<p>Recently, I happened to watch a dead bandicoot across our street. A crow, winging in the air, upon casting its eyes on the lifeless creature, started descending downward to feast on the unexpected disemboweled meal.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Even as the crow swooped down, it had started summoning its fellow crows with its strident cawing, to join in partaking of its food.<br /><br />Incidentally, the same evening, as I was ambling across a shopping arcade, at a garbage dump, I saw a pile of used plantain leaves with plenty of wasted food, perhaps binned off a post-morning lunch from a nearby wedding hall. The junked food was surrounded by a pack of stray dogs which had got into a scramble, fiercely snarling and barking at each other to usurp the maximum amount of it. Each dog was blocking the other dog from having its share.<br /><br />Well, it seems, just a few decades ago, be it in one’s family circuit, or at one’s workplace, or in one’s neighbourhood, by and large, people proffered all kinds of unremitting help/support to each other in times of need. Those times, wherein living in extended families was a common phenomenon, the success of nephews/nieces were identified with the success of one’s own children. <br /><br />What’s more, even children of distant, penury-stricken relatives stayed with well-heeled families who bankrolled their educational expenditures. In short, there were loads of bonhomie among the cohesively knit families owing to a strong human web people had woven around them. Naturally, tasks related to mega social events like weddings, etc, were effortlessly executed, without any glitches, all due to massive human support system. By umpteen good gestures, people expressed solidarity with one another during both their euphoric and gloomy moments. Apparently, people had the attitude of the crows.<br /><br />But unfortunately today, bracketing exceptions, many of us have got onto the survival-of-the-fittest mode of life. We don’t like to see someone outshining us or our offspring in any way. For, personal success is what reigns supreme, and we aggressively fight for it even at the cost of bartering away our inner peace and happiness. We adopt Machiavellian moves just to see we are always in the number one slot. The way we outstrip others at traffic signals, the way we grab chairs at wedding lunches, the way we use short-cut methods to succeed in everything — all these amply speak of our ‘dog-like’ attitude.<br /><br />I’m reminded of an interesting and profound ‘subhashitani’ — “Kaka ahvayate kakan, yachako na tu yachakan; kaka yachakayor madhye, varam kako na yachakaha.” This means, “A crow, on sighting food, invites other crows; where as a beggar doesn’t do the same. If the virtues of a crow and the beggar are juxtaposed, the crow fares better!”</p>
<p>Recently, I happened to watch a dead bandicoot across our street. A crow, winging in the air, upon casting its eyes on the lifeless creature, started descending downward to feast on the unexpected disemboweled meal.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Even as the crow swooped down, it had started summoning its fellow crows with its strident cawing, to join in partaking of its food.<br /><br />Incidentally, the same evening, as I was ambling across a shopping arcade, at a garbage dump, I saw a pile of used plantain leaves with plenty of wasted food, perhaps binned off a post-morning lunch from a nearby wedding hall. The junked food was surrounded by a pack of stray dogs which had got into a scramble, fiercely snarling and barking at each other to usurp the maximum amount of it. Each dog was blocking the other dog from having its share.<br /><br />Well, it seems, just a few decades ago, be it in one’s family circuit, or at one’s workplace, or in one’s neighbourhood, by and large, people proffered all kinds of unremitting help/support to each other in times of need. Those times, wherein living in extended families was a common phenomenon, the success of nephews/nieces were identified with the success of one’s own children. <br /><br />What’s more, even children of distant, penury-stricken relatives stayed with well-heeled families who bankrolled their educational expenditures. In short, there were loads of bonhomie among the cohesively knit families owing to a strong human web people had woven around them. Naturally, tasks related to mega social events like weddings, etc, were effortlessly executed, without any glitches, all due to massive human support system. By umpteen good gestures, people expressed solidarity with one another during both their euphoric and gloomy moments. Apparently, people had the attitude of the crows.<br /><br />But unfortunately today, bracketing exceptions, many of us have got onto the survival-of-the-fittest mode of life. We don’t like to see someone outshining us or our offspring in any way. For, personal success is what reigns supreme, and we aggressively fight for it even at the cost of bartering away our inner peace and happiness. We adopt Machiavellian moves just to see we are always in the number one slot. The way we outstrip others at traffic signals, the way we grab chairs at wedding lunches, the way we use short-cut methods to succeed in everything — all these amply speak of our ‘dog-like’ attitude.<br /><br />I’m reminded of an interesting and profound ‘subhashitani’ — “Kaka ahvayate kakan, yachako na tu yachakan; kaka yachakayor madhye, varam kako na yachakaha.” This means, “A crow, on sighting food, invites other crows; where as a beggar doesn’t do the same. If the virtues of a crow and the beggar are juxtaposed, the crow fares better!”</p>
