Crow

'Good morning Andy. Wake up and meet Argus, the king of crows,', a
high pitched voice ordered. I thought I was all alone in the room. The
voice then had to be from outside. However as I rubbed the sleepy eyes
and sat up on the bed the same voice thundered,' You have to be at
Dinkar Institute (DI) at the dot of noon. Its already eight-thirty and
you are still in bed. Wake up and meet Argus.' Now, just who was this
person who was lecturing me on what I had to do on a Sunday. As I
turned to go towards the mirror on the wall at the far end, things
became clearer. Perched on my study table was a crow. A crow who was
wearing large bifocal glasses. Though it seemed mad to ask, I spoke to
him,'You are Argus?'. To my utter shock, the crow shot back,'Yes, and
now I would like to watch the TV news.'I was all alone at home. So no
questions were going to be asked.'Come this way', I said and took my
guest to the living room. He walked on twos the whole distance just
like me. I switched on the TV and he sat, no stood beside me. Very soon
the news started and he was all eyes and ears. Some visuals of the
legislative building was being shown and suddenly Argus said,'This is
where the crow council meets'. Somewhat dazed I enquired,'Your meetings
are held in the assembly hall?'. He gave me the most blood-curdling
look of my life and said,'Of course not, we meet on the terrace of the
assembly building. The hall is too small for a council of 1200 crows.
Besides it's often cold in the hall. And we crows are very afraid of
catching pneumonia. Now keep shut and let me hear the weatherman.'. As
the weather forecast began, Argus took off his glasses with one of his
feet and began to wipe his eyes with a wing. Then he began,'The rain is
very bad for us crows. You can catch pneumonia and it spoils your
looks. Very often we have to cancel weddings because it is raining'. By
this time I had had enough and headed for the fridge. I had a quiz
contest to attend and needed a heavy meal before that. So I took out
some ready-to-eat chicken and put it in the oven. A little while later
Argus was on my left shoulder and asked me what I was eating. When I
told him I was going to eat chicken, he looked me in the eye and
quizzed,'Is it dead?' I wanted to throw the chicken sink at him. But I
restrained myself and said,'Of course'.
I had no plans to take Argus the crow to the quiz at DI. But he was
adamant. He said he had never seen a quiz from close quarters and
besides it was a quiz on hangers. Crows he said had a great fascination
for hangers. Whenever a crow builds a nest there is always a hanger in
the vicinity. The hanger is not for the fortification of the dwelling
but for ornamentation. Argus required no transport. He would fly to the
venue which he did. When I reached he was already there. Of course no
one noticed him because he was just another crow. That he wore thick
glasses seemed to worry no one. But I was worried. My quizzing partner
Joe had not turned up and I needed an expert on hangers to help me out.
Argus got to know of my predicament and took the matter in his hands.
With due permission from the quiz master Argus joined me on the team.
Though he could not sit on the chair and perched himself next to the
mike on the table top he was brilliant. He was conversant with all
aspects of hangers-their history, geography, physics and chemistry. In
the end we won like champions. Though someone tried to protest that the
quiz was only for humans he was shouted down.
I thought it was a great occasion to celebrate. So we went to the
planetarium. Our show began in ten minutes during which time I took
some photos of Argus with a use-and-throw camera. Inside the
planetarium the authorities were pleased to have a creature of the
firmament among them. The show commenced. It was a talk about the
planets, the stars and of course the skies. It was engaging to say the
least. At the end Argus said,'Heck, I thought I knew all about the
skies I fly in. This is really cool.'Having said this, he got a little
emotional and in a sobbing voice said,'You know Andy, yesterday was my
wife's birthday. And I didn't get her the hanger she wanted. Today
morning she threw me out of the house and is leaving for her parents'
place in the evening. I flew into the first house I saw today and
that's your house. By now she must be gone. I will leave you now.
Thanks a lot.'. And then he took off, took off into the dark evening
sky. I guess I will remember this day as long as I live.