The Little Red Hen and the Ducklings I had visited Puri with my family as a nine year old. Our guest house was perched on the sea shore. The same coast had a fishers’ village. Our swim coach, and personal lifeguard for the tour lived in that hamlet. He had a separate hut only for his pets. He didn’t raise poultry for eggs, and meat. There, I saw a little red hen which was raising a brood of ducklings. Our guide told us, “She lost all her chicks right after birth. Her grief was deep. She went on clucking while looking for them. Restless, and agitated, she was.” “In another hut, a mother duck had died soon after having given birth to pretty little ducklings. The birds needed a caretaker. This hen took on the role of their mother.” “She is a strict, but loving mother. She wakes up the ducklings at dawn. They form a straight line, and march, while feeding themselves with the hen’s help. She takes them for swims, and though being a hen she cannot swim, she is monitoring thei...
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