26
Salonki is examined by the pigeons
The young male pigeon did not seem to
want to step away. He continued in a questioning voice, for Guturgu does not
talk to strangers. Especially those who come without prior invitation. Salonki,
surprised at the hostility, took two steps back, and said, Hey, cut out this
hostility, my friend. I am an old friend of Guturgu, probably even before you
were born. So can you just shove back, or step aside, and just point me towards
Guturgu. And go back to whatever you were doing, up there in the sky.
This was new to the young male pigeon.
He was not used to being opposed. He had had been having a good time until now.
All the other pigeons feared him. Nobody opposed him. There seemed to be
silence among the flock of pigeons now. All the hmmmming and grmmming that was
going on in the flock was gone. All sat quietly on the roof of the grain-shed.
They were watching the young male pigeon and waiting for him to react. Perhaps
he may throw Salonki from the roof, said one vain male pigeon to a
disinterested plump aunt of his. It was not to be, however. The young male
pigeon stepped back. Watching the retreat, slowly the pigeons made a path among
them, for Salonki to walk through towards a broken window in the shed next to
the roof.
Salonki walked worriedly, towards the
broken window, wondering as to what was happening. The young male pigeon,
humbled and quiet, followed her very closely. The three vain male pigeons
accompanied him, hoping that the female pigeons would think highly of them as
they did of the sky-diving young male pigeon. A shy young female pigeon walked
alongside Salonki. She whispered that the sky-diving young male blue-rock
pigeons were their guards, for they had decided to protect themselves from
animals like Billi and Naag. They came up to the broken window and the shy
young female pigeon called out in a very low voice.
The window was very dirty, with
cobwebs and grime settled on the panes. There was just enough space between the
broken panes and the window frame for one pigeon to squeeze inside. Any large
animal like a dog or cat trying to squeeze itself through the opening would
suffer cuts from the broken sharp edges of the window pane. Salonki stood
outside the broken window and tried to peer inside. It was a clear drop and it
seemed to be very dark inside. Even rats or mice could not enter through this
opening. Only birds could squeeze through and fly to any particular perch that
they wished to inside the shed.
Salonki could hear the low hmmmming
and grmmmming of many pigeons inside the shed. There were probably more than fifty
pigeons inside. What were they doing inside this shed? Salonki asked her
companion. These are our nesting aunts and uncles, the shy young female pigeon
said and added, they are sitting on eggs at the nests built on various perches
inside the shed. We protect them by preventing unwanted strangers from coming
near this open window. Any bird or animal or reptile, including the dangerous
Naag, would have to first cross the thirty pigeons who are always present on
the shed's roof. We stay on the roof throughout the night and day. The shade
from the nearby neem tree protects us during the day.
