Walking outside my room door in the corridor, I suddenly came to notice a little being. It was a baby pigeon – so young that it still had the soft yellowish down on it. It was strolling on the ledge of the balcony. Something about it made me watch for some time. Then I realized what was wrong – it couldn’t fly! It had not yet learnt!
This being a new situation for me, I watched entranced. Soon, I learnt it was not alone. There was another pigeon on the edge of the roof above – delicate, anxious and obviously female. Don’t ask me how I know they were bound to each other. It was in the way she watched – tense and alert. It was in the curve of her neck, her eyes fixed afar, her entire being focused on the fledgling.
Soon, she was joined by a larger, male pigeon. He took the scene in and flew away almost instantly. I could almost hear snatches of an imaginary conversation
“Best to leave him alone – he’ll be better on his own.”
A minute later, the female followed him as well.
As they flew out of site, the baby pigeon gave an alarmed squawk and made a desperate dive over the edge. He managed to fly just enough to go half way up to the roof. Half way up, he lost steam and fell –just managing get a toe into the brickwork here and there – enough, at least, to break his fall.
He didn’t fall all the way down – just to the balcony below. It must have hurt, I guess. But he appeared to be taking another stroll in the balcony. After walking some way, he hopped on to the sill, crouching just below the grill, almost unseen.
This is where the small pigeon found him when she flew in to check on him a few minutes later. She watched from above for a very long time.
All this happened within a span of fifteen minutes – far too long in the middle of a working day. Something came up and I went into the lab. When I came back a little later, the female and the fledgling were sitting side-by-side under the iron grill, a position they would keep long into the day.
I really don’t know what happened next. I found out a couple of days later that the pigeon family probably inhabited the thick tree in the middle of the courtyard. I saw the female pigeon again but never the young one. I don’t know if the little pigeon really flew that day. But I’m almost sure he did.
In my mind’s eye, the small pigeon took flight – and is still flying high somewhere.
