Pidgins?

There are pigeons in Sheffield, everywhere. In fact after coming here I've realised they are more conspicuous than most things, including robins, squirrels and dogs!

I think pigeons make a Mumbaikar instantly feel at home (particularly me, because our loo window was a perpetual maternity ward for them). But unlike the ones in Mumbai, they don't fly.

They walk like you and me. Interestingly, they even cross the road on their feet! They walk, hop or stroll, depending upon the need of the moment. I think they understand traffic lights, better than even we do.

I've always found they have more than plenty to eat. And unlike the pigeons I've seen back home, they don't look filthy. In fact I haven't seen them poop on places they eat. They hardly seem bird-brained to me.

Also, I've never found their carcass on the road. Considering there are so many of them all over the place, I thought I might just see a dead one. But never, in spite of travelling the length and breadth of the city at different points in time of the day. Wonder what the reason is - efficient cleaners or healthy food.

And they don't fly; I'm not exagerrating. I can make a movie titled 'Birds Don't Fly' on Sheffield's pigeons. On my second day in the city, a friend said, "Yahaan ke kabootar udhte nahin hain, chalte hain." And she's so right. They never ever fly. The only way I could make them fly is kick in the air. The flight - a modest one foot high covering about the same distance. They are again back on two.

One day, I was so hell-bent on making them fly, that I just ran towards a pack picking their feed on the road. And they cleared the way for me... by scurrying on either sides.

(Finally, the first of the many... hopefully enjoyable... anecdotes on my life in the UK. It's my fourth month here, and I've lost a lot of time. Thanks to the kabootar called 'writer's block'.)