Nest building

It was the end of January, 2005 when I found myself in Mumbai. Sinex Systems were one of the chief exhibitor to PopAsia; a congregation of outdoor display manufacturers in the country and this is one prestigious get-together for the trade. The exhibition is invariably in the last week of January and the venue, Nehru Centre, at Worli in Mumbai. Since I was under their pay, I was also ferried along to the conference.

I was part of a large team; in those uniforms and ties; explaining banner stands and Pop Ups to a stream of mostly disinterested visitors. We collected their visiting cards like sugar candy but actually bombard them with direct mail junk once back in Chennai.

Nehru Centre had two large exhibition halls and I went to the back door each time I felt an urge to smoke. That soon became the de-facto smoking zone and frequent smokers found themselves saying hello to other frequent smokers. It is one community united by nicotine and promises of early death.

In all these human affairs ; press guys clicking photographs at random or young girls walking around with microphones in asses protruding out and curling hairs intruding to the face and to be thrown back every alternate second, I chanced on these pigeons. Their actions occupied my attention and I learnt a lesson here.

In a place like Nehru Place the ceiling is over 25 feet and there was one alcove that stopped at 20 feet. A pigeon seemed restless and heavy; surely the female bird for another pigeon gave the game away. It just had a single-minded focus; be near the female bird and then fly down the rolled shutters of the gate ' it was a narrow gate and door carved out for limited access ' about 20 feet away from the alcove. It would nose-dive to the gate and go to the outside of the hall and grow stronger in flight as it preceded towards the trees and shrubs about 20 metres away; way past the lines of parking cars. It would come back with a twig and get inside the hall through the same collapsed gate and deposit that twig near the female. Each round trip would be a couple of minutes effort for the pigeon.

This went on relentless for 4 hours and the nest was slowly taking shape. The pigeon was so insistent that it did not bother about the company of smokers nor brooked any interference from humans blocking the gate. It just whizzed past to-and-fro with a bravery that can only be described as foolhardy. Slowly the flight of this bird registered in the smoker's community and soon they swelled a crowd of amazed onlookers.

One of the cops said," Even Ambani cannot afford a house here and this pigeon has made a nest in time for the eggs".

Another man said," I now understand what a family is". The small bird gave it all (really, everyone wondered at it tenacity and energy) to ensure that the female was comfortable and the eggs found a safe place.

As for me this was an inspiration; coming from a dysfunctional home I learnt my lesson. I can never forget this nest-building imprint in my mind; pigeons may be bird-brained but their commitment to their family is no laughing matter. We could do well to learn a thing or two on those things that really matter. That day in Worli the taxis honked at the traffic lights, businessmen impatient for a meeting, actors nervous on an audition, the sugarcane man out Nehru Centre sweating with sun on his face; but nothing matched the splendor of this humble pigeon.

For those gathered it was a sight that just refused to fade away from the mind.