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A potted history of PIGEON RACING
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Pigeon racing has found a new lease of life in the city, which has about 200 pigeon fanciers, says PRINCE FREDERICK
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PIGEON RACING in Chennai has a longer history than we often credit it with. In 1976, the Madras Homing Pigeon Association was formed. The very next year, another - North Madras Homing Pigeon Association - was founded. Unfortunately, these two enterprises did not go far. A lack of interest led them to be abandoned. As a result, there was a long lull.
In 1981, as a ray of hope, Boldry, a pigeon fancier, imported two breeds of racing pigeons from the United States - Paulsion and Stassert (named after the men who bred these racers). In 1983, J. Dias shipped in seven pairs of the Sodenberg racing pigeon from the U.S. In the years that followed, Boldry left Chennai to settle down in Coimbatore and Dias left the city to put down roots in Pondicherry. However, they had left behind an invaluable treasure for pigeon fanciers (as they describe themselves) in the city. By introducing these birds in the city, the two men had given pigeon racing a new lease of life. They ushered in a revival of interest in pigeon racing. In 1984, the New Madras Racing Pigeon Association was born. Slowly, more and more pigeon fanciers got in on the act, and four more clubs saw the light of day. Unlike the ones in the 1970s, these clubs have stood the test of time. Today, Chennai has about 200 pigeon fanciers, each of whom has not less than 75 homing pigeons in his loft or pigeon house. Compare this with Bangalore, which has just one club with just 15 members!
Interestingly, pigeon fanciers in Chennai are not content with the birds they have. Some of them are pushing the envelope by bringing in more breeds. Rajasekharan of Royapuram has imported a few more foreign breeds. Prasad, president, Central Madras Homer Club, imports eggs of long-distance racing birds and has them incubated here. Dr. Noel Kannan of Kottivakkam, who has returned after a stint as a dental surgeon in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, boasts of a whopping 250 birds in his loft. The cream of this crop is the world-renowned Silvere Toye pigeons. 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 fanciers and breeders. He met the abundantly popular Jeff Kirkland in Leicester, England, and Martha Vangeel (the Vangeels are renowned for popularising the Jan-Aarden bloodline) in Holland. However, the most memorable meeting was the one with Silvere Toye in Belgium. The homing pigeon named after him is among the best in the world. This pigeon costs an arm and a leg. Dr. Kannan bought five pairs of Silvere Toyes.
"Belgium is the Mecca of pigeon racing. It has over three lakh pigeon fanciers. Races are conducted all through the year. If you look up, you can see homing pigeons flying in all directions. You can see more pigeons than you can shake a stick at," says Kannan.
A.R. Dhanasingh, president of the All Madras Homer Club, and S. Balaji, a pigeon fancier, are on the same page. While Dhanasingh ships in racing tags from Belgium, Balaji buys medicine for his pigeons by Internet-shopping.
One fact that strikes you is the sense of cooperation between members of different clubs. Though a member takes pride in his club and extends a card-carrying loyalty to it, he does not hesitate to exchange notes with a pigeon fancier belonging to another.
The clubs engage with each other in a spirit of cooperation rather than competition. The reasons are not far to seek. One, the rules that govern their functioning are the same. Two, they train and race during the same period of the year, a factor that encourages bonding. Even the racing locales (for example, Kavali, Warangal, Balarshah and Sirpur) are more or less the same. Given this, the prime movers of this sport in the city are considering forming a federation of homing pigeon clubs in the city.
"We have run this proposal up the flagpole. Most of the city-based clubs have responded favourably to the idea. If clubs in other cities and towns of Tamil Nadu are interested, we may form a federation that will cover the entire State," says Palaniappan, secretary, New Madras Racing Pigeon Association.
Three cheers for unity!
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The homing instinct
TO PUT it simply, homing pigeons (or racing pigeons) are equipped by breeding and training to fly home, often from great distances. They have an irrepressible and uncanny instinct to come back to their lofts. While flying back home, they are believed to use geomagnetic fields to find their bearings. But this does not mean they always manage to find their way back to the loft.
"In Chennai, the racing season starts in January and usually ends in April or May. During these races, the birds are released from places such as Kavali, Kasipet, Sirpur and Nagpur. During January and February, the wind is favourable. But in March, they are confronted with side wind. They contend with the worst during April, when they fly against the wind. More often than not, it is in April that they compete in the longest race - 925 km from Nagpur to Chennai. Such a wind can disorient them and they lose direction. Due to disturbances from birds of prey, these pigeons sometimes shoot off in a wrong direction. Some such pigeons return after many days, some others never," says Palani, president, New Madras Racing Pigeon Association.
"Sometimes, out of the 500 birds we release during races, only 50 return on time. Some of the `lost' birds return after three or four months. Some are known to have returned after three or four years," says Easwaran, president, Tamil Nadu Racing Pigeon Association.
Then there is the problem of medicine. "A pigeon's illness is often infectious. When such an illness hits the loft, they (pigeons) drop like flies. The disease called Ronycot is a case in point. We do not have vaccines against many such killer diseases. We have to import them," says Ravi, president, Chennai Homing Pigeon Fanciers' Club.
"To most veterinarians here, a pigeon is an unknown quantity. They do not seem to be equipped with the knowledge to treat pigeons. They just tell us, `Nip the problem in the bud by killing the diseased bird'. We expect more from them than such an advice," says Balaji, a pigeon fancier.
Another problem is the cost of maintaining a loft with, say, a hundred pigeons. The feeding expenses alone take quite a bite out of a fancier's resources. Building a good loft can often break the bank. Many fanciers have spent a fortune on their lofts, drawing protests from family members.
Despite these problems, they continue to pursue the hobby because they have an obsessive attachment to their pigeons and a desire a see them win.
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