On Thursday, two leading Kannada channels reported that a “baby crow” sitting on the bonnet of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s car refused to be shooed away despite repeated attempts.
The two channels, TV9 Kannada and Public TV, ran two reports each, and uploaded both videos on their respective YouTube channels.
A TV9 Kannada news anchor reported in a grave tone that the crow managed to resist persistent efforts at dislodging it from its comfortable perch for 10 whole minutes at the Chief Minister’s official residence ‘Krishna’. As she talked, the crow could be seen cocking its head at something it was apparently looking at through the windshield of the CM’s car. The next moment, it looked sideways at a man in a green shirt who tried to shoo it away.
Public TV ran a 54-second clipping of the crow, showing people attempting to shoo it away. The crow did not budge even though someone opened the door of the driver’s side and reversed the car a very short distance. Throughout the clipping, the channel ran a kaa-kaa soundtrack. There was no anchor / reporter to explain what was going on (FYI, crow’s beak appeared closed.).
TV9 said that after10 minutes, the crow had to be physically lifted by someone and released elsewhere in order to make it go away.
Both channels reported on a crucial detail that has great bearing on the crow: the Chief Minister was an atheist (a fact that Siddaramaiah himself stated as a matter of fact years ago, and denied as a matter of fact some months ago). They also brought in expert opinion to weigh in on what it meant for his political fortunes, which were likely to be impacted by an inauspicious crow.
While it is unclear who broke the news first, it appears Public TV won the race in roping in an expert. The astrologer said in chant-like astrospeak, that the crow’s sudden appearance could not bode well as it was a bad omen, and pointed out that Siddaramaiah was born under the influence of shani (a god who rides, you guessed it right, a crow).
Poor Parameshwara! (and other rivals of the CM). Could a crow do what all their machinations could not achieve in four years?
Watch this space for more such cawing crows. Until then, Ka-kaah!!!