The Pigeon Nest

Random Reflections – By Jaya Sudhakar and Siddhanth Palaparti

THE PIGEON NEST

This incident occurred when Siddhanth was around 7 years old and in the second grade at school. The topic being taught in Environmental Studies(EVS) was ‘Animal Homes’.

As Siddhanth was primarily a visual learner I used to source a lot of NCERT textbooks (with lots of colourful pictures) and CDs in line with his school curriculum.The school also did a fabulous job in keeping learning interesting. They had their own curriculum designed by their in-house HRD team and lovely,thoughtful,graded worksheets.The learning was enhanced through group projects, field trips and classroom evaluations.

Back then, we were living in a rented flat in a suburb of Mumbai.There were a lot of pigeons in our locality. Our flat had remained vacant for quite a few months before we moved in. So it was not uncommon for pigeons to keep comimg into our balcony and sometimes even making nests.

As time passed, we would go on to keep cardboard boxes lined with cloth to accommodate them.

Coming to this particular day,on spotting a pigeon nest I enthusiastically showed it to Siddhanth. It was nestled in a potted plant in our balcony and there were a few eggs inside it.‘The perfect setting for a nice EVS lesson,’ I thought. As I rattled on, the little wide-eyed wonder beside me listened with rapt attention and I couldn’t help patting myself for a satisfying practical lesson .

Not for long……. after a few minutes,I opened the fridge door to take out some milk and what do I see – the smaller-sized pigeon eggs sitting prettily next to the eggs in our fridge!

Well, we love orderliness and everything to be in its place, you see 🙂

Author Jaya Sudhakar

Jaya Sudhakar has done her Masters in Physics and was employed as an Asst.Manager in a PSU. Her son’s diagnosis urged her to seek voluntary retirement from service . She is actively involved with Forum for Autism, Nayi Disha and The Spectrum Autism. Friends,tending to plants, reading, writing, music, movies, travelling and a little bit of spirituality are her perennial energy boosters.

Typing of story in Word and Creative graphics done by CreativeSaathi Siddhanth Palaparti, Jaya’s son

Siddhanth is a budding graphic designer, coder and music lover. He has graduated in computer applications and completed several certificate courses. His work trajectory includes internships, freelancing and voluntary work for social causes. He derives immense happiness from remembering birthdays and wishing everyone for it. Swimming, travelling and playing music on the keyboard are his other passions.