I saw this article about crows (which is beautiful — please read it) today:
http://thewildlife.wbur.org/2015/03/12/the-secrets-of-gift-giving-crows/
And the article put me in mind of my own crow-related experiences in India, as a young girl, a young teenager, and young woman, growing up there. So, I wrote a few thoughts about that on Facebook, then said to myself, why not put it in my blog?
So, here’s what I wrote on FB this morning:
I have loved crows since I was a young girl. As a teenager, I used to pump drinking water for our family. (We had a well with a hand-pump next to it, which we used, apart from municipal water in the taps.) There were hundreds of crows in the nearby mango trees and coconut trees around me, both in our backyard, and in all the surrounding yards, and they’d be cawing loudly. I was always singing to myself, and would raise my voice joyously in song, while pumping water. The minute I did so, the crows would stop, all of them. When I finished singing, they would begin again. I’d sing again. They’d immediately stop. We did this every evening. I loved them for listening.
In my family, we put out food for crows every morning (at least in India). My mom still does so. The crows love it, but where my mom lives now, there are, unfortunately, tons of bully pigeons, and the poor crows never quite get their share, because of the piggy pigeons, who scare them away. I do not love pigeons.
In Tamil culture, the harvest festival, Pongal, occurs in January, after which comes Kanu. On that day, my mother puts out different types of rice, of different colors on banana leaves on the terrace or balcony for the crows (supposedly our ancestors) to eat. I used to love this festival, and used to help with it as a young gir l- it always seemed magical. i remember us having freshly cut sugarcane stalks to chew on as well. Such delight. Plus, all those different colored rice (yellow lemon rice, coconut rice, gud rice, milky rice, more .Haven’t done it for decades, though. Next year, I shall.
Here’s a description of Kanu (thanks, Wikipedia!):
“”Kanu Pidi is a tradition for women and young girls. During Kanu Pidi women feed birds and pray for their brothers’ well being. As part of the “Kaka pidi, Kanu pidi” feast women and girls place a feast of colored rice, cooked vegetables, banana and sweet pongal on ginger or turmeric leaves for crows to share and enjoy. During this time women offer prayers in the hope that brother-sister ties remain forever strong as they do in a crow family.[”
I do so love crows!
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~Dreamer of Dreams