07.12.07

An Amusing Sight

Posted in India at 22:43

So the balcony outside my room affords a good view of the front yard of our neighbors across the way. They have a dog and a guineafowl who are friends–of sorts.

The other day I saw an autorickshaw driver wandering around outside the neighbors’ front gate. Then I noticed something. Is he chasing the guineafowl? Sure enough. The man and the bird were engaged in an ultra low speed chase.

The driver, hands behind his back as he mosied about, demonstrated remarkable nonchalance for someone trying to catch an animal. But what was he going to do with it? It wasn’t his bird. The man opened the front gate, herded the bird in, and closed the gate. He must have accidentally let the poultry loose while dropping off a fare.

What he didn’t know is that the bird can get out on its own. On one occasion I watched it flap a few times, perch on the gate, and jump off, gliding to the ground outside. It regularly struts about the street–once I even saw it get shooed out of the jewelry shop next door.

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