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 ।।
). His ash-smeared arms, the hypnotic third-eye on his forehead, and the accoutrement that accompany him ... the trishul, the hour-glass shaped damru, all of it make for his mysterious mystique, and mesmerisingly magnetic charm
