Last afternoon, a beautiful white pigeon landed in my balcony. At first I thought she was sleeping as she was very still and I thought of not disturbing her. Minutes passed and she didn't move which was very unusual and I thought of checking on her. I didn't want to scare her so I moved close to her but very gently. She didn't seem to move at all even then. My husband and I immediately put a bowl of water next to her thinking maybe she has had a heatstroke. I didn't want to touch her thinking of a possibility that she might be laying eggs too. Few more minutes passed and she didn't seem to be moving at all and I was sure something is wrong. I carried her gently, put her on a muslin cloth and put the bowl of water exactly below her beak to see if she drank the water. She flapped her wings a bit, sipped little water and then fell onto the ground. We then rushed her to a vet clinic since I badly wanted her to get alright and start flying again. She was such a beautiful pigeon, a marvellous sight to watch and I was hoping she will become alright soon. We reached the vet clinic and to my sheer horror, the vet said that she seems to have been poisoned!!! Apparently there are heartless people living in this world who keep poisoned food and water in their balconies to keep these pure little souls away and she seemed to have ingested that food. By evening, her condition had deteriorated completely. She had stopped drinking water or eat any food and the medicines didn't bring any change in her. To end her suffering, the vet had to put her to sleep!!!
Within a few hours, a bird that my husband and I had just lovingly carried in our hands and soothed her wings with water, was not there anymore. We were at a complete loss of words and suddenly found ourselves missing her presence so much. I just couldn't bring myself to understand what happened in a matter of hours. Of course, some might say it was just a bird! However, that is exactly what it is not. We humans are so selfish to think that only our life is important and nobody else's matters. Who gave those people the right to give poison to such innocent souls? Who gave them the right to take away the boon of life from anyone?
Nature is the most precious gift given to us in this world but without doubt we have been destroying it in every possible manner. Humans' density of purpose has become limited to looking only after their own kind. We fail to realize or maybe continuously ignore the fact that we are born to live in a society that has its roots in peaceful co-existence. I wonder if anyone even knows this fact that pigeons were used by humans in World Wars to deliver long distance messages. During one of the many battles fought at the time, a one-winged pigeon had effortlessly flown miles and miles to deliver a message that an army received right in time and lives of 780 soldiers was saved. The pigeon flew the distance despite being shot with a bullet in her breast by the enemy. Are humans even capable of appreciating this resilience & selflessness?
My friend tells me to look at death in a different way. He says one cannot escape this universe. Life eventually always prevails and that's the miracle of it. Death is not an end but only a transformation. A way of getting liberated from the limited physical form and converting back to energy and in doing so one doesn't just get to be with their loved ones but in fact becomes one with them. I do see meaning in that but somehow the bird isn't gone from inside me. Why did she and I meet for such a little time after-all? I have no idea why she chose to land in my place. If I go back a little in time, I had absolutely no idea about her existence and now after holding her in my hands, in a matter of few hours, she is gone from outside and yet in a strange way she still hasn't left from inside me. The many lessons she managed to teach me in those few hours now remain embedded in my mind. I feel even more deeply connected to her and even though there are many unanswered questions, I think I am grateful she chose us for her final time. :)
I will end here and oh if you are thinking why have I named this post "Nancy"... well, that was the only name that popped in my head when I was taking care of the bird yesterday. To me, Nancy remains a mixture of hope and happiness that was covered in beautiful feathers and is now perched in my soul singing a tune albeit without words... never stopping at all!
To Nancy!!!!
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