Success

He was a crow. And he knew it.

Everybody knew it.

They never let him forget that. And then he stopped caring.

His childhood was a crow’s childhood. Fighting with a dozen other crows for food. Roaming around in the rain.

He grew up to be a hideous bird. One day he left home to live at the zoo. He always wanted to go there. So he went.

There were a lot of birds there, most were in the cages. But there were a lot of them outside too, in the jungle besides the zoo. There were sparrows. And then there were doves. And then there was this one eagle who enjoyed his spot at the top of the food chain. There were also some vultures, cunning but venerated.

Most of them hated him. Only the crows talked to him. Others just despised him. The sparrows will stay afraid of all crows and would go to the doves. He tried making friends, naively assuming that his good intentions will somehow make him look less ugly to them. That didn't happen, and he stopped caring.
Every day they will roam around near the zoo. People will see the doves and throw food at them. He never got anything. He was always shooed away.

So he lived with the crows who loved him because he was nice. They will sit and chat. The other crows used to fight with the doves and snatch their food. He did not want to do that. Why become what they accused him of.

He started roaming around. He will fly, his stomach empty, towards the jungle. Soon he located the interesting trees. Fruit trees. Every morning he got up, and raced to the jungle. Tired and exhausted when he reached, but joyous and content when leaving. Often he ate something bad and fell sick. But then he identified the best trees. He was never hungry again. In the afternoon, when his friends will be fighting with the doves, he will come back and sit alone. No one gave a damn about where he went. So nothing bothered him.

He woke up to a lot of commotion one day. The eagle had arrived. He attacked a dove and killed it. Doves are fine birds, they can fly high and fast, but an eagle on their tails was too frightening for them. It started happening often.

One day he was coming back from the jungle when he heard a flutter in the distance. The eagle was following him.

He flew. As fast as he could. Suddenly there was a huge commotion. All the birds quickly gathered to see what was going on. The doves started laughing – “Here goes the stupid crow” “Look at that filthy poor thing, his last day” “It’s alright, he is just a crow. Let him die”. The crows did not care.

He first thought he will die. Made no difference anyways. But then some spark of self respect aroused. He kept flying. Crows lack the finesse of a dove, but they are fast. Plus, he knew the woods, so he led the eagle there. For once, they were flying parallel to an almost straight row of trees. Suddenly, the crow turned right. The tree he faced was well known to him, two trunks making a V out of the ground. He closed his wings for one fleeting moment and escaped. The eagle turned too, taking pride in his agility. He had never expected the V. And as he flew, his wings scratched the trunks. He fell on the ground and almost died.

When he returned to the crowd facing him, all he saw was dumbstruck faces. He quietly retired to his nest, exhausted.

The next morning, he woke up to the sound of the sparrow. She had come to say thank you, for getting rid of the eagle. He stood motionless, in his social awkwardness, fearing his movements might scare her away. She did not care, or so it seemed. She soon excused herself.

A young dove came next. Peeking from the corner, he timidly asked if the crow will teach him how to fly. The crow smiled and whispered to him to go away lest his parents see him there. Turns out he had already asked his parents. The crow couldn't refuse. He went on a short flying lesson.

He felt happy. Maybe he misunderstood everybody. Maybe it was just a matter of breaking the ice. Maybe this social structure is not as despicable as he thought.

Soon, everybody was his friend. The doves loved him. The sparrows respected him. Everybody wanted to know what he ate. Where he went.

One day a crow he knew came up to him, crying. He had fought with the doves, but still got no food and was starving. So he offered him some food, and said he will ask the doves to be nice to him. "If you dare go to the doves begging for us, I will stop coming to you", said the crying crow. "But I can talk to them, they will listen to me", he said. "If you are done flaunting your new found friendships, I would like to leave."

It then struck him.

Next day he went to a small celebration at one of his crow friend’s nest. As he arrived, he was greeted by a sudden silence. "Look, the dove-friend has arrived", hushed someone. "Oh my God, look how cockily he walks". He felt sick and went away.

One day he got invited to the dove kid's house. He went. They looked at him, smiled, and looked away. He just stood there in a corner. He heard " ... ya, he just got lucky". "What is that ugly creature doing here". "Dude, I am leaving. He scares me everytime I look at him.". Eventually, he left and went back to his nest.

He did not know where to go.

He went to the vulture and cried. The vulture put his huge wings over him. Sobbing, he asked the vulture – “I saved their lives. Why is this happening to me?”

“Because you were born a crow.”