Farm Story

I thought roosters only say cock-a-doodle-doo in the mornings.

I thought roosters are generally gentle and keep to themselves.

I thought roosters leave female ducks alone.

Wrong.

The rooster on our farm cock-a-doodles whenever he hears me (and that's usually not in the mornings) and he'll even charge at you and dig his talons into you when you're not looking.

They say it's because of his 'Giri Raja' killer instinct that makes roosters of his kind winners in cock fights staged in villages. I think we human beings are corrupting even the animal world with our lust for bloodshed.

You'll never know the rooster is at your heels till you suddenly hear a flapping noise and turn around to see him waddling towards you at great speed. He really sneaks up behind you. The last time he did that to me (and he's attacked those who live on the farm too), I took my shoe off and threw it at him. It hit him with a thump, but he came right back for more, neck feathers bristling with indignation. I threw my other shoe at him. Then my sock. Then my other sock. Then my jacket.

But he still kept charging and trying to fly at me. I was about to take my shirt off when my screams brought my four loyal city dogs to the rescue. They chased the cackling creature all over the farm and pulled out some of his feathers too. Animal lover that I am, I prevented them from pulling out anything else. (Rasputin of the white whiskers on black and the long white beard looked lovably droll with those feathers sticking out of his mouth! He's a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Lhasa Apso and reminds one strongly of the Beast in 'Beauty and the Beast'. I call him my shadow dog because he's always with me.

Now the rooster waddles off at top speed in the opposite direction whenever he sees me coming. But he still cock-a-doodles at the sound of my voice. And where his running after the female duck on our farm is concerned, he still does it and the duck even lays duck-hen eggs as a result. We tried providing him with a harem of hens, but he still prefers the duck. I wonder if it's because he's a 'Giri Raja'.