member of his adopted Family and also a credit to his community.

So now Cookie lives in Abbottabad, a beautiful city located in the lovely Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Yes, that’s right, Abbottabad, the city in which Osama bin Laden is reported to have been captured and killed.

But this does not concern Cookie, because he is a peace loving person, not a political bird at all, being known for his gregarious ways.

He has few hobbies, apart for a fascination for the computer and its workings, and, as you are already aware, he has a desire to express himself in writing, and has taken to Hub Pages, like a fish to water, or to coin another analogy: “like a Green Parrot to the computer”.

Life has always been pleasant for Cookie, and his adopted Family make sure that he has the basic requirements of life and more, if he so desires. However, he isn’t a pushy character, and as he doesn’t have tastes beyond his station, he not only eats with them but also prefers the food that his Family likes also. Consequently he has a very refined taste in local foods and definitely has his own favourite dishes.He has always had a great liking for Desi foods and culture.

(Desi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent).

His favourite foods are rotti, yoghurt, curries, and churi (a preparation of paratha and ghee).

He draws the line at what he considers to be very indifferent foods like birdseed and the like.

But drama, whether we invite it in or not, will enter our lives unexpectedly, regardless of whether we are vigilant or not. There was an incident about three years ago when Cookie, for some reason, took it upon himself to do a little sightseeing around the immediate area of his home.

One minute he was at home, chatting to his Family in Hindco, assisting his friends when they were experiencing trouble on their computers, and perhaps having an afternoon nap when the heat became unbearable and everyone slept for a while – the next thing he was out and about, all by himself, and nobody had realised that he was AWOL.

Of course the Family were so terribly worried, and search parties were organised immediately throughout the local area.

But the results were disheartening.

“LOST” posters were posted wherever possible; the local shops were asked to enquire of any sightings of a small green parrot answering to the name of Cookie. Of course a reward was offered. The Police were notified, naturally, and it was sad to wander the streets and outlying districts near Abbottabad to see posters on walls, shop fronts, pillar boxes, lampposts and everywhere else imaginable offering a reward for dear, lost little Cookie.

The posters were posted again, but this time offering an even more substantial reward, and still no one seemed to have seen or heard of Cookie.

So where was Cookie?

What the Family hadn’t known was that when Cookie had made his first excursion into the outside world, he hadn’t even left the street where he lived. The little girl only a couple of houses away from where he lived had seen him taking the air, and approached him. Cookie, being a friendly little chap, had allowed her to come close, and before he knew it, she had captured him and taken him home with her,

There he started fretting and missing his Family who were searching all over the city for him.

But worse was to come.

A Taxi Driver who knew that family happened to drop a fare close to their house. The Taxi Driver came in for a cup of chai (tea) and seeing the lovely little green parrot, offered to buy him. A deal was struck, and Cookie went by Taxi to the Taxi Driver’s home; about four to five miles away.

God moves in mysterious ways, as this story will show as it unfolds.

One of Cookie's adopted Family was a Schoolmistress, and she, like the rest of the Family, was very upset about the loss of Cookie. She told the children in her class and the children agreed that it was a very sad state of affairs, so they, as a class, said prayers for the safe return of Cookie. They even said that they would fast for a few days if Cookie were to be returned, unharmed and happy.

But Cookie, by now, had been missing for over a month. His absence had dragged on to almost forty days. The Family were beginning to despair of ever seeing their little Cookie again.

By serendipity, one of the boys in the school lived very close to the home of the Taxi Driver, and the boy went to the Schoolmistress member of Cookie’s Family, and told her that a man (the Taxi Driver) in his street had a lovely new green parrot.

“What a coincidence,” thought the little lad.

The Schoolmistress went home and told her Mother, and they decided that they would go to the far away street and visit the Taxi Driver, but not let him know why they were there in case he got rid of Cookie (if it was Cookie) or even worse.

The following day the Schoolmistress and her Mother went to the Taxi Driver’s home and knocked on the door. The Taxi Driver let them in, wondering what might be the purpose of their visit. But there, suspended from the ceiling in a cage, was Cookie.

Cookie recognised the members of his Family and shouted down to them (in Hindco, of course) that he was trapped and that he was a prisoner against his will and that he didn’t like being in the cage.

(He had never been in a cage in his life before.)

The Mother and the Daughter told the Taxi Driver that the green parrot in the cage was a member of their Family, and that they wanted him returned to them at once.

The Taxi Driver maintained that the little green parrot was his and refused to comply with their wishes. A bitter argument ensued. But this was a matter of principle involving a kidnapped Family Member.

Then he said, “There’s a reward for the bird. Hand over the reward, and you get the bird… Or the bird gets it”. (All this is Urdu, or Hindco or some other local dialect).

After a while, and after a good deal of pressure from the two Ladies, he admitted that he had paid the little girl’s family for Cookie, yet still refused to give it over unless he was reimbursed.

Luckily, Cookie’s Family were well connected, and they brought down the weight of the law. Some of Cookie’s relations by marriage were Lawyers and the Father in the Family, a much respected man, had influence with the Police. So the Lawyers, the Police and several other important people were called in. The Taxi Driver agreed to release Cookie on the understanding that he was paid a substantial amount of money, and Cookie was returned to the bosom of his loving Family.

Cookie was returned (Hooray!) but with a broken, or badly damaged leg (Oh NO!)

But he was taken to the vet and the vet made him better, and eventually he limped home (well actually, he was brought home in a very nice car by his happy Family) and that ended the worst possible thing that had happened to Cookie in his whole ten years of life.

Now he lives a very quiet, and gentle life; loved by his Family, and loving them back. He spends his days, when he isn’t sleeping in the long hot afternoons, making sure that everyone’s computer is functioning properly and writing a little bit every day.

Some say that he is writing about his adventures, and that may be the purpose of the hub he has been working on.

So I won’t write any more, in case I steal his thunder.