BIOGRAPHY OF KASARAGOD-3

Sarus Crane
To understand the word sarasam we have to study the cranes in general, and Sarus crane in particular, Barrs is right when he said that crane is a bird with which all the ancient writers are familiar. In describing it, they have not failed to mix fable with mystery (Barr’s Buffar, Natural History of Birds, Fishes, Insects and Reptiles, vol. II, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi, p.294). Sarus crane in particular. They are the most amazing amongst birds. Their large stature, loud resounding calls, behavior, social relations, graceful movements and stately appearance have evoked human appreciation since antiquity. Panchatantra, the world’s oldest collection of Indian stories for children, have in it the crafty crane and the craftier crab. Ancient tombs of Egyptians have images of Demoiselle cranes. The prehistoric cave paintings in Africa, Australia, and Europe bear testimonies to the reverence of the early man for cranes. Human art, artifacts, mythology, legend, in cultures around the world, have been enriched with the emotional response of the people from time to time. This unfolds the status of these birds in the world from antiquity. The ancient Indians had gregarious association with Sarus cranes.
The Red-crowned Crane has been long symbolized for longevity, happiness, good luck and marital bliss. Often they appeared in artworks carrying the spiritual and symbolic associations in China, Korea and Japan. Crane-associated dances have been recorded in the Mediterranean, Siberia, Australia and China.
Sarus crane (Grus Antigone Antigone) of Southern Asia, is a resident breeding bird. They are non-migratory and are rarely found in large congregations. Apart from India, they exist in Nepal, Southeast Asia, Queens land and Australia. They are discernible from their partly red head, long neck, pale grey body and long pinkish legs. Their height, about 1.5 mtrs, has won them the position of the world’s tallest flying birds (see Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, and Tim Inskipp, Birds of India: ISBN 0-691-04910-6). The most favorable habitat of the omnivorous Sarus cranes includes a combination of freshwater marshes, ponds, fallow lands, open grasslands and cultivated fields as well as the regions where traditional land and water management practices are maintained (P. Gole pers. comm). While walking in shallow water or in fields, they forage.
They eat insects, mice, aquatic plants, animals, crustaceans, seeds, berries, small vertebrates as well as invertebrates, items abundantly found near paddy fields. In fact they controlled the ecosystem in favor of rice cultivation. No wonder, they are regarded as an omen for good crops.
Once paired, they mate for life. This conjugal devotion has won the species popular reverence and protection, which in turn helped its survival in India. This great respect for the bird can be discerned in the wish of the Brahmins to a newly married couple to be like a pair of Sarus. Sighting Sarus pairs is considered as a symbol of marital bliss and eternal romance on earth. The coat of arms of the former Princely State of Gujarat has a pair of the Sarus as a part.
Before the mating season, these long-legged birds engage in a series of complex and extended series of calls, in specific postures usually with their heads thrown back and beaks skyward to win over a partner.
In courtship the mates bow, prancing with outspread wings and leaping round each other to the accompaniment of far-reaching, trumpeting, enchanting call. The story of their loyalty is a story retold over and over in India. If one of them dies, its partner goes with a broken heart. In the classics such as Laila and Majnu, Romeo and Juliet we see the same sentiments in human form. Usually they are found to exist in pairs, occasionally accompanied by one or two young ones and are scattered over a large area. Crane species are known to pair off life. This is the opening scene of the epic Ramayana. For shooting down a Sarus crane, its mate cursed King Dasaratha to eternal separation from his loved ones. We can see in it how the tenderness, grace, joy and love’s ecstasy of the Sarus crane captured the heart of the poet. It is an eye opener to understand the quality of bonding which for them extends even beyond life on earth.
In the wake of the industrial revolution where the commercial airlines soared high to the blue sky, several airliners selected them as the corporate logo.
The beauty of the crane in flight has thus won the credit. Likewise, India also named her first indigenous civil aircraft after Sarus, recognition at the national level for the gracefulness of the bird. In spite of this reverence for the crane, we see them on the path of extinction. India was the largest house of Sarus cranes in the world, where its population counted in several thousands and was seen throughout the sub-continent till the early decades of the 20th century. The Sarus crane needs an environment comprising forests, marshes, wetlands etc for survival. But in India they are being wiped out and only a miniscule space is provided generally for wildlife. Apart from that, agricultural practices involving use of chemical fertilizers have degraded the Sarus crane’s preferred wetland habitats in India. No wonder, their numbers are reducing. The Wildlife Institute of India records their number to be only 2,468. The only way to protect them is to protect marshes, which are a type of wetland.
The search for the meaning of the word Kasarcode has taken us back in time to a land of lakes where the layers of Dravidian as well as Sanskrit languages have made their first imprints. Kanjiram is associated with rice cultivation as the plough is made of this wood and its leaves are given importance in many a rice-based ritual. Then the rice cultivation received momentum, with the domestication of buffalo as a drawing animal. Entry of Sanskrit marks the third stage. But the inclusion of Saurus in the meaning of kasaram is not practical in the Kerala context, because the Sarus is a common permanent resident throughout Rajputana, Gujarat and very rarely in Sind.
– Continued