Hubballi: The ‘crowman’ of Devagiri village near Haveri has been crowing for five long years. The sky turns a sea of black when he starts doing it—not with clouds but with innumerable crows zooming down on him to see for themselves this stranger who can imitate them like no one else.
For most Hindus, a crow in the house is a bad omen. Not for thirty-five-year old Mahantesh Sangur, who has a special attachment with these birds, considered by many as the harbinger of doom, misfortune and death. It all started after he imitated a crow while working in his field and was taken aback on seeing hordes of crows swarming around him. In no time, he earned the name crowman and has even won thousands of rupees betting with his friends while accepting their challenge to attract crows.
"Initially, a crow or two used to come near me while I was having lunch in my farm land. Once I started imitating them to perfection, hundreds would fly over me. I now imitate other animals and birds including cows and peacocks, which too respond to my voice", Mahantesh claims.
It’s during the lunar day programme (tithi) after death of a person that he is most sought after. A visit by the crows has special significance at these third day rituals after the death and he is one man who can ensure their presence in hundreds.
People believe that the soul of the deceased cannot rest in peace until crows visit the place and eat the food left for them by the bereaved family. And if the crows fail to arrive, it is Mahantesh who rushes to the rescue to draw them for the Shradh ritual.
"Crows have a habit of joining together if they hear another crow and assume the fellow bird is in trouble. All I have to do is imitate the bird and there will be several flying over and sitting atop trees", he adds. Kids just love his style and try to imitate him without much success.
Their social instincts-they never eat alone and crow to other birds to join them-is something which Mahantesh finds fascinating. So is the love for their kind which is more than evident when one of them dies. They assemble in large numbers and crow away their grief.
But keeping the crows company is just not enough to make both ends meet. Mahantesh, a poor farmer, cultivates his one acre of land and also works in the construction sector to earn his livelihood. The class three dropout has been keeping his passion going despite suffering losses due to the recurring drought in his village.
"Mahantesh is the pride of our village as he loves crows and offer food to them though he is poor himself. We support him in everything he does to take care of the birds," a youth, Prakash Parasannanavar said. So who ever said that the crow was an ugly bird? This bearded man in Devagiri would be the last one to agree.
