കൂരിരുട്ടിന്റെ കിടാത്തി നിനക്കെന്തു പറ്റി ? I am deeply worried about this. Whats happening to our crows?
Last time I visited my native place in Kerala I looked for crows. There were none.
Couple of years back I had enquired with my Aunt and she had told me that the number is depleting alarmingly. No one seems to notice it.
Number of houses have increased. This is causing tremendous pressure on land. The big trees are cut. Other than coconut trees there are very few trees now.
They are smaller in nature and can not be used to build nest. Our poor village crows are not used to build nest on buildings yet.
Where did they go? We urgently need research on this.
I remember some poems recited in childhood :
Kooriruttinte Kidaathiyennaal
Sooryaprakashathinutta thozhi
Cheethakal Kothivalikkukilu-
mettavum vrithi vedippezhunnol
(Daughter of pitchy darkness
but a friend of sunny brightness
She pecks on garbage smelly,
Yet she is spick, span and shiny! )
(own traslation :))
Another one from Sippi Pallippuram ( who wrote several poems for children):
Karutha kottum Kaalurayum
Kakke neeyoru vakkeelo
Pakshi kkotathi vakkeelo ?
(Long black gown
and long black coat
Are you a lawyer
in the winged folks court ? )
3 comments:
I had been to my native town a couple of times during last month on my short trips. It was very short and hectic and couldn't get time to look for crows!
And since I was not specially looking for crows, I cannot authentically say if their number is decreased or not.
But how their number can get decreased...?.
They are supposed to possess the souls of our ancestors ... including the recent departed ones! We call them by clapping in a typical rythm during the ritual connected with death in the family and on 'sraddham' days. If they don't turn up, our simple souls in the family will be sad .....
Again, how their number will be decreased? If we say each crow is someone else's departed soul, their number should be equal to all those who died. And death is not decreasing,
I wonder, If am to go by your observation of decreasing number of corws, if there is any shift of departed soul from crows to some other beings! If that's the case, we have to bark to call dogs instead of crows!!
We find there are increasing number of dogs especailly in mumbai. You can see stray dogs on the streets, railway stations, bus depos and even inside office premises! There are big people to protect them; Menaka Gandhi being top on the list. In our office, there are students who protect them, feed them, give them medical care. They are given a leather band round their neck to identify them from outside dogs. TIFR dogs are very cultured. You can see them sleeping cooly here and there. But, they may not be simply sleeping ... they are listening to the conversation, the mathematical formulae, the computational alogrithm, gravitational issues in space, astronomical theories etc... discussed by the academicians and scientists while strolling after their lunch. Someone say TIFR dogs have aquaired enough knowledge by simply lying there and listening and should be awared with designations like 'Eminent Dog', 'Distinguished Dog' etc!
- SOman
Yes it is I did not see any official bulletin regarding this yet. But I checked with many of natives. The Bali-kakka ( Full black big crow – Kavathi kakka - English name - Raven) is almost non-existent now in large part. These crows need big trees and forest like environment. That is missing now.
The small ones which are known as Revathi Kakka or Town crow is there but not every where.
They have adapted. They build nests on electric/telephone posts. But surprisingly their number is also dwindling. At least in Tirur and sorrounding areas - where a lot of Meat eating kakkas are living - their number is decreasing ! That is all the more alarming to me. I have no answer. In my native place Kuttur ( 6 Km from Tirur ) The crows are not visible as we used to.When my mother died in 2001 There were no crows to eat Bali chor In Tirur and in Calicut.
We had to clap so many times.. Perhaps the new generation crows do not know it or the older ones forgot it. Earlier each house in native place had lot of paddy and crows used to come to eat it. Now the rice cultivation is not even 1 % of what we used to have. This could be one reason. The other could be hormon fed chicken trash that caused impotence in crows ! ( my invention because there are news of 6 to 7 year old girls becoming mature - and a lot of men becoming impotent.) Polluted fish , Plastic , Less amount of edible trash etc etc.. are reasons I guess. Do you guess any other ?
But who cares ! When I ask, people laugh at me. They are more concerned about Santhosh Madhavan !
Our visual media is full of treacherous people - they need only sensational news. If they dont get they will make. That is true every where not only in Kerala. Yesterday they were saying that MACTA issue is very important for the people as they are the prekshakar - bull shit !
You are right about Dogs. In Bangalore dogs are never hated and on the contrary stray dogs are fed. So the situation is rather worse than Mumbai. Highest number of deaths by dog bites in India is in Karnataka. Now the BJP govt. may pray to Shani devan and request him to ask the dogs not to bite!. Thats it. Our nation is always "just Like that only" .
The reason for dogs increased number is due to our famous manner - for which Maharashtra - Karnatka are ill famous - : 'No toilets please, we are Indians". But that does not surely include TIFR. There the reason could be safe haven. Good security. Why not? When people find secure job there and can stay for their entire life - seven human years is nothing. :) .
Anyway let them stay there eminently. But watch their faces You can find some scientific traits - Have you read M.P.Narayana Pillai's Parinaamam?. Read it. You will get more insightfull info into dog's and by that way man's life.
If the number of crows are decreasing it is a sure sign of environmental changes due to drastic changes in the social life of mankind. The beauty of man is in the soul. However much we dress up we will look that much cheap. beauty comes from nature. It is such a beautiful sight when crows build their house with reeds and small branches. Feeding the young ones is also a fantastic scene. Then comes learning to fly. I adore these scenes.
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