Coloured feathers

One of the common sights you'd see outside of any school or children's playground would be of a man on a cycle selling (wait for it) dyed chicks.



It was only recently that I actually read about the dying procedure and realising that they process could only be classified as cruelty to animals. However, I'm not going to dwell in to that aspect and instead, talk about MY pink dyed chick, as well as my siblings.

Mind you, for us, they were no laughing matter. They weren't just something we got as a treat for cleaning our room and then left to fend off for themselves locked up in a cage. No, these were REAL pets, like any cat or dog (this was before our cat's time of course...)

So, I recall having a pink one (though I can't remember its name), my sister had a yellow one, my youngest brother had a brown one I think. My middle brother had an orange one, and my eldest brother had a green one. I've forgotten what we had named ours, but I DO remember what my eldest brother's was named; it was Squall Leonhaart. One would think that it was a dragon slaying griffin rather than a cute terrified little chick.



The best part was how we bonded with each of them. You can buy baby ducks and chicks by the dozen at any supermarket. And households with little children usually had a basketful of them around, being mercilessly treated like toys rather than actual living things. And that's where our chicks were different

They each used to be hand-fed. My youngest brother (he was just 3 years old) even decided to lock his away in his bike's little storage box for safe-keeping. Luckily, we saved it and explained it to him how he never never should do such a thing again. And at night, it got even more interesting. You see, chicks cannot ...sleep regular sleep; meaning they NEED to have their mum chicken sit on them. So when night time came, it was obvious that they were exhausted as they were literally tripping over themselves. After various attempts at getting them to sleep, it was obvious they needed something to cuddle and keep them warm. My mom came up with an ingenious plan. She gave us a large bowl, which we 'filled' with our chicks, and then we took lots of cotton padding and used clothes and stuffed the bowl with it, ensuring there were space for them to breath. We then covered the bowl with netting, so they would sleep safe. Almost instantaneously, the chirping stopped and we could see the little things’ eyes closing and taking deep breaths.

I do miss them; it’s just amazing how much love and care God puts in to every living creature he has created. In the end, only two survived. And they did grow up to be quite big chickens. Of course, we didn’t have any proper ‘range’ for them to roam on, so they had to be confined to a cage. But we decided it was better if we … got rid of them, though none of us talked when dad took them out to slaughter them. Seeing how distressed we were, he decided to take them on the roof to do the deed. 15 minutes later, I decided to go up and check on how things were, and guess what I see; dad sitting there reading the newspaper, and the two chickens having a feast in one of mom’s beloved water plants. ‘Sorry kiddo’, he looked up and said, ‘I couldn’t do it. Whenever I tried to lay them on the butchering slab, they’d go all calm and just close their eyes…’

So, they ended up being handed over to the maasi (aptly named Rihanna) who I am sure must have enjoyed a very nice chicken soup. We never got chicks or ducklings again, simply because I would recall my one and only pink baby chicken. I just hope I hadn’t named it Barbie…  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We are all made of stars

In this plane of existence, of presence, time did not exist. It was twilight and yet dawn at the same time, the backdrop a universe sprinkled with stars against a deep swirling mix of colours ranging from the deepest black to the most glorious hues of purple, blue, all deep and ancient. Planets with moons so large that they swallowed half their night time skies. It was against such a planet, in the atmosphere high enough to be suspended without being pulled in, was a crystalline stone of many faces. The stone itself was a deep black, with flecks of an unknown material that flickered and shimmered as it gently and slowly rolled around.  There was a consciousness residing within it, but just like the many sides, the consciousness itself was made of numerous fragments, each corresponding to the number of sides it had. The stone was alive and aware, and despite having no single identity was still as single and solid as the material it represented.  Each plane was unique yet relate...
Read more

Of lawn prints and summer suiting

One of the most captivating thing about Karachi, or rather in Pakistan in general, were the simply amazing lawn prints. To be honest, when I landed on Karachi's soil, I was not the most fashionably-educated girl around, which some people might find amazing and unbelievable. But that's the truth of the matter: for me, my wardrobe had to be comfortable and easy. That's it. There were no fancy capris, nor any fancy expensive branded lawn prints ...nothing. Just plain cotton shalwar kameez, or something equally comforting in Georgette. All dresses would be of the same style... Front open, with a coat collar, and three quarter sleeves. It wasn't that I was not fashionable, it was just the simple reason that I was lazy and couldn't really be bothered with standing at the tailors and discussing designs for hours on end. However, it was when I visited the lawn houses in person, and saw the designs with my own eyes was that I was completely blown away...The geometric de...
Read more

Choti choti batain...

Without being too disrespectful (or going in too much depth) I'll confess something to here: I am a BIG believer in the concept of karma i.e. the concept of what you do is what is returned to you, either here or in the afterlife. It forms the very BASIS of our existence, in terms of our religion too. Do good, so you shall have good, here or in the afterlife. As you sow, so shall you reap جیسا بوا ویسا کاٹا What goes around, comes around etc. etc. جیسے کرنی ویسے بھرنی What I fail to understand is why are we so eager to pin mis-happenings on some external hand, or on to an azaab (punishment) of the divine, while blissfully living life breaking every possible rule... I am talking about rules and actions that define us as a human. The most simple, basic definition: An entity who thinks, strives to be good, do good, and tries not to harm others That is how I define us humans. Why is it that then, we've managed to give ourselves a free pass to do whatever we l...
Read more