Lessons of life learnt from pigeons -1
I used to spend a good amount of time feeding pigeons. As a result of this hobby, I have observed their behaviour closely and for an extended period of time. Not many of us have the time and patience to watch animals and plants in action; how can we, when there are so many other pressing matters in life to deal with first: paying bills, meeting our deadlines, being a good parent etc.
For those of us who have the ability/luck to take time out and look at the world around us, we find that if we listen, the world around us tells us things - gives us insight. All we need to do is perceive it. So when I started spending time with pigeons, I was able to perceive patterns in their life and their behaviour. They are not much different than human beings, and they are more intelligent than most of us can believe.
I would like to focus on one particular lesson learnt out of the several that they were good enough to teach me
Out of the several pigeons who came to feed on our balcony, there was one pigeon who had a curved beak , much like a hawk's. Pigeons are not supposed to have curved beaks; they have straight pointed beaks which enables them to pick up grains , which form their staple food. A pigeon with a curved beak cannot pick up grains from the ground, which means that he will have to go hungry unless he finds other food. When I started giving them grains, I realised this particular pigeon was unable to pick up the grains while the others speedily ate everything up. So in the end the pigeon would remain as hungry as he was earlier which was not a very good state of affairs. After much thought I surmised that if the pigeon was given grains in a small container where the grains would lump together in a heap, it would be easy for the pigeon to pick up the grains. I got hold of a plastic container, something like a mini-mug , about a few inches in height and filled it with grain and I kept it a little away from the rest of the grains on the floor. After a couple of days, the pigeon realised that there was grain in the container and started eating from that.
It certainly looked like a success, except for the fact that when the other pigeons wanted to eat from it too, the curved beak fellow would get very angry and fight with all of them and drive them away. In the course of their fights, the container would invariably get trampled over and the grain would all fall out, so when the pigeon came back to eat, he would find it empty. I solved that problem by putting a heavy stone trough which was very solid and was just the right height and circumference for pigeon to perch on it and eat from it. The fights would happen every day, but at least the stone trough was too heavy to topple over , so all was fine.
After some days, I noticed that the curvy beak pigeon was getting very possessive about the stone trough. Even when he had finished eating he would not let any other pigeon come near it. For him, it was like personal property. He started becoming pompous and he was intelligent enough to understand that I had kept the stone trough only for him.
He started feeling IMPORTANT. He started feeling that he was more privileged and on a higher plane than the other pigeons because he was getting special treatment from me. He never realised that the reason why he was being given special treatment was not because he was better than his fellow pigeons but because he was more handicapped than them.
How often have you felt the same way - that you are more privileged? How often have you secretly felt smug and superior to the people who are lesser than you in terms of money, social standing, relationships, success? Maybe the Universe or God (or your own destiny if you are an atheist) gave you the post of a CEO or a BMW sedan or a 10 bedroom villa or a loving family who gives you emotional security, not because you are special but because you are more handicapped than other human beings.
Somebody up there decided you need more external support in life since you seemed unable to get through life without special privileges. According to that logic, the beggar on the street without a house and without any money, is probably the least handicapped of all, since the powers-that-be decided he doesnt need any help...
I used to spend a good amount of time feeding pigeons. As a result of this hobby, I have observed their behaviour closely and for an extended period of time. Not many of us have the time and patience to watch animals and plants in action; how can we, when there are so many other pressing matters in life to deal with first: paying bills, meeting our deadlines, being a good parent etc.
For those of us who have the ability/luck to take time out and look at the world around us, we find that if we listen, the world around us tells us things - gives us insight. All we need to do is perceive it. So when I started spending time with pigeons, I was able to perceive patterns in their life and their behaviour. They are not much different than human beings, and they are more intelligent than most of us can believe.
I would like to focus on one particular lesson learnt out of the several that they were good enough to teach me
Out of the several pigeons who came to feed on our balcony, there was one pigeon who had a curved beak , much like a hawk's. Pigeons are not supposed to have curved beaks; they have straight pointed beaks which enables them to pick up grains , which form their staple food. A pigeon with a curved beak cannot pick up grains from the ground, which means that he will have to go hungry unless he finds other food. When I started giving them grains, I realised this particular pigeon was unable to pick up the grains while the others speedily ate everything up. So in the end the pigeon would remain as hungry as he was earlier which was not a very good state of affairs. After much thought I surmised that if the pigeon was given grains in a small container where the grains would lump together in a heap, it would be easy for the pigeon to pick up the grains. I got hold of a plastic container, something like a mini-mug , about a few inches in height and filled it with grain and I kept it a little away from the rest of the grains on the floor. After a couple of days, the pigeon realised that there was grain in the container and started eating from that.
It certainly looked like a success, except for the fact that when the other pigeons wanted to eat from it too, the curved beak fellow would get very angry and fight with all of them and drive them away. In the course of their fights, the container would invariably get trampled over and the grain would all fall out, so when the pigeon came back to eat, he would find it empty. I solved that problem by putting a heavy stone trough which was very solid and was just the right height and circumference for pigeon to perch on it and eat from it. The fights would happen every day, but at least the stone trough was too heavy to topple over , so all was fine.
After some days, I noticed that the curvy beak pigeon was getting very possessive about the stone trough. Even when he had finished eating he would not let any other pigeon come near it. For him, it was like personal property. He started becoming pompous and he was intelligent enough to understand that I had kept the stone trough only for him.
He started feeling IMPORTANT. He started feeling that he was more privileged and on a higher plane than the other pigeons because he was getting special treatment from me. He never realised that the reason why he was being given special treatment was not because he was better than his fellow pigeons but because he was more handicapped than them.
How often have you felt the same way - that you are more privileged? How often have you secretly felt smug and superior to the people who are lesser than you in terms of money, social standing, relationships, success? Maybe the Universe or God (or your own destiny if you are an atheist) gave you the post of a CEO or a BMW sedan or a 10 bedroom villa or a loving family who gives you emotional security, not because you are special but because you are more handicapped than other human beings.
Somebody up there decided you need more external support in life since you seemed unable to get through life without special privileges. According to that logic, the beggar on the street without a house and without any money, is probably the least handicapped of all, since the powers-that-be decided he doesnt need any help...
posted by Amit Sengupta at 9:36 PM
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