Travelogue: Delhi Airport (Terminal 3)

 

Travelogue: Area around Patna (Bihar) in Rainy Season from an Airplane

 

Travelogue: Night View of City from an Airplane

 

Stray Dogs Menace in India: Why Everyone Should Cooperate and Rid Our Streets from Dogs

 

Currently, there is a huge outrage in India over the increasing population of stray dogs, increasing dog bite cases and deaths due to rabies. Supreme Court of India has taken Suo moto cognizance of this problem in Delhi after which hell has broken loose and from media to common people, everyone is discussing this subject. Here are few of the points I want to mention about this issue.

Disclaimer: I love stray dogs, especially pups and if you read my blogs, you would know; otherwise also it is fine.

1. There are many people who are saying that they do not have any problem with stray dogs and stray dogs have never bitten them. But it is important to note that the most common victims of stray dogs are small children, old men and women, poor people, ragpickers, maidservants and beggars. We need to think about welfare of these vulnerable groups of people instead of our own feelings about this issue.

2. Population of stray dogs increases because of easy availability of food on the streets. India is plagued with general lack of hygiene in public spaces and hence it has created this situation where there is huge quantity of food is available for dogs, cats, insects, pests, etc on the roadsides and in the garbage thrown everywhere around.

3. Due to the above reason, people who go out on the streets to feed stray dogs are actually being foolish. It is an invitation for stray dogs to exist in areas where they do not find enough garbage. If dogs are dependent on their artificial feeding, what will the dogs do on the days these people do not go out to feed the dogs?

4. Because of easy availability of garbage and leftover food, dogs’ population is expected to keep increasing exponentially. It is important to understand that stray dog population will increase “exponentially”, just like any species population. And hence, a point will come when things go out of hand and mass culling of dogs will be needed. Hence, it is important to manage this problem before things go out of hand.

5. Municipal corporations in many cities spend lakhs and crores of rupees doing forced sterilization of dogs, which is expensive; since the same money could rather be used for better purposes, like feeding homeless people or educating children of the poor. No amount of sterilization will be able to control dogs’ population if it keeps rising exponentially. 20 years of population control through sterilization can be undone in 5 years if sterilization is stopped. Hence, sterilization is not a sustainable or permanent solution to this menace.

6. Many people are calling for pet keepers to adopt stray dogs, but this is not going to be widely popular because people keep dogs of foreign breeds for status-symbol purpose and most of them won’t keep local stray dogs because the purpose they keep dogs is not for charity but for amusement and companionship.

7. Since the matter has reached the Supreme Court which has already ordered all stray dogs to be captured and sheltered, everyone should cooperate, and municipal corporation of Delhi should obey the order religiously and leave not a single stray dog on the streets.

8. Govt should make a law that if anyone abandons their pet dogs on the street, the dog owners will be sent to jail.

9. Municipal corporations all across India should use mix of sheltering and sterilization of dogs to reduce the population of stray dogs to zero.

10. After stray dogs population will be reduced to zero, population of stray cats will rise, and municipal corporations must ensure good cleanliness of localities in order to avoid us getting into a similar stray cats’ catastrophe.

- Rahul Tiwary

To Speak or Not to Speak is the Question: The Marital Fraud Conundrum

 

Everyone comes across frauds at some point of time or the other. In this world, there are cheats, there are liars, there are backstabbers, and there are frauds of all kinds. But if we come across a fraud who takes away only objects and things from us, we are lucky. Worst kinds of frauds are those who take away the very essence of what constitutes us – a part of our life. I am talking about marital frauds.

There are people from both genders, who marry only for money. If they marry for money but still be with you, it is still a win-win. If they marry you but steal only money and objects from you, you are still lucky. But what if they marry and then take away part of your family – how can you cope with that? You feel incomplete forever. Marital frauds are the worse kind of inhumanity on earth.

When something like this happens to you, you find it very difficult to keep it all together. Would you still have faith in the goodness of this world? Would you still be able to trust others? Would you still have faith in the institutions you have trusted and revered all through your life? Will you still be looking at the roses and not the thorns? It is one thing to be left to die. But if you are victim of a marital fraud, your every living moment is hell. You wish every moment that you better die and then perhaps this endless pain stops.

There is a term called “heartbreak”, which we do not understand until we go through it. Every boy experiences it in his teenage, when they realise that the girl they though was the prettiest in the world does not love them. Then if your friend ignores you, or someone you respected abandons you. All these are nothing when compared to if your spouse defrauds you.

