They are still useful as couriers

PIGEONS AS couriers were indispensable for any saga of love or war of yesteryear. Times have changed, but not the pigeons and our love for them.

In the era of multinational couriers and e-mails that criss- cross the world, are pigeons an anachronism? Walk into the terrace of the house of Mr. R. R. Prasad at Royapuram in north Chennai.

You are in a pigeon breeding club. Mr. Prasad has six cubicles for rearing pigeons and rooms have been provided separately for males, females and ``youngsters''. There are also lofts for breeding and ``racing''.

In the city, there are four associations which promote pigeon racing. Pigeon clubs are functioning in Tiruchi, Madurai, Kovilpatti and Pondicherry.

Training for pigeons starts from the sixtieth day of their birth, says Mr. Prasad. Initially the birds are taken to a distance of five kilometres and then released. Gradually the distance is increased and when the birds reach a target of 150 km, they are ready for the race.

Pigeons are categorised into young and old. Young bird will be below one year and the old above one year and races are conducted for both the categories. On an average, the birds cross about 2,000 km after two years of rigorous training, says Mr. Prasad.

Pigeons with big feathers and dark eyes are selected for the race. They need to be quite disciplined to reach their holes lest they wander around and lose the race.

Various breeding techniques are adopted by the racers like line breeding, in-breeding and out-cross breeding. Good face, beautiful breast and short legs are signs of good ``blood line''.

Every racing group will have a few leaders, who guide them back home safely.

In a group there will at least four to five leaders. If one leader fails, the other will take charge and lead the group back to pavilion.

Various racing methods are adopted by the members. For example, both the male and female pigeons will take care of the new born.

If the female is removed and released from somewhere, it will fly faster and reach home quickly in a bid to reach its baby.

Way back in 1986, when a race was conducted in the city, the birds were released in Tiruchi. One of the pigeons of Mr. N. Sampath Kumar reached the city flying non stop for about five hours creating a record. The clubs have conducted races from Kanyakumari and also in the northern parts of the country.

In 1997, a group of pigeons were released from Gwalior and one of the pigeons of Mr. Prasad came first. The bird covered a distance of more than 1700 km and reached his home without any problem.

After this, yet another race was conducted in the same year from Delhi and another pigeon of Mr. Prasad covered a distance of 2186 km. Mr. Prasad claims that both are unbroken records.

Technology might change the way we live, but old habits die hard.

By P. Oppili

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