<p style="text-align: center" data-start="0" data-end="419"><img data-attachment-id="20117" data-permalink="https://yourquietsip.com/from-moms-diary/parrot-eyed-he-was-never-unfaithful/chatgpt-image-sep-18-2025-02_44_00-pm/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/yourquietsip.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-18-2025-02_44_00-PM.png?fit=1024%2C1024&;ssl=1" data-orig-size="1024,1024" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{";aperture";:";0";,";credit";:";";,";camera";:";";,";caption";:";";,";created_timestamp";:";0";,";copyright";:";";,";focal_length";:";0";,";iso";:";0";,";shutter_speed";:";0";,";title";:";";,";orientation";:";0";}" data-image-title="ChatGPT Image Sep 18, 2025, 02_44_00 PM" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/yourquietsip.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-18-2025-02_44_00-PM.png?fit=1024%2C1024&;ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-20117" src="https://yourquietsip.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-18-2025-02_44_00-PM-300x300.png?crop=1" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center" data-start="0" data-end="419">A parrot was locked in a cage, with a red beak and many-colored plumage.<br data-start="72" data-end="75" />He would sit there, keep watching, round and round; his eyes roved all around.<br data-start="153" data-end="156" />Then his gaze would fall on me &#8211; sharp as arrows, piercing glances.<br data-start="223" data-end="226" />Again and again, he would flutter away.<br data-start="265" data-end="268" />As if urging me to speak.<br data-start="293" data-end="296" />I had taught him to open his beak; others had also taught him a few words.<br data-start="370" data-end="373" />He had been given the lesson of recognition.</p>
<p style="text-align: center" data-start="421" data-end="529">He kept repeating the whole lesson, reciting memorized words by rote &#8211; “Look at me—and tell me, who am I?”</p>
<p style="text-align: center" data-start="531" data-end="807">A green chili was stuck in his red beak.<br data-start="571" data-end="574" />The blend of red and green looked lovely.<br data-start="615" data-end="618" />He would draw me along in all his colors &#8211; green too, yellow too, red too, and black too.<br data-start="707" data-end="710" />Longing hid in those round eyes; It seemed to me<br data-start="758" data-end="761" />Those restless glances were often disturbed.</p>
<p style="text-align: center" data-start="809" data-end="1231">Under some impulse, one day I opened the cage, threw the door wide open.<br data-start="881" data-end="884" />And waited to see what he would do.<br data-start="919" data-end="922" />Seeing the open door, his eyes sparkled; there was longing there, not delight.<br data-start="1000" data-end="1003" />He too seemed to be waiting for something.<br data-start="1045" data-end="1048" />A moment or two passed in silence &#8211; He still, and I motionless as well.<br data-start="1119" data-end="1122" />Suddenly, he sprang like a falcon, flew out of the cage,<br data-start="1178" data-end="1181" />And as he went, he left me with a single regret.</p>
<p style="text-align: center" data-start="1233" data-end="1674" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">People who speak loosely call it “parrot-eyed.”<br data-start="1280" data-end="1283" />The phrase became common and was counted among proverbs.<br data-start="1339" data-end="1342" />I keep thinking—where is that “parrot-eyed”? &#8211; Who hugged all by himself. Even in captivity, he was steeped in love.<br data-start="1458" data-end="1461" />Those dear ones—he could not fill the emptiness of separation.<br data-start="1523" data-end="1526" />He did not forget the love of his own. He was only caged; that was all.<br data-start="1597" data-end="1600" />Once free, he fulfilled the rite of loyalty &#8211; How was he ever unfaithful?</p>
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<p style="text-align: center" data-start="0" data-end="236"><strong><em>Interpretation: “Parrot-eyed” translates the Urdu idiom Ø·Ùطا ÚØ´Ù (á¹oá¹ā-chashm). Literal: “parrot-eyed.”</em></strong><br data-start="95" data-end="98" /><strong><em> Idiomatic meaning: fickle/inconstant, unfaithful &#8211; someone whose attention or affection shifts quickly and who forgets past attachments.</em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center" data-start="238" data-end="417" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><strong><em> In Mom&#8217;s poem, she challenges this label, arguing that the parrot is actually loyal. It likely comes from the way a parrot’s eyes dart around, suggesting restlessness.</em></strong></p>