Mar 27, 2020
The ultimate survivors
They perch in neat rows along the water’s edge and swoon in hundreds across our cricket field at the slightest sound. They peck in the grass and squabble all day on our window ledges. In these weird times when the playgrounds are oddly vacant, the pigeons give a semblance of normality.
It’s day 3 of our lockdown. Today I’ve spent quite some time standing in the balcony admiring these birds. They’ve always been around in their hordes. I have never seen anyone feeding them in our complex and yet they’ve been omnipresent. Mostly ignored, sometimes shooed away from the ledge. They are ugly, awkward, stupid little birds who walk more than they fly. Yet here I am, admiring them today because their presence is the one constant in a world that has completely changed around me.
I miss the laughter of my little football league that played every evening, I miss the chatter of gossiping Moms who sat on the steps, I miss the purposeful walking of all the Oldies, the clapping of the bhajan singing Aunties. Every evening the playground and its surrounding areas were a cacophony of sounds and activity. It’s empty now. Everyone has disappeared.
Everyone except the pigeons. These ubiquitous creatures have continued their affairs like nothing has happened. They eat anything. Insects from the grass, leaves from my kadipatta tree, roti, rice, grains, anything they can find. They sit on the water’s edge and drink from the fountain pools, swimming pools, planter saucers, anywhere. Their adaptability is amazing. They are the quintessential generalists in a super specialising world.
Therein lies their beauty. We may think of them as ‘rats with wings’ but they are supremely successful. They are the ultimate survivors!
