Moms can be Dangerous!

A few weeks back, it was mating season for pigeons (am told that they mate all the time, all through the year ... lucky guys). During my occasional glances outside the bedroom, while juggling between the newspaper and smartphone (both begging for attention), I espied two pigeons, obviously in a romantic mood, cuddling and snuggling on the balcony railing. The amorous advances of the male pigeon were romantically reciprocated by the female, and they seemed to be having the time of their lives 

I could go on and on about their foreplay, love-making, and post-conquest activities, but I desist, since it would reveal my baser instincts, and the fact that, I am as idle, jobless and useless as UNO

Suffice to say that, a couple of weeks later, my good lady brought to my notice, the discovery of two shiny-white, cute pigeon eggs, in a flower pot nestled in a corner of the living room balcony. The excited mom to be (the female pigeon, not my good lady!), would pop in and pop out, every now and then, to sit on the eggs, while her male consort lurked, in and around. My basic biological knowledge, picked up rather cursorily till Class X, informed me that it was nature's way of ensuring that the eggs were nurtured till they hatch. A few hours of Google research, this time, far more intense than the cursory reading alluded to earlier, told me, that the reason for the corner spot chosen by the hen-pigeon (pardon me if such a word doesn't exist, but I am sure, I convey what I want), is again, nature's way of preventing any untoward happening on the eggs, by predators

For a couple of days thereafter, the activities vis-a-vis the eggs and the pigeons were mundane-getting-to-monotonous. Then, one fine day, I saw, horror-of-horrors, a crow swoop down swiftly to the flower pot, and make his way with one of the eggs. Needless to say, the hen-pigeon, who was on an errand at eye-sight distance, and was witness to the episode, was as taken aback as I was, with the sudden and horrendous attack. Now crows, as my limited knowledge on zoology goes (which is even worse than that on biology!), are social animals, and they make a song-and-dance of every minor event. Obtaining a pigeon egg as a snack, was the equivalent of a fine dining experience for the crow in question, and the crow lost no time in marketing the event, by crowing about her/ his gourmet meal (much as most of us do, about our brunch or dinner in a 5 Star restaurant, on insta, wapp, or fb). That brought a couple of more crows into the vicinity, with the intent of making a meal of the remaining pigeon egg

What followed soon after, was as epic as the Mahabharata or the IPL (take your pick). The motherly instinct of protecting the well-being of one's progeny, bestowed on every mother, by mother nature, was unleashed in full force by the hen-pigeon on the unsuspecting crows. Although they put up a defence like Kauravas or Chennai Super Ks (TYP), they were no match to the spirited attack of the hen-pigeon, a la the Pandavas or Gujarat Ts (TYP, again). The crows, therefore, had to beat a hasty retreat, with their tails between their legs, metaphorically (not physically, since such contortionist acts are well beyond crows, as my, by know, Google-enhanced knowledge on zoology tells me)

That's when I realised the full impact of the phrase attributed to Rudyard Kipling - the female of the species is deadlier than the male - for, the male pigeon, apart from fluttering hither and thither at a safe distance, and providing nuisance value, was but a mute spectator in this spectacular spectacle that ensued between the murder of crows (yup, murder, indeed is the collective noun for crows) and the lone hen-pigeon

To cut a long story short, the egg was saved and lived to see another day

The crux of this narrative was to highlight just one, of the umpteen battles and wars, that a mother wages, with scant regard to her own safety and well-being, to bring forth and bring up, the next generation of her clan. I doff my hat at the hen-pigeon, my mother and all the mothers in the world, who brave several odds, to bear and rear their children

 ।। जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी ।।