WHO STOLE AKSHEY’S ROPE?

Since the season began, every time I'd call Akshey while he was setting up the shala, same complaint:

"Someone keeps stealing my rope."

Not even proper rope — just a tiny loop to hold the bamboo for the curtain. He'd tie a new one, next morning gone. We kept wondering who, in all of Palolem, would bother taking something so small and so useless to anyone else.

Monsoon dragged on forever this year, so the shala stayed under tarp way longer than usual. When Akshey finally pulled it all down… plop. A half-built nest tumbled down. And there, perfectly woven in, were all the "stolen" loops.

A tiny bird had been collecting the softest bits for their babies' bed.

We laughed — two grown humans suspecting thieves, while one little bird was just being a devoted parent.

The lesson is too simple to even call a lesson: Not every inconvenience is malice. Sometimes it's life quietly building a nest.

Same with our monkey gang that treats the shala roof like their personal toilet and party hall. Akshey sweeps poop, mops pee, tries different local remedies to keep them away… then smiles and remembers: this is their home too. Shared space, shared mess, shared magic.

This is why we love this simple life here — the birds, the cows, the monkeys, the palms, they're all part of the story. Sometimes they even steal your curtain rope… and teach you something in return.