I remember coverage of Raja Raghuvanshi on Times Now Navbharat channel. This TV news channel has a wonderful host named Sushant Sinha. He was telling about this crime and when he came to the point where Raja Raghuvanshi’s wife asked her friends to kill him, he described the moment in a very touching manner. He asked to imagine how Raja would have felt when he realized that his very loving wife was getting him killed. At that moment, would he think of saving himself or be pained with the reality of his wife? That was heartbreaking and beyond it altogether. I would say Raja Raghuvanshi was very lucky that he departed. He would have found it more difficult to live with the true identity of his wife he so loved.

While marital frauds destroy the very fabric of our soul, sadly, there are no laws and institutions to give us justice once we are its victims. There is no surprise that so many people can’t come to terms with it and just give up. Everything has a breaking point.

The worse part of it is that this is not a legal problem to solve. This is not even a social problem for all – because it does not happen with everyone. Those who are at its receiving end suffer mostly in silence. They are silent because they fear ridicule if they speak up.

Hence the title: to speak, or not to speak, is the question.

- Rahul

A Saint from the Internet

 

I know many people have very low opinion of those who watch or enjoy ‘Bigg Boss’ TV show. But I happened to watch and follow last season’s beginning and later episodes and hence became well versed with it. If you followed it too, you would have found one participant of the show, his name was Afreen Khan if I remember correctly. He was introduced as a “life coach”. The producers of the show thought it was worthwhile to explain to the audience what a “life coach” does, and hence they consumed many hours around the same theme. Luckily, I had come across one such man claiming to be “life coach” on the internet before this Bigg Boss happened, and hence I was aware of it.

I had happened to find one “life coach” on the internet. Initially I had mistaken him for another man I used to follow many years ago on Orkut, but later realized he was a different person. Now, this person was an author – he had just published a book at the time I started following him. You can guess the topic of the book – it was motivational – in line with his “life coach” badge. Reading about him, I got to know that he had a family business in manufacturing which he had joined and was devoting his life to it, until one day he met with a road accident and took time to recover. After surviving the accident, he quit managing his business as a full time executive, hired employees to manage everything, and just overlooked the work as an owner. Instead of doing real work, now for many years or decades, he was just focusing on his health and wellness. He used to tour around the world along with his wife, took very nice wild life photographs with his expensive camera, and had a knack for writing and hence he used to write all through the day on the internet. The topics of his writings were about teaching people what to prioritize in life and what to focus on – which was health, peace of mind and family life. It was pretty basic stuff – he was preaching what he was practicing. I was impressed and fascinated with his writings and things he was doing.

Given that he was a life coach and a writer of motivational stuff, he used to always preach others on how to speak, how to behave, how to dress, how to manage money, etc. Hence, I chose the title of this blog post as “a saint from the internet”. Everything was going on well and many months or more than a year passed, when suddenly I discovered a new face of his.

Once he had written about something, praising some people who were doing something, and I felt differently and hence I posted a comment mentioning my disagreement and futility of what he was appreciating. I received a terse reply from him within a minute! He did not use any bad words but just used “sarcasm” to ridicule what I had said. I was taken aback, since I was not expecting such a response from “a saint from the internet”.

Exactly same behaviour repeated afterwards whenever I posted anything in criticism. Through his terse replies, he had made it clear that he did not like what I said (i.e. he did not like me expressing what I did not like). At the same time, he never used any bad words, or did not block/ban me, which was a relief. Since I understood that he did not like criticism, I almost stopped writing any comments/replies on his posts. I even avoided writing comments in appreciation, because naturally, if he did not want both good and bad from me, then he did not deserve anything from me.

Many times I did not like what he said but stopped myself from writing any comment in criticism, fearing his reaction. But after a year or so, this morning I once again posted a comment in disagreement with what he had written. Again, within a minute, his sarcastic reply came. He did not change!

The reason why I am writing this blog post is to send a central message that the “saint from the internet” was not really a saint but just a human being who had learnt to tell nice things to others. He had projected an image of being a very successful businessman (while he had already quit his full-time job), a man in total self-control and a role model to follow for others (while he snapped at every single criticism like his deck of cards were to fall down with a single gush of wind). He was living in a make-belief world, and I decided I was done with him.

I know it is pretty common for people to be very protective of their writings or ideas and to get upset whenever someone criticises them. But they do not claim to be saints, or life-coaches! If one is putting himself on a high pedestal of being a life coach and a motivational writer, one has to also practice a bit of self-control and show some tolerance and empathy. I have seen many people who are not very brilliant or geniuses at what they do – but they are more tolerant and accepting of criticism, and such a maturity is often rated more highly over other forms of excellence.

