A story of intergenerational love and hope
Arushi Ralli 
The Book - The Mountain That Loved A Bird
The CBA community came together to read The Mountain Who Loved A Bird, a book rooted in grief, nature, loneliness, resilience, intergenerational stories, joy and hope. We started the reading by asking, “What is the one thing from your lineage that you would want to carry from generations to generations?”. It was beautiful to connect with each other through what they would want to carry, like nani ka achaar, kindness, community, intergenerational resilience and continuing to find purpose in life.
While reading, we went through a relational journey between the Mountain, Joy (the bird) and Joy’s children who continued coming to meet the Mountain as it sat still waiting for someone to stay. It kept asking Joy, “Will you stay this time?” and that reminded us of the power of presence in friendships and relationships. There were some interesting observations on how the illustrator didn’t make a face on the mountain showing that the whole mountain was speaking from its whole being. As we reached the point of the mountain breaking down, stories of grief flowed for us, just like the mountain cries of tears making it a river. “Grief is just unspent love”, one of the participants said while all of us went on our own journeys and realizing that grief is so much intimate, it could also be an opportunity for growth, openness and newer relationships to live and thrive.
Lastly, Maheema facilitated an activity where all of us spoke one word in turns and made a story. You’d be happy to know that the story sounds like this: “Joy came seed sang beautifully ever until after the river streamed near its wings and laughed viciously so the mountain cried with joy and fury again. The magic seed grew tall spreading magic of warm light hugging orchids everywhere spreading their smiles burnt from light covering whole world and the mountain.”
Trust us, it’s an all adults group and we were little children sobbing, smiling, laughing and playing around through this children’s book reading!
The community that loves mountains, birds and reading Children’s Books
This reading was facilitated by Maheema Misra