Yogya Singh’s husband Vijayendra travels extensively but sometimes, even when he’s out of town, she can hear him call out her name. “The whole house jumps up surprised! But alas! It isn’t Vijayendra but Angel, our Grey Parrot,” Yogya laughs.

Angel is an intelligent bird who learns fast and can mimic voices and sounds to the T. “She’ll tell the house helps: ‘Angel ko khana do’, she’ll whistle beautifully, she’ll chant Om namah shivay, she’ll cough just like my father-in-law and will even mimic ours dogs’ barks,” says Yogya.

Till recently, the family had a Great Dane named Vivo, who was bosom buddies with Angel. “Despite the difference in their sizes, they would chill on the same bed without Vivo ever hurting Angel,” says Yogya. But Angel was the naughty one. She would quietly go and pinch Vivo’s ankle and before he could pounce at her, she’d scold him: ‘Vivo, no!’”

Angel steps out of her nest to look around.

Vivo is no more but the family has just got a white Golden Retriever puppy.
“Cooper is barely a week old but Angel is already trying to say his name,” Yogya says proudly. The Singhs have had many a dog breed before — who have all been champions in the show circuit — but the Retriever is a first for them.

When Angel came in 2017, it was Vijayendra who trained her to follow basic commands. But then he started travelling so much that she changed loyalties to Yogya. “She’s got too attached to me, in fact,” says the jewellery designer who wears a bracelet with an angel trinket on it.

Once when Yogya was visiting her parents in Kanpur, the bird went into depression. “She started plucking feathers out of her stomach till it started bleeding. It was a while before we realised why she was doing this and it took nearly a year to heal completely,” she sighs. “Grey Parrots are delightful companions, but one should only get one if one can spend a lot of time with them.”

Most stories about Angel leave you laughing — imagine the bird dancing when India lifted the World Cup recently — but one incident gives you goose bumps.

Once when the couple was out, Angel managed to fly out of the house. “Not only could she have got lost but she could also have got attacked by crows. Luckily, our staff spotted her on a tree, climbed up, and said: ‘Angel, step up!’ This is her command to come perch on one’s finger. Angel complied and she was brought home to safety,” Yogya says, heaving a sigh of relief.

The Singhs have many more pets in their large compound — pheasants, rabbits, budgerigars...back in the day Vijayendra’s grandpa would even have a barasingha (swamp deer), peacock and langur. “When laws got passed against keeping them at home, the animals were gifted to Alipore zoo,” Vijayendra says. “I’ve heard stories of how my father would go to meet them at the zoo and upon seeing him, tears would roll down the langur’s cheeks.”