As I shall let him go down my forgettable memory lane, I would take away a lesson from his life. It is better to be a human who does mistakes, than to be a saint who shouts at any finger that points at one's mistakes.

- Rahul Tiwary

Death of an Influencer

 

Recently, a very popular Indian social media influencer died due to an ailment. He was a meme creator and a photoshop artist. He went by a pseudo name on social media platforms and had used a profile picture which showed his face only partially but gave away his age and fitness to a certain extent. I had come across his posts many years ago, and although I suspect I could have interacted/commented on his posts a few times many years ago, now I don’t have any memory of any interaction with him.

After news of his death came, his fans and other social media users started mourning his death. There was a huge shock and disbelieve among people, though all newspapers had published about the death. People were horrified with the news; perhaps many even cried. He was still young, to make it worse, newspapers told he was only in his late 20s. After reading people’s posts, I understood that they did not know how to cope up with this news. This brings into my memory my first experience of coming across such a news: death of an influencer.

I used to write blog posts, and there was a very popular blogger who wrote mainly on politics. I shared his political inclinations too and I understood that he was a senior person while I was only in college. I quickly began to look up to him and was fascinated by his knowledge and understanding. I remember he adored me too, like his younger brother. A few times he would write comments to guide me or enlighten me on political topics, since I was really a novice back then. He had an image of Bhagwan Ram carrying a Dhanush Kaman as his profile picture, since those were the days of post-Ram Janmbhumi Andolan and perhaps he was inspired by the movement. Both of us had a few common connections (bloggers) who we mutually respected and I remember once another blogger said to me, “Oh, you are also a Ram Bhakt” and I took it as a huge compliment because I knew she was a big fan of that senior blogger and I was flattered because she had counted me in the same league of Ram Bhakts.

After many years, the blogging platform looked deserted since most people migrated to social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and after a gap of few years once I found him on a platform. He was very popular there too and I realized he had entered politics by that time as I understood he assisted some politician in Haryana.

Once he gave me his phone number, asking not to share it with anyone else (since he was in politics) and he asked me to call him and meet him whenever I was in Delhi. Once a common connection had tried to call him for a get together but he was not available. Afterwards, I visited Delhi few times without remembering to meet him and then once finally I thought to call him. Now I don’t have exact memory if I did call him or if my call did not get through or what happened. But I remember that I tried to check his blog and social media accounts to check on him and I came to know that he had died a year or few years back due to an illness. I guess he must be in his late 50s or early 60s or somewhere in his 60s when he died. His daughter had posted using his social media account about his death. I was shocked for many days and I remember I did not know how to process that news.

How to mourn the death of a person you never met but have only read his writings on the internet? You have never met him, so you don’t have his images and pictures in your mind. You have never heard his voice, so you can’t recall what he said and how he said it. With passage of time, you do not remember even his exact blog posts or writings. All you can garner are glimpses of his posts and some broad category of topics which he chose to write on. I don’t think human brain has evolved to fully connect with totally virtual experiences. Or maybe it has, by believing virtual entities as real, just like I imposed “big brother” image on him based on how he interacted with me in the comments section or chats.

This whole experience of coming across death of social media influencers also makes us think about the time we shall be in their place. If we are writing/posting on the internet, there are many others who know us only by our writing. Maybe they also project some kind of image on us, like a brother, friend, senior, or an enemy. In the end, everyone deserves a coping mechanism.

It has been about three weeks since the photoshop genius died. I searched about him on the internet and realised that barring the news of his death three weeks ago, not a single media house published any single news about him after that day. Maybe because they did not know anything about him other than the known facts that he was a photoshop artist, his age, real name and picture, which they had shared in their breaking news article about his death. Or maybe they did not care.

Such things make us realise the mortality of everything we are about. After we die, a few family members will remember us for many years in the real world. But in the virtual world of the internet, people will not really remember us because they never knew us, and now, with fading memory of many things, I am not even sure people will remember our writings, or our poems, or anything about us.

In the end, we shall all become like an unnamed star in the vast sky. Or maybe, we were always one and did not know.

- Rahul Tiwary

 

 

Books: Stories Short and Sweet, by Ruskin Bond

'Stories Short and Sweet' is a wonderful collection of 12 short stories by Ruskin Bond, set in the hilly small towns of India. The book captures various facets of life, including humor, nostalgia, love, friendship, trust, and betrayal, often through the lens of childhood experiences.

