The Crippled Crow, The Cat And The Car

This evening as I took Casper for a walk, about 50 feet away from us I noticed an uplifted, black polythene bag lying on the road. I was just staring at it, doubtfully, when I saw it move partially. I waited to see another movement. It couldn’t be a crow, I thought. Crows have always been the mean, daredevil sorts, always terrorizing the pigeons. They’ve always been so sinister. Somehow, it was hard to imagine a CROW (figuratively) on his knees, looking for kindness. I wasn’t close enough to it to be able to confirm my suspicion. I decided to go ahead and see for myself. Now, only ten feet from it. It WAS a bird indeed.

Right then, a car entered through the main society gate, and it drove towards us – Casper, me and the crow. I patiently waited to see how it reacted as the car came closer to it. It didn’t move. A maid who was also watching the whole scene, had her palm cover her mouth automatically as the car passed by the crippled crow. He’s at a risk of being run over by a car!

Then there was a WagonR, I was scared how THIS would pass because on this narrow road, on one side there was the crow and opposite to it was a parked car. However, to my relief, it got on without crushing the injured fella. However, my worries were only about to end when I had a sideward glance over a Scorpio! Looked like the end of the crow, the Scorpion driver didn’t seem to take notice either, until he got REAL close to him. He swerved the big car JUST in time. Phew!

Now the coast was clear, for that while at least. I looked up at the trees above me, the crows were continuously cawing but NONE came to his rescue. The crippled crow could only rotate his neck to prove he’s alive. I was irritated to see all those birds only shrieking idly. Why were they not doing ANYTHING?! While the hapless crow did/could not act at all, it was like his feet were grounded or tethered to the road. His body was completely immobile. All he could do was shake his head, as if telling the rest of his flock that he’s there to stay. And that nothing could be done.

An icing on the cake was the sight of an ambitious-looking cat. It was white and had the look of a female entrepreneur eyeing on a prospective project waiting for the right moment to lay her hands on it. It was the first time a healthy crow dived into the frame right between the cat and the crippled crow. The warning was received well by our four-legged opponent. He swiftly trod away and it seemed like the day was saved. But I was sure, the cat would come again.

I raced my mind to think of what I could do. I remembered my Nani calling after me (as I was leaving Casper back home) to shift him to one side. But, that was the time for me to act the scaredy-cat way. The crows were also swooping over him in his defense, the moment I took a step towards the road-ridden bird. I mildly shouted at them that (bloody!) I was only there to help.

There were two crows who finally stopped by and looked into him. Later two more crows hopped around him, lowering their heads, as if paying tribute to him. The bird must have been a noble. There were crows on the trees above us, on the terrace, the windows of buildings and they all cawed in unison. They were mourning. My poor crow had accepted his fate long before and despondently laid his head down, his hooked beak placed gently on the surface. There he was, resting on the road, waiting for the end to come.

I was still not sure if he had yet passed away or not.

Epilogue

I got back home and started writing this incident. After half an hour I left to see him again wondering if it was the cat or the car. He was not there. I walked on. Somebody had rolled him on to the opposite side (to where he earlier was) as his feet were in the air and his eyes facing the sky. He bore no scratches on his body. His feet were intact. He died of old age.

Rest in peace, Mr. Crow.