The death of a female dove

Sagar Saud

The main door of the house, where we live, is towards the east. There is an electricity meter box on the front-side wall of the house. Above that meter box there is a dove's nest. 

Because of the Corona epidemic, I have been sitting in my room for many days, so after getting bored, I come out of the room and walk around the yard. At that moment, my brother also opens the door and comes out. He grabs the fallen piece of bike wiping cloth and as he pushes that cloth hard in the air to drop dust, it produces a loud noise. Probably, because of the fear of the noise, the female dove sitting in the nest above the meter box flies away in a panic. It knocks on the ventilation over the door. From there it hits the power line, and falls into the house belt hard. The head hits the cemented belt. It flutters and flutters the wings with its head down to the belt.

For fifteen to twenty seconds both of us brothers get stunned. We become confused. We can do nothing. Then the brother goes and holds the dove in his hand. The dove flutters its wings. Feathers fall to the ground everywhere. The brother takes the dove to a nearby water tap and drinks it water in his cupped hand. The dove drinks water by squeezing its beak. The dove says nothing. Only with its beak keeps drinking water. 

I wonder if it will fly now. But the dove does not fly. We become confused to do further. The dove's one eye and head are injured. The eye gets red and the head bends down. After a while, the dove turns its head to one side.  The dove closes the eyes. The brother shakes the dove around but nothing happens. The dove leaves life. Tears start to well up in my eyes. It covers darkness all around. We bury that female dove by digging a small pit on the ground next to the water tap. 

It feels so painful. Suddenly we become sad. It covers sadness all around. How beautiful, how calm and how non-violent was the dove?- The symbol of love. We felt like losing a family member living in the same house. 

My brother says that he used to open the door slowly knowing that there is a dove's nest. And the dove used to stay him up early in the morning with cooing. But today, the innocent bird lost its life without reason. Now its death made me hurt, he says with sorrow.

However, the Corona epidemic is killing thousands of people every day and the death of living beings after birth is certain. No one can avert death. It is also unknown that who is behind whose death cause. The heart aches when an innocent, calm, and non-violent creature had to die without reason. On the one hand, the soul of the dove was about to fly and on the other hand, the dove was a creature who could not express its pain. The dove was a speechless creature. 

Perhaps this is the uncertainty of life. Some time ago, the dove had a soul. There was life. There was a stir. The dove died suddenly. Life is gone. It became lifeless. We couldn't save that female dove. Blessed be God, there are no babies in the dove's nest. If it had happened, we would have felt the guilt of those baby squeakers too.

Photo source: birds of Nepal