Pigeons on My Balcony

These are some of my first and dearest friends. Walking down the Delhi gate, in my college years, I have seen these pigeons in front of the statue of Asaf Ali, eating grains and flying in the lovely blue skies while going to Daryaganj to eat Bread Pakoras in the corner shop. Or while entering a totally different world in the small streets of "Purani" Old Delhi. The small shops, bazaars, barber shops,grains or the early morning "Mandi" wholesale vegetable markets of Daryaganj-Delhi.

There are some pigeons on my balcony. They have made nest there. Sailing in the blue skies in the mornings and coming back to rest in the hot afternoons. Nesting . They have made a small nest of twigs under my water cooler.

" What is man's relation with nature ? Are we part of this whole planet as a whole or do we lead our individual selfish ways. The debates about global warming and climate change have brought these issues to public light.

They are my friends, these pigeons.

"Throw them out, they make your balcony dirty" one friend and well wisher said.

I keep silent. Either you can understand this camaraderie or you cannot.

There is no point in arguing with him. One of them even killed a pigeon and hung it in his balcony to scare away other pigeons. But for me, that is not just done. They come to rest in the night. And they even enter my room sometimes and cannot find a way out. Pigeons are not smart as domestic sparrows who can readily find their ways in and out of the rooms.

Even if you show the pigeon the way, he takes a long time to come out.

"They have laid eggs. Now Bhatt, if you do not throw them out, the babies will dirty your balcony like anything." That is the way they look at it, my dear human friends. They mean well, but their perspective is different. It is "my" world rather than "our" world. Well that is the way it is for many of us. Maybe we are all selfish in some things. But we may not be selfish in some things. Hope one becomes less selfish and more open over a period of time. Maybe the new life which is breeding on my balcony will change things for me, as it will do for the pigeons.


The pigeons are sitting on the eggs, incubating them. When I come back from classes, and go to the balcony, they fly away in fright. But over a few days, they see that I mean no harm. I even give them some grains to eat, which they expect tentatively. Slowly the balcony develops some boundaries. There is the "watercooler" side of the balcony where the pigeons are nesting and have laid their eggs and the "non-watercooler" side of the balcony where I rest and watch
the library lawns. Fellow-students going to the library reading room to study. Or sitting under the tree and talking. The pigeons have their own world. How many worlds are there? How many realities? Each true in some ways and each different. The pigeons slowly learn to trust me and do not fly away the moment I come to the balcony.

One day, small babies are born. New life. The marvel of creation. I come back from my morning walk in Kotla, having meditated in the rising sun on the blessings of this lovely day of creation. It is early. The Namaaz in the mosque of Kotla has not yet started. The call for the Jama Masjid prayers, of course have been made in the early morning hours. The faithful gather to pray. The rising sun, with it's yellow orange rays takes away the darkness of the sky.Soon the skies will be blue, and the pigeons will fly away, looking for food.

The babies are very beautiful. Baby-pigeons on my balcony. They gradually grow. And they start walking in the balcony.

"Throw them away", say my "well-wishers". That is absolutely out of the question now. This is new life. They come all over my balcony. They carry twigs with them. Their feathers and feces are all over. But they are beautiful. They add a dimension to my little selfish existence and make me see the world beyond my little petty selfish ways. And they are great friends.

Books, birds and plants are three friends that are loyal, demand very less and give back much in return. Crows are coming, looking for the small pigeons. This is one new thing I learn. Survival is not easy for these small babies. But their parents protect them. This is the way of the world. Ecosystems. The babies move freely in the balcony and then slowly learn to fly.They flutter their wings and make their first flights. Over a period of weeks they learn, through effort and error, and gradually come of their own. One day I see them flutter away to the skies.

The blue skies which have nothing to decorate them, but are so very beautiful. Some small pigeons fly away into the blue skies. When I walk past Delhi gate and see the pigeons eating grains there I sometimes wonder, if some of these pigeons are the 'Pigeons from my balcony'.