Goose bites and Goosebumps…

 

My office campus is a pretty sight. There are abundant open spaces, an impressive green cover and artificial water bodies; it is arguably the most picturesque office campus in the city.  One of the water bodies (the biggest one) is rich in fish and is home to a family of geese. Am not sure though if the birds are property of the company or its employees.

 

While the birds add to the pastoral quotient of the campus, there are other ways in which they contribute to the employee experience.  The lake is very close to the largest employee canteen and some of these birds visit often, the one in the picture being the most frequent guest. Let’s call him ‘Bob’ irrespective of the gender (which I don’t know). It is not uncommon to see some of these birds roam the canteen during lunch or in the evening in search of food. Their modus operandi is simple. They approach the table and peck at the unsuspecting employee’s leg. For the uninitiated it comes as quite a shock and you do see people popping out of their chairs. Most employees do part with some food since they don’t know how to react or shoo the bird away. It doesn’t help that the birds are quite persistent, with Bob’s persistence bordering on insolence. The dilemma of the unsuspecting victim is understandable, we are used to interacting with domesticated animals such as dogs, cats and cattle but with a goose it’s just not the same. For starters, what food is safe for them or is goose bite as dangerous as a dog bite.

 

The other evening one of my colleagues and me were enjoying a snack as Bob strode into the canteen. I was quite amused at the sight of him pestering somebody in a near by table and in between my conversation I couldn’t help capturing it. As I returned to the conversation I forgot all about Bob. Just when I was about to get up I felt Bob peck on my thigh. While I had seen him around, I hadn’t met him in person (this being the first time he had managed to corner me for food). But I had already polished off my ‘kesari bhath’ and two cloves were the only leftovers on my plate, my colleague had a clean plate too. Bob must have felt that I was ignoring him as I scanned around and at my friend for help and he bit me, a potent bite despite a layer of denim. What happened to the more gentlemanly peck, I wanted to scream. Luckily for us, he then waited only long enough for me to click a picture, before he made his way to the neighboring table.

 

Bob approaches the unsuspecting snacker..

Meet Bob..

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On Man’s Good Friend…

 

There was an interesting piece of news in one of the national dailies that Karnataka police dogs were rated as the best police dogs in the country. There was a sense of familiarity about this news; the Police compound in Adugodi which houses the police dogs kennel and training centre, is where I go running. And since I stay close by, it is not unusual to see in the mornings, a disciplined set of impressive canines walking in a neat row with their respective handlers. As I stop to admire them I can’t help thinking of Rambo, the most undisciplined dog in the country (if not world). And I can empathize with my parents’ exasperation when I ponder over the question that gnaws at the peace of so many parents “, did we raise him/ her right?”J   

 

However this innocuous morning walk usually creates a chaos in the lives of the infamous Bangalore strays. The strays raise quite a din, quite wisely from a distance, but the police dogs don’t as much as glance in their direction. They clearly have better things to do, theirs being a very complex job profile. A TV program on dog training and the diverse fields in which their abilities are employed was quite a revelation. However the other side of the story, as the write up highlights is that the police forces in the country grapple with a shortage of such trained canines.   

 

But for now, congratulations to the Karantaka police and their canine unit J 

Rambo

The Case of a Missing ‘Vada’

I have come to a conclusion that crows prefer vadas over idlis and I have reasonable evidence to support this. It may be the colour of idli, an antithesis of the crow’s complexion, that is uninviting to the crow but I guess this will only qualify as speculation. But let me share with you the evidence I have.  

 

The other day, I placed my plate on the table and turned around to get myself a cup of tea. It was a pleasant morning and I was looking forward to a peaceful breakfast on the roof top cafeteria of my office. By the way, I’ve temporarily relocated to our office on the MG road, quite a relief as may be evident from an earlier post on the commute on the Hosur Road. Well, when I returned to the table in 10-15 seconds, I found the vada from my breakfast of ‘idli vada’ missing. Also the ladies sitting on the next table seemed to be giggling but I gave them the benefit of doubt. They couldn’t have had a hand in this, besides our organization completed the annual salary increase cycle only recently. But since it was the second time in a week it was a matter of concern. The first time, I had gone to the counter and insisted that they had forgotten to give me a vada but this time I was sure that I had left the counter with one. I had even checked if it was crispy.

 

I looked around to see if anyone had a clue, inquiring on the missing food would’ve been quite odd. But by a stroke of common sense, my suspicion veered to birds and I inspected the bird population around. The pigeons sitting on the hoarding atop this roof weren’t equipped to fly away with such a huge catch At best they could nibble away pieces of it and the eagle perched on the tower on the edge of the roof was too noble for this. This could only be the handiwork of a crow. And on this occasion, there were witnesses too. One of the giggling ladies pointed towards the direction of the culprit, who quarreled over the vada with the others. Well the mystery solved, the break fast wasn’t palatable anymore and I brought a fresh plate. A crow has its own place in the eco-system but no one can disagree that it’s an ugly dirty bird; who knows what it might have had for its last meal. So two vadas was a big price to pay but I have an important lesson to show for it, of never leaving my food unattended around here.

 

Despite the aerial threats to ones food, there are many merits of this roof top cafeteria. It offers a great view in all directions; it’s a good place to catch some fresh air and to take a break. Besides, you get to see eagles from close quarters. You’ll always find an eagle or two surveying the landscape from atop the hoarding or any other vantage point here, or simply circling the space beyond the roof top.

 

 

Photo: Ujjwal