VIRUDHUNAGAR: When the Covid-19 virus entered the bloodstream of the India’s economy in 2020, Ananth Raja, like many others, was cooped up in his house during the first lockdown. A break from the routine of mundanity made the 40-year-old from Sivakasi revisit a childhood memory revolving a squeaker that was gifted to him by a relative. He recalls looking after the bird for a few years until he couldn’t do it anymore. The recollection set free the joy in the aviary of his heart after three decades and he settled on rearing his feathered friends thereafter.
His first collection was a pair of Nun pigeons from Srivilliputhur. He named them ‘King’ and ‘Queen’. He also bought a pair of Fantail pigeons from Kariapatti. Though he had only hoped to be a mama bird to a few fowls, he ended up with more than 200 birds on his rooftop. As his collection of fowls grew, he began looking for a bigger place to build a nest.
“Now, I have 31 breeds of pigeons, acquired from several places and we shifted our houses solely for rearing them,” he says. His collection includes the rare ones such as Jan Aarden - the best long-distance racer, and Yahoo (also known as Seven-sounder) pigeons - which make seven different types of sounds. He mutters under his breath that Fantail pigeons might be his favourite.
Raja, who runs a private television channel based at Sivakasi, says he learns new things about the birds every day. “The Homer pigeons consider the place they have been raised in as their ‘home’. They return there, even after several years. No matter who takes care of the Homer or for how many years, it finds its way back to its home,” Raja says, adding this nature of the birds hits close to home. “It is an important lesson to us as humans, who are wanderers in the modern world. No matter where we go, or how long we go, or who we are with, we need to have a ‘home’ to come back to”, Raja says.
Bound by their affinity for the birds, several like-minded people in the district have come together to form a pigeon lovers’ club. Raja is one of the founders of the Virudhunagar Homing Pigeons Sports Association (VHPSA), in which he serves as the treasurer. “We are a group that who can guide other fanciers, and help them in rearing and training the birds,” he said. Talking about the odyssey of the Homers, he said, “To train a Homer we first take the bird and leave it two kilometres away from its ‘home’. The first time, it gets anxious, but returns in a few hours. Then, we increase the distance gradually, as the bird gets used to the process. Calculating the time it takes for the bird to return, we hold competitions.” If the GPS ever fails us, it is good to know we can turn to our little navigators for help!
Raja believes this money-making activity can encourage fanciers to raise the birds. “If a person has 20 breeding sets, they can earn at least Rs 20,000 per month. A couple of squeakers can be sold for at least Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 and the Jan Aarden can be sold at a minimum price of Rs 30,000. Jan Aardens will come to its owner even if it is thousands of kilometres away,” he said.
As a fancier, rearing Homer pigeons, he says his dream is to train his Homers (named Sweetie and Whitie) to fly from his (Raja’s) hometown at Veppalodai in Thoothukudi to Sivakasi (where they are reared, ie., their home). For Raja, at the end of the day, the rearing activity is something that brings him peace. “I forget every worry in the world when I am with my birds,” he says.