I saw a couple of crows on the beach last week and it struck me that I was seeing them after very long. They seem to have been replaced by hawks in urban areas but even in rural setups that I visit, I hardly see them these days. Even on the beach, they were an obvious minority in the group of hawks. I think it's time for a census.
In my childhood, if there was a shradhdha, one of the things was to check if a crow ate the 'bali ede'. Crows symbolised the spirits of ancestors and the head of the family would place the plantain leaf with the ede outside for them to eat and one would keep an eye on it and give the status update to people. I remember people getting anxious if no crow came around for some time, which it ultimately did. It felt like an important part of the ritual so I asked Pappa what they did these days. He also admitted crows were hard to come by and people either didn't bother much or fed the ede to the cows. It felt like the final blow.
In my childhood, if there was a shradhdha, one of the things was to check if a crow ate the 'bali ede'. Crows symbolised the spirits of ancestors and the head of the family would place the plantain leaf with the ede outside for them to eat and one would keep an eye on it and give the status update to people. I remember people getting anxious if no crow came around for some time, which it ultimately did. It felt like an important part of the ritual so I asked Pappa what they did these days. He also admitted crows were hard to come by and people either didn't bother much or fed the ede to the cows. It felt like the final blow.
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