Home is where the heart is. A probable explanation to the homing instincts of pigeons. In any case, whatever it is that makes pigeons come home to roost, it has made for a favourite activity of sport since the early 19th century. Pigeon racing, popular in the West – particularly United Kingdom and Belgium – is also one of India’s best kept secrets.
The playground at Evershine English School in Bangalore, on the last Thursday of January
this year, bore testimony to the sport’s fervent followership. Pigeon racing involves transporting the birds from their lofts across the intended course of the race and then releasing them to see which one finds its way back to homestead the fastest. Before being displaced, each of the racing pigeons are tagged with a ring around their legs containing details of name, gender, age, address of the loft, and a certain identification number. Just what the Karnataka Racing Pigeon Club (KRPC) was overseeing at the Evershine playground, as the pigeons were ‘ringed’ and were packed – with sufficient food of course – into bamboo boxes to be loaded on the train to Nanded, Maharashtra – the starting point for this race.
“I grew a strong fascination for pigeons in my childhood itself. It has now become a hobby that gives me immense pleasure. The mere idea of my pigeons taking flight for a race puts me on cloud nine,” says an exuberant pigeon fancier and member of the Club, Prabhu. After the sport traveled to South Asia, Bangalore has now played host for not less than 80 years. Established in 1920, the Bangalore Homing Society was re-christened KRPC in 1975. Much credit for the Club goes to Lt. Col. F C Smith who, with his immense love and curiosity for birds, served the Club for nearly 25 years as Chief. Now, KRPC has 16 bird lovers for its members with each member fostering more than 100 pigeons in his/her house. For the Nanded race, the excitement is palpable.....Continue
The playground at Evershine English School in Bangalore, on the last Thursday of January
this year, bore testimony to the sport’s fervent followership. Pigeon racing involves transporting the birds from their lofts across the intended course of the race and then releasing them to see which one finds its way back to homestead the fastest. Before being displaced, each of the racing pigeons are tagged with a ring around their legs containing details of name, gender, age, address of the loft, and a certain identification number. Just what the Karnataka Racing Pigeon Club (KRPC) was overseeing at the Evershine playground, as the pigeons were ‘ringed’ and were packed – with sufficient food of course – into bamboo boxes to be loaded on the train to Nanded, Maharashtra – the starting point for this race.“I grew a strong fascination for pigeons in my childhood itself. It has now become a hobby that gives me immense pleasure. The mere idea of my pigeons taking flight for a race puts me on cloud nine,” says an exuberant pigeon fancier and member of the Club, Prabhu. After the sport traveled to South Asia, Bangalore has now played host for not less than 80 years. Established in 1920, the Bangalore Homing Society was re-christened KRPC in 1975. Much credit for the Club goes to Lt. Col. F C Smith who, with his immense love and curiosity for birds, served the Club for nearly 25 years as Chief. Now, KRPC has 16 bird lovers for its members with each member fostering more than 100 pigeons in his/her house. For the Nanded race, the excitement is palpable.....Continue
