It would be a rare Bangalore resident who has not visited or at least heard about the iconic Koshy’s restaurant. Koshy’s has certainly played a large role in my life-the first “grown up” place I was taken to! The restaurant is still run by the family, and it is common to see Mr Prem Koshy sharing a table with regular customers, who stop by for a chat.

It was on one such occasion that I was introduced to another side of this wonderful gentleman-he does a laudable job rescuing animals-mainly wild ones-snakes and birds of prey for instance, and is the most wonderful story teller. So, that is how I heard the story of the vulture called Flash.

Flash had been abandoned by his family in the steeple of Trinity Church, and he was crying piteously-probably both hungry & thirsty-the little one was unable to fly. Someone told Mr Koshy about him, and as usual, he was quick to respond. He and another friend went across to the church, where he donned proper mountain climbing gear-leather jacket and gloves, boots and a helmet, and began climbing up the steeple assisted by a rope held by his friend. By the way, if you are thinking that all the gear was to protect him from a fall, you are mistaken, but that is getting ahead of the story.

Image reproduced from Wikipedia

Without much ado, Mr Koshy reached the Vulture chick, and put him into the bag that he had carried for the purpose. Feeling quite pleased with himself, he was beginning the descent, when he started feeling his helmet being pecked with great force-the mother bird had returned, and wanted to know what this person was doing with the chick she had abandoned. Quite rightly, her efforts were ignored, and fortunately the helmet prevented her from doing too much damage. Probably realising this, she decided to aim a bit lower by digging her talons into Mr Koshy’s back. One talon pierced a nerve ending, and suddenly he felt the left side of his body going numb. In addition, he was unable to use his left hand to cling onto the rope. Using only his right arm and a herculean effort from his friend, Mr Koshy and the yet to be christened Flash made it safely to the ground. It took two injections of a muscle relaxant to bring the feeling back into the left side of his body-never ever underestimate the power of a Raptor.

Young Flash was provided a large enclosure, where he grew up to be a happy youngster. He was trained to respond to a whistle, and would have remained a happy domesticated bird. Only….that is not a Raptor’s life-he had to be introduced to the wild and learn to be self-sufficient. Mr Koshy had the advantage of being able to do this in his next door neighbour’s property-a 10 acre spread in the heart of Bangalore that had been allowed to remain completely overgrown and wild. The Bangalore of yore!!

Flash responded well to his training, and started spending longer and longer periods away from the house-once even staying away for over a year. However, he always knew where home was and returned at intervals to peck at his rescuer’s window, assume his customary perch and say a Vulture hello. One of his favourite pastimes when he was home was to go for a ride on the handlebars of his master’s motorbike! The unusual site of a Vulture on a motorbike made this duo the talk of town. Even more interesting was the fact that Flash could be trusted to remain seated on Mr Koshy’s parked bike while he completed his chores and guard it with a Vulture eye!

Image by Mannat Batra

These happy times continued until Mr Koshy left the country for a long sojourn in the USA. Flash seemed to sense that his master was no longer home, and he stayed away. He was occasionally seen at another restaurant, where the owner recognised him from the tag around his foot and fed him scraps of meat, but for the large part he seemed to have gone back to reclaim his home in the sky and his Vulture family.

Mr Koshy remained in the USA for 10 long years, after which he returned to Bangalore, primarily for his sister’s marriage, and also because his father was quite aged and he needed to take over the reins of the business. Just a few days after he returned, he was woken up by a familiar tap on his bedroom window-Flash was back, and had taken up his customary perch!

Unfortunately this time Flash’s return was not to enjoy more bike rides or chicken liver treats….like all wild animals he had come to the place he called home to say his farewells and move on forever. Flash died just a few days after he returned home.

The day after Flash passed away, the senior Mr Koshy breathed his last. For the cynic these would be two unrelated events….for people who do not value a bird’s life, Flash’s passing would be totally inconsequential. However for Mr Koshy he was a dearly loved member of the family, which is why he holds the wonderful belief that Flash was sent home one last time with the specific mission of carrying his father’s soul to the heavens!

Sunitha Srinivasan