It was the hottest week of summer in Jaipur, India. The sun was so strong that even the street dogs slept in the shade.

Diya and her brother Arjun were playing on the flat roof of their house when they saw a little sparrow. It hopped along the wall with its beak open.

“It looks thirsty,” said Diya. “But where can birds find water when it is this hot?”

Arjun looked around. There were no ponds and no puddles anywhere. “Let’s make a water bowl!” he said.

They found an old clay pot that their mother no longer used. Arjun filled it with cool water. Diya put a flat stone in the middle so that small birds could stand on it without slipping. They placed the pot in the shade of a plant.

At first, nothing happened. Then the sparrow came back. It drank and drank. Then it splashed its wings in the water!

The next morning, there were five sparrows, two pigeons and a green parrot around the pot. Diya and Arjun filled it every day all summer long. They called it “the Roof Café”.