Pigeons aren't atheists

When I was in Form 3, I got to rearing pigeons. At any one time I had more than 10 of them. I used to feed them from Ava’s poor stock of rice. 

But pigeons always look for variety and not choose  where the grains come from. At that time,  we were living in Roch  Villa behind the St Lourdes Church in Silibin, Ipoh. Our home was the second in a row of 4 plank and Attap huts. The houses had no rooms but 3 separate compartments. The first compartment doubled up as living area, dining and bedroom. The second was my dad’s room and the third was a makeshift kitchen. My pigeons were socialists in their outlook and did not discriminate between their owners and our neighbors properties. Whatever grains they came across was common property. It was  nearing Christmas and my neighbor had this desire to make “nei urunde” (ghee balls) which required green peas, sugar & flour. My neighbor did not appreciate that my pigeons are socialists with the motto “one for all and all for one”.  I had not fed them that morning as Ava’s rice stock had dwindled to dangerous levels and my dad’s pay day was quite far away. The birds were left to fend for themselves. It is quite common especially when rations run low. My neighbor on the other hand was to celebrate Christmas and her larder was full to the brim with provisions for making Christmas goodies. As it happened, my neighbor spread her green & black peas for drying in preparation to send it to the flour mill for grinding. My pigeons were not atheists and not selective which denomination the peas belonged to. They were hungry and the appealing grains were a feast for their bellies and they dug into them with a venom. The birds pecked every single grain. When the neighbor came to collect her grains all that was left was an empty tray with a few bird droppings to indicate who the culprits were. A big quarrel ensued between my neighbor and Ava. Ava had no defence when the exhibits that had my bird droppings were brought in as evidence. Ava was cursing the birds not so much for gobbling up the neighbors grains but for the tell tale signs that were left behind. The neighbor was cursing us for a week until she realised that her curses were falling on deaf ears. Even if Ava had the intention to compensate the neighbor, my dad’s earnings were safely tucked into the coffers of the Toddy shop. There was no way to recover it. My dad’s burping sounds confirmed the futility of any thought of repaying the neighbor for their losses.