Food sharing to others during the pandemic

I write this as a gentle reminder and humble request to look out of your windows and balconies. To take a deep breath, keep your ears sharp and hearts open to those little chirps of birds, meows of cats and bow-vows of dogs. Few houses might own one of those loyal creatures, few might not.

But definitely, every street of India is definitely guarded by one or the other taken for the granted four-legged watchman, who works without any expectation and stays loyal for those left-overs they find in the streets.

Pandemic or not; Summer or Winter. They still do their duty without expecting anything else in return. Even if not out of care, we are definitely obliged to provide for them, especially during this particular time of distress when hotels got shut down and their food resources became scarce than ever. Humans are advanced of all breeds with our innate sense of thinking, so it would be great if we also share a moment of thought in our life about those selfless creatures.

“A simple act of caring creates an endless ripple of happiness, which comes back to you”

When a dog-like creature is able to show loyalty and care and still be the first to come back waving its tail. Why can’t we also reflect the same to those loyal helpless creatures in the street? We pass through dogs straying around with injuries, crippled legs and helpless with a bunch of puppies to be taken care of in the usual daily walks of our busy days. With a bit of empathy and kindness in our heart, all of us can come forward to adopt a dog. If not, at least provide a dog. Do whatever you can. Do your best to those hungry little puppies and weak stray dogs in your streets. Make an extra cup of rice or chapatti for them with your lunch meal and nurture your relationship with those beautiful creatures. I am sure they will show that one cup of gratitude all your life, with back-and-forth waving tails. Don’t worry if the one in your place, doesn’t have a long tail—it will surely find other ways to reflect its love and gratitude back to you. Look into their hungry eyes for once, and they will be your friend for life—when you understand their pain and give them what they need the most.

Figure 1: Animal lovers stepping out to feed stray animals. (Source: News18.com)

As I said at the start of this writing, there are many who suffer and needs support—especially during these hot summer days. A cackle of crows comes as a natural alarm to wake me up every morning and during my occasional midday naps. A biscuit or two in the morning; crushed and crumbled or a rice ball in the afternoon of the right size—not big, not less—is what they expect from me. Not to forget to fill the little blue plastic container with freshwater which they gulp after having their turn. I place a stone inside the container to prevent unwanted flips and flops of the container.

Figure 2:The usual dining arrangement made for those winged guests to land and dine.

It has been almost a ritual in many families of India, that is, to serve food for crows before anyone in the house gets served to eat. Culinary hierarchies of gender and age get blown away to thin air at this moment at least when these particular avian species get first priority over everyone else when served with hot and fresh food. I would always ask out of curiosity since childhood, “Why do we feed them special and not others? Why do we mimic these birds at the terrace to invite them and not meow?”. I was told that it is tradition and traditions ought not to be questioned.

Well, the answer was lying right out there at that short strip of banana leaves and ceramic tile on top of the balcony wall on which food was placed. When a crow comes and finds food, it does not pounce readily into the platter at front. The crow waits and calls its flock to come over for sharing the food is found and also to share its happiness of finding meal and water after a long draining summer day’s heat. Standing in the queue at the wall side, each crow takes a mouthful of a piece to fill its hunger and needs and gives space for others to have their turn. The species shares an inherent character trait of sharing with fellows, unlike many other creatures which fight and even die for food.

Figure 3 and 4: Pictures taken when a crow waits after finding the food and calling its flock to eat together.

Probably this is the reason behind the lost meaning of the age-old traditional practice, it is done as expected of human beings to follow the virtues which could be observed ad obtained from these birds and practise in real life by sharing food with our fellow beings and needy. While a lot of hatred is built towards avian species as the procreator of the whole pandemic, here, we find values from these little creatures teaching us the joy of sharing even during the hardest of times. That said, let’s care to share and share to care, creating joy and happiness around us in a safe and sound manner though.

Figure 5: Each crow taking their turn to eat one-at-a-time waiting in a queue.