HYDERABAD: Hyderabadis and pigeons go a long way. The Nawabi Shauk of petting messenger-pigeons dates back to the days of the Qutub Shahis and the Nizams and is still a popular hobby among residents of the Old City. But what is little known is that some people are fond of pigeon-racing too.It is a passionate sport indulged in by asli pigeon lovers as they like to call themselves. The game itself is simple. Specially trained messenger-pigeons, also called racers, are taken to a particular venue and released. The one that gets back home fast is declared the winner. A group of individuals with a keen interest in this traditional race have now come together to form the Hyderabad Homer Pigeon Club. And, the four-month racing season is all set to start in January.“Our club is one of its kind in Hyderabad. We have only 10 members right now and all of them are genuine pigeon lovers,” says Abdul Samad, vice-president of the club. A resident of Eidibazaar, he is a medical transcriptionist by profession and needless to say, petting pigeons is more than a hobby for this 35-year-old. His friend and president of the club, Shaker Numan, a doctor, is quick to clarify that this racing is legal. “This is no gambling and there is no money involved in the race, we are all homer lovers,” he explains.The duo point out that pigeon racing isn’t all that uncommon. “The sport is famous in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata,” Samad adds. Arif, a software engineer who is also a member of the club, has in fact been a part of the races in Bangalore. Samad currently has 30 pigeons at home with a variety of homers like blue checker, blue bar, black checker, red bar etc. He has been among these birds for more than 15 years. By his own account, he has inherited his passion for pigeons from his uncle. “I used to train them until we came up with the idea of a club recently,” he recalls.Homers@playHomers, a breed of pigeons, are the best racers when they are between 8 months and 5 years of age. The race is a formatted version of flying the birds. These pigeons are taken to one particular point which is equi-distant from the homes of their owners, also called fanciers. A chit with a secret code is tied to the claws of each pigeon. Once they are released into the air, the first one to go home is declared the winner. But how does one decide the winner? The fanciers will have to call the organisers and report their code. The first to do so will be the winner.TrainingHomers are trained from a young age, in fact 3 months, and are made to fly around the house until they complete one year. The most important aspect of training is called ‘tossing’. Samad takes his pigeons for tossing every Sunday. He explains, “Tossing is as simple as taking your birds to a place at a calculated distance and letting them come back home, and then calculate the timings taken each time. It’s a long process.” But what Samad does not understand is how these birds come back home so easily. He says, “Analyzing the eyes of these birds, one could tell if they are good for racing or breeding, or how efficient they could fly etc”. But as a precaution not to lose the bird, the owners put a ring to the claws of the pigeons with the name of the club embossed on it.The diet is also an important part of the training.“Around 10 different grains including maize, corn, millet, safflower, grams etc are mixed well. The racers are fed once a day whereas breeders are fed thrice along with courses of multi-vitamin tablets,” reveals Samad. He is also aware of some of the common diseases among these birds, all learnt from Internet.“Parathyphoid, Canker, Coccidiosis, E-Coli, Ornithosis, Sour crop and Diorrhea are very common, contagious and dangerous too. Prevention is the only escape,” Samad says.Other StatesThere are around 7 clubs in Chennai, 5 in Karnataka and 5 in Kolkata, according to Samad. He says the sport is so popular that there could be a possible inter-state pigeon-racing competition in the future. Arif goes a step further and dreams of flying a pigeon up to 2,000 km to set a new record.According to him, the current record is 1400 km. The racing season has them all excited but Samad is a bit worried. “The kite-flying season too is upon us. Pigeons get frightened with kites flying around. Some get wounded too,” he points out.Is it legal?“Of course! it is,” says Dattatreya Joshi of People for Animals’ Rights. According to him, pigeon-racing was very famous among the Nawabs of Hyderabad. “The people involved are passionate about the sport. They spend a lot on the well being of their birds and take good care of them,” Joshi explains.
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