Here are the chapters (stories) included in the collection:

1. Those Three Bears 

2. The Coral Tree

3. He Who Rides A Tiger

4. The Thief’s Story

5. When the Trees Walked 

6. A Bouquet of Love

7. The White Pigeon

8. Pret in the House

9. The Overcoat

10. The Tunnel

11. The Snake Charmer's Daughter

12. The Wild Fruit

I loved the stories, "The Coral Tree", "The Thief’s Story", and "A Bouquet of Love " a lot. “The Coral Tree” tells the story of a young man leaving his grand father’s house in India for England permanently, and touches the emotional aspect of parting with a place. Reading the story, it strongly feels like we are the boy and an urge to make the boy not leave. "The Thief’s Story" is a touching story of a thief who tries to steal from his own friend, and the associated dilemma. “A Bouquet of Love” tells the story of an elderly woman living a solitary life in a cottage on a hill station and how once harsh weather takes her life.

Each story is crafted with Ruskin Bond’s signature warmth and gentle humor, making it a delightful read for all ages.

- Rahul

Book Review: ‘Do Epic S*it’ by Ankur Warikoo

 

Ankur Warikoo is an author who later became social media influencer after a stint in entrepreneurship (he cofounded several companies and websites). He is highly educated (MBA from ISB-Hyd) and well versed with the ecommerce and startup space. “Do Epic S*it” is his first book which came out in 2021.

The book comes close to “self-help” space and since thousands and thousands of books are already written in this area by both foreign and Indian authors, Ankur has chosen to build this book heavily on his own life experiences. After reading this book, we get a very clear idea about the author’s life journey, including his parents, wife and kids and it seems the author has used this book for his personal “branding” (after all, he is a social media influencer now). And when it comes to the “content” of the book, it comes across as genuine and written with a good intent to help others.

In this book, the author reflects on what is success and what is failure. He says that most of the time, it is “others” who decide for us what is success and what is failure. We need courage to define these two for ourselves, in our own ways. We need not do things to please others, but we should do things which make us happy, because if we are happy doing things, we do not need any external push or motivation. 

The author says that most battles are won or lost in the mind. Ego is a major roadblock to learning and growth. Money offers freedom, but only with discipline. Avoid taking loans for expenditures that your income doesn't support. Holding grudges drains energy. Treat people with respect, empathy, and then sympathy. The way we can identify true friends is that true friends celebrate our success and are not jealous of us. You are the average of the thoughts you spend time with, not just the people.

To summarise, this book is a natural summary of all good things the author learnt in his life till the time. And he has expressed those very well and with a good intent. I found many of his key points from this book are already out in the domain. But as we know, every Guru teaches the same lessons, but the manner in which those lessons are taught makes a difference. It feels that the book is by and large targeting young readers who have just started their professional journey. I would definitely recommend this book to these readers. 

- Rahul

Books: The Commonsense Diet: Stop Overthinking, Start Eating: By Rujuta Diwekar

 

I had heard the name of nutritionist and author Rujuta Diwekar on the internet a lot and this is her first book I chanced to go through and I found her book totally worth the hype. After reading the book, I understood why she was so popular. It is because she makes so much sense in what she says. I highly recommend this book to one and all.

At first glance, I had also wondered if her name had a spelling mistake, because we come across Rutuja (meaning seasonal) but not Rujuta a lot. I searched and found that Rujuta is a real word/feminine name and it means Honesty/Sincerity.

This book is written in a witty style, perhaps her trademark style and it is real fun reading it. I shall remember this book as much as for the facts and education in it as much the humorous way it is written.

The book encourages us to reject fads and extreme restrictions in favor of traditional Indian wisdom in foods and nutrition. Her core philosophy revolves around making sustainable, guilt-free food choices rooted in local, seasonal, and homemade meals. She emphasizes that "diets" don't work in the long term because they are temporary fixes. Instead, good health is a result of consistent, common-sense habits. She debunks popular myths, like eliminating carbs or fats, stressing that these demonizations are harmful.

Key points from the book:

Local, Seasonal, Traditional Food: The book strongly advocates for consuming food that is grown locally, available seasonally, and prepared using traditional methods. This means embracing regional staples like dal-chawal (lentils and rice) with ghee, poha, or idli, rather than imported superfoods or processed items.

