#2 What does it come into your mind when I say Pigeons? For some of you, it could be just a regular one near your home, for few, it could be a flock of them flying off in front of India gate. Or maybe the one in the Masakali song. Everyone shall relate to pigeons in some form or fashion.
My thoughts on pigeons would fall somewhere on the earlier mentioned list. However, it got completely shattered when I stepped into my hostel room. A few years ago, I stayed in one of the oldest hostels on campus. These are highly monkey friendly. Due to frequent troubles, the new hostels were constructed with the concerns in mind. The hostel in the discussion here is the tower hostel which is well made to avoid monkeys. However, the architects missed the pigeons. So, as I stepped in, I was welcomed by a stark stench. I knew the reason. We have a window that opens to a recess in the room, further shielded by a grill and concrete blocks. This recess is a perfect spot for the pigeons to procreate. Well protected from predators, I have seen pigeons making use of this spot even before. What happened now is that the hostel was kept idle for a long time due to Covid, and I had to change the hostel. So, I knew that all I must do was clean up the spot. I opened the window and realized that I was trapped. There were two squabs, a mom and dad, and loads of shit.
This was the first time I saw a pigeon baby—no feathers and nothing like an adult one. Any effort towards an eviction means deciding on their life. I googled how long it takes for a pigeon baby to fly. Google said a minimum of 4 weeks. 4 weeks is too long for a person who prefers a spotless room. But deciding on the life of those two was hard. I decided to wait and let it be for a month. As a week passed on, my attention changed from the stench to the commitment of those parents. 24/7, there was always someone near the babies. They took turns to be with them. This was a new experience for me. I have not seen anything like it. Do all pigeons(birds) share these parental duties? The most I have seen, Cats and dogs are not like this. This humane parental behavior was in contrast with the filth surrounding them. I think it didn’t matter to them. Maybe the security available was worthy of this sacrifice. I was lucky to shift again to another hostel as the present one was chosen for the maintenance. I wonder what happened to that family. Did the squabs survive, or were evicted?