On the wings of passion

Revised past

Pigeon racing  (kabutar bazi) did not  end with the era of Maharajas and Nawabs and in keeping with the times has become a   technologically advanced sport. 

Of the old  veterans there are still a sizable number, mainly in old Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Hyderabad and other citadels  of  the Mughal era. For example Allauddin Mian ( name changed to protect identity) a prosperous mithai shop owner in Chandni Chowk is a classic example of the old traditions. “Kabooter bazi was a sport of  Nawabs,” says Allaudin and adds, “Not many people are doing it the old way anymore.” 

Before independence, pigeon handling was  the pastime of gentlemen. For men like Allaudin, a khalifa- or master - of the pigeon world, it still is. While there are thousands of pigeon handlers in old Delhi, there are only a few dozen khalifas, men who trained under earlier masters and for whom pigeon handling is a serious craft. To them, overt competition is crass. Allaudin has a veritable pigeon empire, with perhaps a dozen coops scattered across the neighborhood. He has breeding coops and coops for sick birds. He has coops full of pigeons from India, Afghanistan, Iran and places he can’t even name. He has workers to help care for them. 

On the other side of the spectrum, we have Dr Noel Kannan of Kottivakkam, Tamilnadu, who has returned after a stint as a dental surgeon in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and boasts of a whopping 50 birds in his loft. In 1992, Dr Kannan took time off from his practice and travelled across Europe. He went from country to country to pick the brains of famous pigeon  breeders and in Belgium bought five pairs of the famous  Silvere Toye racing  pigeons worth  Rs 1 lakh a pair  and today  he has dozens of these  in his lofts.

Today most of our metros have associations of racing pigeon enthusiasts and   Chennai  has the maximum number.  There are now 300 to 500 pigeon handlers/racers at least five racing pigeon clubs in Chennai. An All India Racing Pigeons Federation has been formed to coordinate the activities of all the Indian pigeon clubs. 

Next comes Kolkata with its Kolkata Racing Pigeons Club which is the oldest in India. The third place goes to Bangalore where  there  are around 150 professional pigeon racers. The Coimbatore Racing Pigeon Association came into being last September and is already three races old. 

Pigeon racing is more of an endurance test.  It involves transporting the birds from their lofts across the intended course of the race and then releasing them to see which one finds its way back to homestead the fastest. Before being released for the flight, each of the racing pigeons are tagged with a ring around their legs containing details of name, gender, age, address of the loft, and a certain identification number.

The pigeon-racing season in India runs from January to April, before the acute summer heat sets in. Pigeon owners set out in vans or on trains, carrying medical certificates and police clearances and forestry permits, and their birds in flat steel cages..

Pigeons of a good bloodline can fly a 600-mile race in a day. If a racing  bird is released at six am from Allahabad, it reaches its home in Kolkata by evening. So you can imagine the speed  ( nearly 50 miles an hour) at which they fly with their sense of direction Once the pigeons return, observers on the rooftops match their colour, sex, number and identification band tied to their feet with the registration details to confirm the authenticity of the pigeon’s ownership.

The pigeon, that clocks the fastest time to enter its own loft is declared the winner and its owner is presented with a trophy and a certificate. As the winning bird has to reach its loft first, some trainers  fly  female  pigeons  who are taking care of their young. The mothers  desperate  to return  home, fly with increased effort. This is an exercise that may rankle animal lovers who have no stakes in pigeon racing  but it goes on still. Some handlers separate  males and females  from their  mates the day before,  giving  them an incentive to fly faster to be united with their loved ones.

 As the age of the bird also impacts its speed, races fall under two categories divided between old birds and new birds.

 There is also an open category in which birds of all ages can compete.
“To take  care  of a loft of 100 birds, one has to spend around Rs 2,000 every month, on feeding, providing medicinal help, vitamins and minerals,” says  Thamburaj, a pigeon breeder from Chennai His pigeons are fed mostly with mixtures of corn, ragi, maize and peas. 

It is estimated that out of 100 birds released from a 100 km away,  a bird racer could lose as many as 40; as on an average, only one in 10 returns. The main danger to the racing pigeon comes from predators like eagles/vultures/falcons and international pigeon racing associations are trying to find out a solution.

Today the greatest problem faced by   pigeon race enthusiasts are the cell phone towers that have sprouted all over India, especially in metros. Experts believe that pigeons develop a keen sense of direction by following the position of the sun, stars and even the path of the earth’s magnetic field  that ‘draws’ or ‘pulls’ them home from over hundreds of miles. With the radio signals of the the cell phone towers , all the  pigeons go off track and many are lost.