One day during my post dinner
walk through the campus, I saw a solitary crow roosting on a rather low branch.
There was no other crow on that tree or any of the trees nearby. I checked the
tree once more to make sure. Yes, there it was – a single crow probably fast
asleep in a world of crowish dreams. I found that rather strange for I thought
crows generally gather together for night roosts, mostly on the same tree night
after night.
I was reminded of my days in
Mercy campus. A small campus comfortably settled little outside the hustle and
bustle of Palakkad town. Those of you who have had an opportunity to live in
that campus would remember the crows. By around five in the evening they’ll
start coming on ones and twos and by six the whole place is drowned in the
cacophony. There is a lot of noise, so much of moving around – fighting for a favourite
place, may be for a seat next to a particular lady, sharing notes on how good
or bad the day had been, settling family quarrels, the list goes on. By the
time the party finally settles down, it’s dark. Then it is all quiet, time to
sleep. Come early morning, the crows are up much before any of us in the
hostels. Without much ado these early birds depart to different places to catch
the proverbial worm. Nobody lingers in the hostel premises. May be experience
taught them too that mess food is not really worth it. By evening they are
back! Those huge trees in our campus have been favourite roosting sites for
generations of crows.
Well, so that is how I thought
crows generally behave. Even if they forage alone or in small groups, roosting
time was when they believed in strength in numbers. And there was this crow,
all alone. Maybe he was a rebel, and did not believe in following the norm.
Perhaps the crow believed in staying far from the madding crowd. :P It could
have been an old crow that did not feel like it could make to the roosting site
that may be far away. There is a possibility of the crow being a
social outcast and hence unable to join the others. Did the crow feel
lonely? Do crows also have the urge like humans, to be socially acceptable, to
do things that are ‘cool’ so that they can stay in a group? Did this crow brave
all such temptations and decided to make a statement by staying alone?
The next day when I went for my
walk I looked for the crow, it was not there. It is more than a week since I
saw my crow, all alone on a low branch. I do not know if it had gone back to
its group or if it had chosen a roosting site, all for itself, far away from
the prying eyes of nosey research scholars. But every day when I pass that
tree, I look up, to check whether my lonely crow is there.
Lovely piece! I love the little mystery of the solitary roosting crow
ReplyDeleteThanks Anandam :)
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