Mindful Eating: Rujuta Diwekar promotes paying attention to your food, savoring each bite, and eating slowly. This helps in recognizing hunger and fullness cues, preventing overeating, and fostering a healthier relationship with food, free from guilt. She even proposes the "Jordan formula" – taking a second bite only if you're sure you can eat a third, to encourage mindful consumption.

No Meal Skipping: Especially breakfast, regular meals are crucial for stable blood sugar and sustained energy, preventing cravings and overeating later.

Ghee is Good: Contrary to popular diet trends, she champions the inclusion of ghee (clarified butter) in moderation, highlighting its benefits for nutrient absorption and satiety.

Holistic Wellness: The book extends beyond just food, emphasizing the interconnectedness of diet, exercise, sleep, and mental well-being. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and managing stress are integral components of her "commonsense" approach.

Rejecting Fad Diets & Overthinking: Rujuta constantly urges readers to simplify their approach to food, tune out the constant noise of conflicting diet advice, and trust in the inherent wisdom of generations before us. Health is not complicated; it's about going back to basics.

Ultimately, "The Commonsense Diet" aims to empower individuals to make peace with their plates, enjoy food without fear, and build lasting healthy habits by embracing simple, time-tested wisdom of our country.

- Rahul

 

Article: Why People Post Negative Things on Social Media about a Deceased Person

There are several psychological and social factors that can contribute to this behavior:

1. Disinhibition Effect (Online Anonymity/Distance): Social media provides a sense of anonymity and emotional distance. People feel less accountable for their words when they are not face-to-face with the grieving family or the deceased's supporters. This can lead to a disinhibition effect, where they say things they would never say in person.

2. Lack of Social Norms for Digital Grief: While traditional grief rituals have well-established norms, social media is a relatively new space for discussing death. "Digital etiquette" around death is still evolving, and some individuals may not fully grasp or respect the sensitivity required.

3. Personal History/Unresolved Conflicts: The death of a person can sometimes open up old wounds or unresolved conflicts. For individuals who had negative experiences, grudges, or perceived wrongs committed by the deceased, their death might be seen as an opportunity to air those grievances without fear of direct retaliation from the person themselves.

4. "Truth-Telling" or "Setting the Record Straight" (from their perspective): Some individuals might genuinely believe they are "telling the truth" or "setting the record straight" about the deceased, especially if the deceased had a public persona that conflicted with their private actions or if the commenter felt personally wronged. They might feel an obligation to present what they see as a more accurate picture, even if it's negative.

5. Seeking Attention/Validation: In some cases, people might post controversial or negative comments to gain attention, provoke a reaction, or validate their own feelings. The outrage generated by such posts can be a form of perverse gratification.

6. Moral Policing/Judgment: Some individuals feel a need to pass judgment on others, even in death. They might see the death as an opportunity to deliver a final verdict on a person's character or actions, often from a position of perceived moral superiority.

7. Impulsivity and Lack of Empathy: Social media encourages rapid, unfiltered responses. In the heat of the moment, or without fully considering the impact of their words on grieving loved ones, some people might post insensitive or cruel comments impulsivity. A lack of empathy can also play a significant role.

8. "Piling On" or Mob Mentality: If a few negative comments appear, others who hold similar sentiments might feel emboldened to join in, creating a "piling on" effect or a mob mentality.

A Little Muslim Girl On the Train

 

On my recent train journey, a middle-aged Muslim woman and her 6 to 7 years old little daughter boarded the train from Prayagraj railway station. The woman seemed illiterate, spoke too loudly, did not have manners, unnecessarily interrupted co-passengers with some or the other help, and it felt sad to travel in the same compartment as hers. But her little daughter left me totally in awe and seemed like a fairy of some kind!

The first thing I remember hearing from the little girl was when a teaseller passed in the morning, and she said to her mother, “mummy chai kharido” (mother, buy some tea)! From the way she sounded, it seemed as if she was asking for tea for herself. Her mother ignored her at that time, but later in the evening, she did buy tea from a teaseller, and she had ordered “two cups” of tea! It was shocking to see that she had taught her little girl to take tea from such an early age! And this was not the only thing out-of-age about the little girl.

The little girl used her mother’s phone to make several calls during the travel. I found that she was in habit of calling her mother “mummy” instead of “ammi” and father as “papa” instead of “abbu”, the latter terms are typically used in Muslim families. But she gave away her religion when she called someone over phone and called “Assalam valekum”, which sounded so weird coming from a little girl.

