Dark visitor brightens up mornings

Every morning, during breakfast time, we have an unusual visitor. It is a raven whom we have christened, Raja. Dark, well-sculpted and handsome, he looks every inch a royal.

Advertisement

Raja and our family developed an acquaintance and intimacy soon after we moved house last summer. An early bird, he would arrive at the first crack of dawn and wait on a tree nearby for his ‘daily bread’. He would grow impatient if the breakfast arrived a little late and begin his guttural croak. A chappati or two would be kept aside in a plastic container to satiate the bird early in the morning.

Tiny pieces would be left on the edge of the balcony railing on the first floor. The moment Raja spotted his feed, he would swoop down from the tree, pick up the pieces with his beak and make off to the safety of the green canopy that adorns the neighbourhood. Hesitant at first to venture close to humans, the bird has, over time, picked up the courage to come down even when we are at close quarters. Raja seldom has the company of his feathered friends and is content in enjoying his meal alone. He calls on us four or five times a day, beginning with breakfast early in the morning and culminating with supper at sundown before bidding us goodbye and calling it a day.

Raja’s favourite meal is chappati. We have tried to introduce him to idli, dosa and English bread, but he refuses to touch them. However, he has a fancy for mice, and one can frequently watch him enjoying pecking at dead rodents, pulling out their entrails before proceeding to devour them with relish. He may be a non-vegetarian, as most of his breed are, but my wife’s chappatis are, undoubtedly, on top of his list of favourite things to eat.

Indeed, no bird in history contributed more to literature than the raven, which inspired the prose of both Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe. The nearest cousin of the raven, the crow, was also adored by the iconic cartoonist and illustrator, RK Laxman, who famously remarked that he was attracted to the bird more than any other winged creature. Ravens in stories often act as psychopomps, connecting the material world with the world of spirits. In Swedish folklore, they are ghosts of murdered people without Christian burials, and in German tales, damned souls.

Raja’s entry into our lives has been a godsend. The raven’s early morning call heralds the arrival of a new day. His croaks act as an alarm and the family becomes aware that it is time to rise and shine. Though he is not a captive bird, he has more or less became a part of the family, and his arrival fills us with profound joy. With each passing day, the bond that we share with this beautiful bird has only become more robust. If only we can learn to share our space and coexist peacefully with God’s gorgeous creation, the world would be a better place!