Our version of 'Potting around'!!!!

First, there was only that giant pot placed in the Cinpash Garden for our Peacock and Peahen family.

Then we placed two more on the Boundary Wall parapet for the extended family of pigeons.

Next, we placed a stone water bowl to quench the thirst of Mynahs, the odd peacock that walked by the gate, the pigeons, our street fur babies and a clutch of cats that appeared nocturnally.

When Ibaadat got completed, we hung bird feeders along our perimeter on two sides and we saw the squirrels being the smartest to learn to eat off these contraptions.

Ever since, we have placed a buffet of bowls – big and small, in recycled plastic and terracotta and painted in Ibaadat’s Santorinian Blue – in front of Ibaadat to nestle a belly full of grains and fresh water; we have the magic of May madness being played out throughout the day, around the year.

The squirrels and the pigeons rule the roost here. Now a pandemonium of parrots has acclimatized itself to our environs and has made it their own. They sit on the Neem trees, swing on the lower branches, slide along iron rails. They squawk and screech in delight, and having watched pigeons and squirrels, they too have learned the trick of eating from the feeders and bowls.

A handful of Rufous Treepies, the lone Dove or two, a group of Jungle Babblers come down to feast on the buffet too. Mynahs have not yet learned to invite themselves to the table of goodies laid out for them, but for that one, singular time.

Even the peacocks are more comfortable with “their” own platter placed in the Garden and have never been spotted eating from the parapet bowls. As for the Shikra, that’s begun visiting, I think grains are not his scene. He has been noted eating his prey that he must have hunted.

The exotically beautiful Hornbills have also largely stayed away from the parapet party. But, just the other day, I saw one come down and sit on the top of the rails looking acutely at the grain bowls as if to assess whether our offering was up to their taste or not.

I think it is time I become more mindful of the resident neighbours and guests paying us a flying visit and learn to cater to different tastes and needs!