“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.” Napoléon Bonaparte
The banyan tree and the other large trees were cut down, the tractor and the levelling machines rolled in at a high speed to clear the agricultural land into a residential place. It was technically named NA, a non-agricultural land by the local municipal authorities after authenticating and making it legal on a stamp paper. The grass and the broken stump of the trees, however, tried to regrow after a few days owing to the excessive water supply on the land, but they were slaughtered with the spade and the axe till the last remains of the roots dried in the cemented foundation. The cleared earth was transformed within months into a dwelling area with its peaks growing higher than the nearby independent bungalows. Every bit of the earth was cemented and plastered except a central 100 metre which was raised and filled with sand and mud. It was then lined with palm trees on one side and the silver oak on the other end near the newly constructed clubhouse. These norms are prescribed by the government, a green space, a playground and a beautiful building complex was created on the NA land. A gardener was called and the raised garden was designed to have two rows of flowering plants lining the hedges and a central green-lawned space.
Unknown to these changes was a huge family of Pigeons that lived on the Banyan tree, in fact, it was a haven for the Pigeons. It was close to humanity and food, yet they had a large tree to live, rear and grow in number. As the construction began, the Pigeons moved to the nearby places, but they did not find it satisfactory and so they returned back after the construction. Many of the pigeons would perch on the bars of the windows and fall asleep but their gurgle would surge annoyance amongst the dwellers. When the new building was ready most of the pigeons moved to the passage ducts and perched on the little spaces outside the washrooms. The place was safe for the Pigeons as the washrooms had a large fixed glass on the lower end. The pigeons would rest on the metallic pipes, window sills, the shades on the windows, but their favourite haunt was the window sill of the washroom in the duct passage. The people in the building addressed the gurgle of the pigeons which sounded like a growl many times. They found the building filled with pigeon poop and the feathers that flew inside their homes with the breeze.
Unknown to all these difficulties, Squabby the pigeon hatched out of its egg. It was the only one for its parents Bailey and Squeaker. Bailey and squeaker collected the sturdy roots of the money plant and the twigs from the other plants that grew in the balconies in the building to build a nest of twigs on the washroom sill of the second floor. The house was locked for many days and the pigeons could gurgle and rest peacefully. The young pigeon that hatched out of the egg found solace in its parents just as human children and was named Squabby.
Bailey the mother pigeon narrated stories to Squabby every evening, Squeaker would add up his bits to the story. Squabby loved to listen to these stories. It often asked his mother how important were they as birds.
Bailey told Squabby, ‘We had been messengers in the good old times beginning from our ancestors in Egypt. We were domesticated and the most reliable during the first world war as messengers,’ said Squeaker.
Bailey said proudly, ‘ Our eggs were prized and so are our squabs like you, but the human beings love eating us, just as the cats and dogs. Squeaker said, ‘There were a few beautiful human beings like Pablo Picasso who had named his daughter Paloma, a Spanish word for Pigeon'.
Squabby was 45 days old when the members of the building decided to save the building from further deterioration by sealing the empty spaces near the washrooms and the duct passage with nylon net to stop the pigeons.
Squabby often felt depressed when Bailey and Squeaker left in search of food. It was afraid of human beings and the grey dog that lurked around. It could hear the hammering of nails on the nearby walls throughout the day. It saw a man hang on a make to do rope swing as he kept nailing the wall with notches. He spoke to his friend in a swaggering tone about his work. Squabby feared but puffed itself as it waited for Bailey and squeaker to return home.
Bailey reminded Squabby that night, ‘Gurgle louder than the nails and puff up to look bigger,’. Bailey and Squeaker worried a while but life has to go on. They left early to nearby places in search of food. By eleven in the morning, the man came back and started rolling out the nylon net. He would roll a little and then pin the nylon net to the notches he had made. By four in the afternoon, the duct was sealed but Squabby was still on the window sill and was trapped. Bailey and Squeaker, gurgled, flew high and low, they hung to the nylon net but they could not reach Squabby. Squabby was a fledgeling and could not fly.
The next morning The men came with the swing again but lowered themselves to wash the windows. They hung themselves in the duct, pouring tons of water through a jet to clean the place as the pigeons had dirtied the surroundings. The man slid to Squabby, but Squabby jumped out of the window and landed on the boundary wall near the duct, It stayed on the wall, there were murmuring voices but no one helped Squabby. Water gushed down, and reached Squabby, it slipped down till it reached the ground. It shivered and shook itself, but found itself close to the grey dog. Squabby shrunk in fear and knew its end was near but the dog walked away. Bailey and Squeaker tried to reach out for the wet little one when the watchman reached the place. He shooed the birds away and slowly picked Squabby, but it puffed and shook the water on its body. A big drop flew into his eye and he dropped it down. Bailey and Squeaker quickly swooped squabby and clung on to its feathers and flew with it upwards. As they reached high, Squabby slipped out of their grip and started rolling down. In anguish it started flapping its wings, and lo behold it moved up and soared into the sky. It was its maiden flight.
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."-Lao Tzu –
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