Sunday, September 27, 2009
Pigeons
It is interesting to read about how Mir Nihal cared for his pigeons, when here in the United States they are thought of as filthy, disease carrying birds. Some people have gone so far as to calling them sky rats. But for Mir Nihal they are his prize possession and a sign of having a higher-ranking status in Delhi. An interesting fact about pigeons is that they are one of the most intelligent species of birds in the world. The drastic differences of how these birds are treated in different countries are amazing. For one country they are a sign of being well-off but on the other side of the world they are seen as something to avoid out of fear of a disease it might carry.
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Perhaps it is because we are Westerners. Perhaps Ali is trying to evoke that feeling from us? I mean he is writing for the European crowd, as he writes in English, maybe that is a message he is trying to send. The cultures are so different and hold such different values, yet only one of them gets stigmatized to us westerners. Perhaps by evoking this feeling Ali is trying to get us to see that our actions are just as bizarre as we think theirs are. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteWell...I think that the idea that pigeons are dirty and carry disease--I've heard them called street rats--maybe a relatively modern development. When I was in Cappadokia, the cave monasteries would be frequently accompanied by pigeon holes dug into the rock. The christian monks were essentially pigeon farmers, using them for food, for binder (in paint), for paint (dung), but other than their practical purpose, the pigeons served a religious purpose. It's easy to forget that pigeons are essentially doves and serve as a symbol for the holy spirit.
ReplyDeleteSo there is a "western" counterpart to the Muslim reverence for pigeons. Furthermore, there is a long history of carrier pigeons within the Islamic world. Arabs gained huge advantages in the crusades by their use of carrier pigeons.
You know, my dad's from Iran, and I think he and his family kept pigeons when he was a boy. They seem to also think of those pets that we keep in the west (dogs, cats) are dirty. I wonder what kind of reflection of sociological thought this is? Birds seem much more poetic, as are the languages of that area, whereas dogs and cats seem much more "plebian"--street animals, unexotic, simple.
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