It was one of those stark winters
when the mother pigeon laid 2 eggs on one of the cartons on the balcony.
Whenever I used to come to the balcony to hang my clothes she would just get
scared and fly off somewhere near and kept watching me continuously, as if
monitoring my acts and till the time I was away from her eyes, she would just
stay away from my reach and watch me silently. I used to watch the preparation
of new lives from the windows which opened up to the balcony, watching when she
was just incubating the eggs and the father pigeon would get food for her in
his beak. Even when he was away for hours, her determination and dedication for
her eggs was so strong that I have even watched her stay hungry, unmoved like a
statue for 12-14 hours in a stretch. And this was not just a onetime incident.
Finally the day arrived and I heard
the peeps of the baby pigeons. I was really curious to see the new life and I found
an opportunity to get their glimpse when the parents were away for the kid. And
I was amazed. There were 2 cute mouse sized pigeons which were barely a day
old! So 2 lives had taken place before my eyes. Because I was living alone, I thought
of them as a part of my family and whenever I could take time, I used to catch
their glimpse. Slowly and gradually, mother pigeon realized that I was harmless
and used to stay with her new children even when I was there at the balcony. It
could be quite possible that either she understood me as harmless and stayed
back till the time I was too close to her or maybe after the birth, she became
too daring to leave her kids alone. But whatever, I really enjoyed the
parenting. I thought I got a new company and a family to live with.
It was really fun and I used to
watch the parents feed their kids and when the mother was there, the babies
peeped like hell but went silent, the moment she was gone, mostly when I came
out on the balcony. But there was one thing that was worth noticing among them.
It was something very similar to what we humans have in us. Whenever the babies
would start peeping loudly, I would come to know that the mother has arrived
and behind the window I tried to watch their activities behind the window, very
much hidden and far from them. But the moment I started watching them, immediately,
the mother would turn around, even though the kids were peeping in a careful
mode and would start looking here and there as I searching for someone, or
maybe became alert by her sixth sense. When I realized I was becoming an
interruption and the kids went hungry at times just because of me, I started to
leave them alone.
Then one fine day, when it was
beautiful and sunny, and the mother pigeon was feeding them, I realized it was
the time they had grown up and they ought to fly now. Both the father and
mother, with the help of their beak and wings were trying to teach their kids
to fly. And finally the 2 kids started to flutter their winds and jumped on the
nearby carton, imitating their parents. And finally they made it! They flew up to
the next window nearby and finally out to see the new world outside. The
enormous world and their flight of freedom. That was really a heart rendering
scene. Watching the lives fly, which have hatched out of eggs in front of my
eyes. I felt like a father inside.
The next day was very silent and I
got very upset. The sudden silence has left me in total isolation and I felt like
being deserted by my own. But then I realized that the life has to move on and
that the parents and the kids have gone off, in search of a new world, to start
a new life cycle.
Life went by and after two day as
usual I woke up and went to the washroom to start my regular chores. The moment
I gargled for the toothbrush, the water smelled very dirty. It was as if some
sever had been opened in the pipeline. In India, it’s not something unusual,
hence with my nose close, I somehow finished off my bath, put on the deo and
went off quickly for my work as I was already late.
When I came back in the noon, and
reopened the tap, it smelling awful. I immediately opened up all the taps to
let the water of the tank flow off and that I would ask the guard to restart
the motor so that fresh water can be supplied to the tank. The entire house was
stinking. I just walked off to the balcony and saw one of the baby pigeon back
to its nest. It somewhat looked startled but dint dare to move even when I was
near to it. It tried to flutter its wings but it seemed as if it has forgotten to
fly, or it had no wings at all. And I saw the parent pigeon sitting on the sun shed,
but they seemed to be somewhat silent. I hardly noticed the silence in their
eyes and they somewhat seemed to be unmoved even when I was near to the baby pigeon,
which was somewhat surprising. But I just watered the plants and went upstairs
to check my water tank on the terrace.
I looked down the water tank and
saw something like polythene floating in it. I was really annoyed and wanted to
scream at the guard for being so irresponsible for leaving my water tank open.
But then I looked carefully into it, and I was shocked. There was a baby pigeon
floating in it, and not polythene. I smelled like vomiting and all of my body
started to smell like the odor of the dead pigeon. I felt like fainting. And my
mouth started recalling the dead smell of its body, with which I had gargled in
the morning.
I bought myself some chicken for
dinner and came back home. When I served it into my bowl. it seemed as if it
was the same pigeon which was dead, the same baby which was born before my
eyes, and fell into the water tank, and just because it was too young and was
learning to fly as unable to come out of the narrow neck. I couldn’t swallow it.
All the time, the silent eyes of the parents and the other baby kept floating
before my eyes. I tried to mix it into curry and have it, but was unable to. I will
never have any meat in my life. As it’s a life of a living being. The cost of
life of a member of a family who are unable to beg for their lives in our
language while they are being killed, just for the sake of our taste.
They love, they give birth, and
live together like we do. Nothing different. Just being stronger than them and
that they are unable to protect themselves does not give us a right to
slaughter them. Just think from the perspective of a parent. How would you feel
if someone stronger than you would eat your child. Just imagining the scene of
the kid being slaughtered, cut into pieces and cooked in front of your eyes
would send you chills In your spine. I am not advocating vegetarianism, as I
myself was a carnivorous at one point in time, but won’t be anymore. Maybe I can
still keep few families alive and together.
