Lessons from a crow
Every day morning I
used to find a large number of twigs scattered in the front yard. I used to
throw them away till it struck me odd for I was not sure as to where these were
coming from. Then I realised that they were from a nest of a crow in one of the
branches of the jamun tree in the front yard. These twigs were apparently
sourced from several places by the crow for its nest. Now what happened next
was very interesting. The crow started to lay eggs in its nest and during
its absence, a koyal, the cuckoo surreptitiously laid eggs in the same
nest. As they looked identical the crow didn't notice it but I think the crow
knew it but accommodated the new entrants as she probably knew that the cuckoo
was not competent enough to build a nest in its own. A first lesson.
After the eggs were
hatched for a few weeks the mother crow painstakingly fed the chicks may
be for just a month or so till the young ones grew wings and started to flutter
in an attempt to fly. Waiting for this very moment the mother crow abandoned
the nest and the chicks never to return. The young ones after desperate wait
for a day or so decided to take a chance and tried to fly from the nest out of
sheer hunger. A necessity for survival.
Lesson no 2.
Most of them managed
to fly an odd one couldn't and so fell down and hopped around for a day or two
then managed to fl
The abandoned nest was
not taken up by any other crow or bird. It was left to scatter in the wind and
cease to exist in course of time. A few twigs were taken away by other crows to
build their own nest.
But remember no crow
inherits a nest built by its parents. Each time a crow has to build it's own
nest when it's time arrives to lay eggs, which it does. It neither inherits nor
leaves behind an inheritance.
That left me wondering
as we humans spend a lifetime hoarding wealth to be inherited by the next
generation without effort that makes them often lazy and incompetent to face
the realities of life boldly as most of them do not learn skills for survival.
Surely there is something to learn from a humble crow..
twigs from the nest
