Caw caw says the ----?

Namaskar blogdosts. Watched the grand finale of Bigg Boss 5. Very disappointed! If entertainment was the USP of the show, then either Sid or Mahek deserved to win. Sky kept the show going, but was very hurtful in the process. So, Sid, in my opinion, should have been the winner. Other than that, today was a family day. Morning was spent with the kids, helping them with homework and afternoon, cleaning house as it had been neglected for sometime now. Just came back after a sumptuous dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I ate the chicken soup and salad. Trying the diet thing again. Sigh!
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On our trip throughout India, my cousin who travelled with me and enjoyed photography had an eye for birds. Below you will see some of the pictures of the birds that he clicked.

However, today's post is about a very common bird that is found everywhere. I heard that this bird, that is connected with many superstitious beliefs in the minds of the Hindus, might be listed as endangered species sometime soon. Yes, I am talking about the ugly bird called crow.

This is a picture of a crow sitting on the roof of my In laws house in Mangalore. That day we were having a Navagraha homa in our house and we were offering the food cooked, to the crow as it is believed that one of our ancestors comes in the form of crow on auspicious occasions. If the crow eats the food, it means that the homa was performed successfully without any defects. However, that day, it was very difficult for us to spot a crow. Many of us tried cawing like the crow to catch it's attention, only to make a fool of ourselves in front of nosey (now laughing) neighbors. My Mother In law made the final call. She left the food on a banana leaf on the compound wall for the crow to come at it's time and enjoy the food. Sure enough, as soon as we left, the crow in the picture came by to eat the food. We were so glad for 2 reasons. One, we felt, now that the crow has eaten, we were blessed by our ancestor and the homa was done satisfactorily and two, we could now eat! The crow has a very harsh voice. It is very unpleasant to the ears. Crows begins to caw just at dawn. This jet black bird is often associated with bad luck.. Shani or Saturn, the god of ill luck, rides upon the crow. The cawing of a crow at mid-day is said to foretell evil. Thus, to the Hindus this bird is very sacred in spite of it's harsh voice, ugly shape and color. A crow is also know to be the most cunning and clever bird. We all have heard the popular pnachantantra story "The thirsty crow" that demonstrated the intelligence of the crow. A thirsty crow sees a pitcher of water. Unfortunately, the water is at the very bottom of the narrow mouthed pitcher. The crow cleverly throws pebbles into the pitcher that brings the level of the water to the top of the pitcher and quenches it's thirst. Not only is the crow sacred to the Hindus, it also acts as a scavenger in nature. It eats almost anything. So, please try and save crows. We need them.