She remained on her berth along with her mother most of the time, and early morning next day when the train was about to reach the destination, she came down with her too. Her father called over phone and the little girl picked up the call and after saying “Assalam valekum”, the father went silent; and the girl asked, “Aur?” I was shocked to see such a little girl using this trick of saying “Aur?”, “Aur?” during phone calls to extend the discussion and probe the other party to talk more. Her father seemed to be totally non-talkative type because he was at loss of words even though it was he who had made the phone call. The girl herself asked him, “Aap majaar ke paas milenge na, jaisa pichhli baar mile the? Ham log majaar ke paas wait karenge”. I wondered what majaar she was talking about (later after reaching the railway station, I saw a small majaar (shrine) made on the Railway land just besides the main entrance; she was talking about that as a landmark). She told her father about the count of bags she and her mother were carrying. Later she gave the phone to her mother. The father asked the mother “who all are coming?” and she said, “no one else came” (meaning only she and the daughter were coming) in a voice of disappointment. The father again went silent and then said he was cutting the call, and it almost felt as if he did not like his wife much.

Just before the train was to arrive at the platform, the woman went to the loo after telling her daughter to remain sitting at her berth. But she did not specifically tell her that she was going to the loo, and hence after a minute the little girl became anxious and ran towards the way her mother had gone. By that time, I was already standing near the gate waiting for the train to arrive at platform, and I told the girl to wait at her seat and not to move, but she totally ignored me and went to the toilet door and banged it till her mother shouted from inside. Then the girl came back to her seat. I was really impressed that the girl had not trusted her mother and was fearing any untoward incident (like her mother leaving her behind and vanishing), which was a crime stuff from the newspapers. I guess such things happen in the worker-class families and such kids learn to trust only their instincts and not any other from their childhood.

When her mother came back and both were sitting on their berth, the girl looked at her luggage and after finding several loose carry bags, she said to her mother, “Ye allar-ballar lekar ham kaise utrenge?” (how shall we deboard the train carrying so much loose stuff?). Her use of the term “allar-ballar” (or something like it, if I don’t remember exactly), totally floored me! It was like cherry on the top, climax of a thriller novel.

I think the only one who vanished from the train was me, since I shall cherish the little girl and her interesting talks for a long time to come. May she always have a good and happy life; like a little fairy she is.

- Rahul Tiwary

Pigeons on my Balcony

It happened recently that I kept a few pieces of cardboards from old cartoons on my balcony’s iron grill, expecting those to provide a ‘curtain effect’, i.e. privacy. And then I forgot about it. After a few weeks, today, I realised that a few clever pigeons had grabbed the opportunity with both hands and made their home below the cardboards! 

If you look at two ‘couple-pigeons’ sitting anywhere, you can immediately sense that those are ‘couple’, not some random stranger-pigeons or brother-pigeons or boss-employee pigeons. I don’t know what is so special in their body language that we can immediately understand that they are a couple! And these ‘couple pigeons’ have been living rent-free under my balcony’s cardboards for several weeks! 

After I discovered their encroachment, I immediately remembered the news and awareness articles from the ‘internet’ which tell that these pigeons in big cities are carriers of several types of disease-causing bacteria and viruses and that is why these pigeons are called “pests of the sky”. I have been practicing hard to hate these pigeons for this reason, and with time I have understood how hard it is to ‘go against the genes’. How can we hate some birds who look so beautiful and innocent? But after they encroached upon my balcony, I got ‘hard-reasons’ to hate those criminal-pigeons. 

Finally, I carried out ‘bulldozer action’ by collecting all the cardboards from my balcony and packed those together to be thrown out. And then I went to the office. After I returned and went to the balcony, I found that those pigeons were wandering around barefoot, as if trying to ascertain what had happened! I wondered if they understood that a human (i.e. me) had purposefully destroyed their home, or if they blamed it on the ‘act of God’. I did feel ‘guilty’, almost as if I had ‘sinned’. In one moment, those pigeons had become martyrs, and I had become the East India Company. I think I should not have looked at those pigeons in the ‘eye’! 

Anyways, I have hardened my heart and become totally determined that I shall not let those pigeons live on my balcony again. I plan to fill the gaps and make more fortifications to stop the pigeons from encroaching there. I shall be vigilant and not forget about it all, like I did last time which caused this situation. But all said and done, deep inside, I know I shall not be able to live guilt-free after driving those pigeons out. 

I hope the pigeons ‘quit’ and find another place to make their nest. Whether they are ‘pests of the sky’ or not, my balcony is not their favourite hangout. 

"I'm very old-fashioned. I believe that people should stay married for life, like pigeons and Catholics." - Woody Allen

- Rahul Tiwary