A surprise visitor

It was Friday evening - I had gotten home early to be able to pack and catch a flight to Mumbai with the wife. We were to leave home at 1800hrs, the taxi was waiting, I was almost through with my packing in the bedroom upstairs, the door to the bedroom was shut and I was on the phone with a HDFC Customer relations guy. I was yelling at the guy for some deficiency in service and could not hear the commotion downstairs - then I heard the desperate screams for help from the wife downstairs! I rush down and see a huge owl looking at me from on top of my CD player! The wife was hysterical - 'get that thing out of the house' she yells! I move towards the avian visitor and the bird takes off for the kitchen exhaust fan - hangs on to the grill of the fan and looks at me with those haunting eyes. The wife scampers off upstairs - the doors to the front and back balconies are open so it beats me why the bird would not just fly out of the house! When I moved with a broom in hand to the exhaust fan the darn thing would fly to the drawing room and perch precariously on the tube light! I tried to dislodge it from its perch and it flies again into the kitchen! This time I grabbed my camera and took this picture - of the owl in our kitchen!


I finally managed to shoo the visitor out of the drawing room balcony door and before it could get out about 10 crows swooped on it and amidst a lot of screeching and crowing I could see owl feathers aflutter! I think the poor owl managed to get away because last night I saw an owl sitting on the parapet of the house opposite our drawing room balcony! I sure hope it was the same majestic bird that came visiting!