GAME OF POTS

When I was a kid, studying in class 4 or 5, naive and oblivious to the terrifying realities, I wanted to be a Bird Watcher! Alas, the famous saying is indeed true...’I was born intelligent, education ruined me!’  And so here I am, studying medicine. 

During the gruelling final year and internship I spent most of the time on my desk, my faithful companion from the good ol’ days (read the first line)!

Yehin doobe din mere

Yehin hote hain savere

Yehin marna aur jeena

Yehin mandir aur madina...Mera Desk!!

Now my desk is situated right next to my window and I have spent a lot of time staring out, at the sky, rain, storm, fireworks, traffic, slums, the upcoming highrises and the subjects of this post- Pigeons!

Pigeons are definitely a nuisance, to the window, the sill, the plants and even the Swachh Bharat Campaign! My mother made me take out my old toy gun just to scare them away...but the Colt  failed to ruffle feathers...apparently they are quite brave!

Pigeons are extremely stupid!!! They can enter through a window, but cannot find their way out...even if you leave the entire window wide open for them! They never bother to build a nest and end up laying eggs on slopes, probably training the foetus to fly!

But apart from these things, they also happen to be quite interesting creatures. For instance, they happen to sleep on one leg. A pair that often sits on the grille of the drawing room window, will always look in opposite directions, if one faces north the other will look to the south. And, they are fierce lovers!! Oh oh...I have also once seen a pigeon sneeze...true story!

After a pretty long introduction, let me introduce you to some of my Baker Street Regulars.

His name is Oogway, the oldest and usually in deep thought...the younger ones seek his advice before any important task.

This one is called Silas. He comes very rarely.

This is Fudge, for obvious reasons. He is a kleptomaniac with a fetish for clothes’ clips!!

Now let’s come to the heroes of this story-

He is Rufus Lamarck. Handsome and graceful, he is extremely shy of paparazzi. He has a ruffled up patch on his back and he stretches out his neck to reach twigs and leaves, thus following the Lamarckian theory!

And this one here is Mosaic...a jolly fellow, always out to have fun! Check out the mix of colours on his neck!

Both Rufus and Mosaic come to my window sill, they are quite used to my presence. They don’t harm my plants and neither do they soil my window...we share an unspoken bond.

There happens to be an empty pot kept at one end of the sill...The Iron Pot. Rufus and Mosaic spend their days sitting in that pot...separately! For they both have laid claim on that Pot. But who knows who the true King really is? It is for this Pot that both of them have fought many battles, lasting for hours, days, months and years...two years to be precise. And the fights are aggressive and ruthless ...at times I feel I should intervene, just to stop it from ending in bloodshed! For the record, Rufus is the reigning king, having defeated Mosaic on more than one occasion. But their Lordships are very civil to the stray pigeons who enter their realm during the day, letting them quench their thirst, rest in the shade before they continue their journey to lands far away.

 One day, two new pigeons came to the kingdom, Chip and Robin. They brought greetings from their distant feathery friends. Rufus and Mosaic were happy to have them as their guests, showing them around the place. Little did they know that they were facing a far more dangerous enemy than each other. They should have suspected, when the pair showed an uncanny interest in The Pot!

They made their move when both Rufus and Mosaic were away and declared themselves the King and Queen of the Pot! I was unperturbed, my old rulers would not let go of their kingdom so easily. Rufus came back and wild with rage sounded the war cry and attacked Chip. Chip and Rufus fought for a long time. All this while, Robin (rightly named after the eternal sidekick) kept a watch, not participating in the war but observing from a distance. And to my dismay, Chip won...Rufus was defeated! Mosaic would have probably heard the news, for he did not come, choosing not to attack alone.

And so I came to accept Chip and Robin as the new Rulers...but I missed my old friends. My mother kept telling me to shoo them away because they must be intending to lay an egg here. I refused to do anything...because I still believed that Rufus and Mosaic would come back and overthrow this pair. But my mom was right...they indeed started building a nest on the Iron Pot. Now my shooing was in vain for they would not budge! Chip did most of the work, got the leaves and twigs...Robin, well he was just around! So I assumed Chip to be the Papa Pigeon (but I’m still a little confused!).

Now my gardener who comes every Sunday has absolutely no patience for these pigeons. So I woke up one Sunday to find the Iron Pot gone!!! He had moved it. Oh no...now how will I know what happens next? And the worst part...now Rufus and Mosaic will never come back! So I searched the house and discovered it kept in the sill of another window. I immediately got it back. But the nest was gone. My mother was quite happy that now at least they won’t lay an egg...but she was wrong this time. We woke up next morning to find a white orb resting nicely on another pot!!! 

Chip incubated the egg day and night (see that’s why I'm still confused) while Robin kept watch. Mr. and Mrs. Parrot came visiting them that day, congratulating them. Now I was really excited to see the egg hatch! So I told my mother and gardener not to touch the egg. But they would not let the plant go without water...so he slid the egg without touching onto the Iron Pot, watered the plant and then slid it back to its own bed again! We were scared that Chip won’t sit on it again, having got a whiff of human interference. But I came to know later that this was just a myth. Chip did come back to it. Almost two weeks passed.

One day, just before leaving for the hospital I went to look at it and found that the egg...was gone!!! Just like that, vanished in thin air!! My dad was sure he had seen it that very day. We have no idea what happened to it. Could the Dark One , the Crow, have anything to do with it? Or was it a much stronger force...the Kite, that circles the skies once a day when all the others sit still, not making a sound, making it very clear who is The One King to rule them all!

Chip and Robin hung around for a few days, and then left...for good. Just the other day, I caught sight of that familiar rough back and a brilliantly colourful neck!!! Mere Karan- Arjun aa gaye!

And so continues the epic battle of Rufus Lamarck and Mosaic...who will win the Iron Pot? Well, we’ll have to wait for the next season to know!

MS