It will appear strange if people cordially live with animals that are not pets. They will talk about that as an amazing event.
For example, if you visit Crocodile Farm in Samutprakarn, Bangkok, Thailand, you will see the trainers who train the crocodiles are putting their heads into the mouth of crocodiles. You can clearly hear the sound when the crocodile closes its mouth after the trainer puts some money into the crocodile’s mouth while he is taking back his hand. It is an extremely frightening performance. If you have never seen this sight, you will find it difficult to believe it. Furthermore, you can see a quite
strange sight that a man is feeding a small tiger some food as an adult is feeding a baby. The tiger also is living with its master as a pet. Most visitors who visit this Crocodile Farm used to take photos with it.
I have never lived with an animal that could be dangerous to people in my life. However, I used to live with a crow which is not a pet for a period.
It was the end of the rainy season and beginning of winter season of 2002. At that time, I was sentenced to seven years in the awfully notorious Insein prison by 5/J act, Yangon, Myanmar. 5/ J act means that an act which the dictatorships used to commit the political prisoners in Myanmar. The place where I was imprisoned was cell number 8 of building 4. One day, a warder who was on duty at our building brought a baby crow whose wings were cut to our building. When he finished his duty and went back, he consigned the crow to Khin Maung Win, who was sentenced unlimited years, and was living cell number 2. Warders used to have duty for one month or two weeks at a place, but they didn’t have exactly fixed duty days. If a jailer ordered
them to move to another place, they would transfer immediately.
Three days after the baby crow arrived at our building, we heard that the warder who was the crow’s master was hit by a car, and he went to hospital. After that, the warden didn’t come to us, so the crow was left at our building. Because it didn’t have wings to fly, it lived with prisoners. It came with a hopping gait to the cells where the prisoners were living to beg food. However, how did they have fresh meat and fish that it liked to feed it? So, it had to eat food that they fed it.
I don’t remember who named it “Janghi.” Whenever Khin Maung Win called it “Janghi” “Janghi”
“Janghi.”, it came to its master with a hopping gait and flew as much as it could. Then, all prisoners also called it “Janghi.” As they were fond of it, they fed it. It was also friendly with all prisoners. In fact, it was so friendly, it dared to eat food with its beak from the prisoner’s palm. Actually, crow in English is Jeeghan in Myanmar language. So, they called it “Janghi.” by spoonerism.
Crow is a bird which eats everything. So, when I fed egg yolks to it, Janghi liked it very much. Because I often nourished yolk it, it came to me anytime I called it. Sometimes it came over to me although I didn’t call it. If I was asleep, it used to wake me by shouting “Ah” Ah”. When I didn’t wake up, it came into my cell, and it awakened and pecked my toes with its beak.
Despite the prisoners were affection for it, other crows which were its linage hated it a lot. When a flock of crows that came to look for food met it, they poked it with their beaks. For this reason, it also evaded them, either hiding in Khin Maung Win’s cell or another prisoner’s cell. Because the crow which lived with humans had lost caste, the great crows discarded and didn’t accept it.
I thought that the poor Janghi appeared to want to live with its linage. When the flock of crows entered our compound, it used to gaze at them from a distant place. However, the great black crows had relationship with it lacked cordiality. Had there been no prisoner, they would surely kill it with their beaks until death, I guessed. Crows highly value the purity of their caste. For our poor Janghi was a betrayal or lost caste for the great black crows because the warden cut its wings not to fly. This was not a fable. It was a real incident in the Insein prison, Yangon, Myanmar.
While I was saying Janghi, I also wanted to talk about crows as much as I know. The nature of crows is to flock together and make loud noises to scare away any enemy, or a different creature came into their flock. So, if others looked at them, they would have thought that they united utterly. Didn’t provoke us. If you aggravate us, you will suffer terribly.
For instance, whether a crow was shot by a daring boy with a catapult, or the boy tried to catch it, impudent and aggressive crows would absolutely endeavor to jab with their sharp beaks in a devil- may-care attitude, giving the impression of true loyalty.
Having said this, however, please don’t think that they were so fond of their relatives, and they would protect their linages, because you might be wrong. Would you throw a piece of flesh into the flock of crows, you were surely to view a killing field of the crows? Placing a piece of flesh on the Banyan tree, the crows would go down to the ground quickly and take it by force. They would seriously run after the one which got it first, and they would fight it violently. Unable to defend itself, the injured crow would drop the piece of flesh drop onto the ground, only to have another crow suddenly swoop it up and run quicky.
Then the flock would follow and peck it again. In this way, they would fight with each other aggressively for a piece of flesh, and they would not hesitate to fight. Whenever I think about that the poor Janghi, and great black crows, I imagine vividly in my mind’s eye that there are many ostracized people in our world like my poor little crow and the aggressive grudge flock of crows.
It was loved and fed by not only me but also most of the prisoners in our building. Sometimes, when its master, Khin Maung Win, was angry and hit it, it ran away as fast as possible. As it could not fly into the sky, it fearfully ran with a hopping gait and tried to fly a little not to be beaten by its master. When it got dark, it did come back to Khin Maung Win’s cell to sleep.
Later, when it grew up a little, it went out from our compound, and caught and ate grass-lizards, chameleons, small creatures etc. It lived on dead bodies. It changed; it was not like before. Its mind became wild. Its body smell was worse. It seemed that its wings that were cut by the warden might be a little longer. It sat on branches of trees near our compound. But at the beginning it didn’t dare to stay for a long time, it used to come back to its friends and Khin Maung Win before dark.
After a while, it hardly came back to Khin Maung Win anymore even though he called loudly when it was getting dark. Nevertheless, it didn’t come to sleep in his cell. Wardens said that it used to sleep on the trees near our compound. Later, Khin Maung Win couldn’t try to keep it because his inmates who committed crimes with him and he were transferred to another prison. And so, it never came back to us, and no one knew where it went.
I rewrote about the Janghi, after it had already passed away from the crow-being and might be another habitat in the circle of rebirth. Nevertheless, for all its prisoner friends, I hope that when they read this word Janghi, they would remember the pitiful crow we called “Janghi.”
Htay Win