Decreasing Crows

Mrinal Chatterjee

Window Seat 

The other day on my morning walk trail, I saw a lone crow perched on a branch of a mango tree. I haven’t seen a crow lately. In fact, I don’t remember seeing a crow in the last two-three months. In earlier times crows were ubiquitous. In fact in my childhood days we used to get up listening to harsh, repetitive cawing of crows and cock-a-doodle-doo of the roosters. What happened to the crows?

I did a quick fact-check and found that the species of crows are rapidly decreasing including habitat loss and the use of excessive chemical fertilizers in the fields. Farm water has become poisonous by the use of chemical fertilizers, which is reducing the reproductive capacity of the crow. Even the hard layer of the egg of a crow made of calishum carbonate has weakened. This breaks the egg protection shield before time. The crows, biologists warn, are now reaching the verge of extinction.

The extinction of crow species would cause significant ecological disruption, disrupting food webs, increasing disease risks, and reducing biodiversity. As natural scavengers, crows clean up waste and carcasses. Without them, dead bodies would linger longer, creating a higher risk of disease spreading. It will also trigger ecological imbalance as the loss of these birds would disrupt complex social dynamics in their habitat.

There is another concern. Crow happens to be the vahan (carrier) of Shani Dev. How would He move around if the species is extinct?

Fertility Crisis

Come to think of it, the rate of population growth of human beings has slowed significantly. The annual world population growth rate peaked in 1968 at 2.1% and has since dropped to approximately 0.85 by 2025. Some countries, including Japan, Russia, and many in Europe, are already experiencing population declines.

However, the total number of human beings on Earth is not decreasing- at least for the next half a century. The global population surpassed 8 billion in late 2022 and is projected to continue growing for the next 50 to 60 years, peaking at approximately 10.3 billion by the mid-2080s before beginning a slow decline.

However, demographers have started thinking about the fall out of falling fertility. Declining fertility rates have profound implications for human societies. A silent demographic shift is reshaping economies, institutions, and intergenerational relations. Researchers are exploring how sustained low fertility affects population ageing, labour supply, public finances, and the social systems that depend on demographic renewal. Changing fertility patterns are transforming everyday life—from schools and healthcare to innovation and cultural continuity—while raising critical questions about how societies can remain resilient, equitable, and sustainable amid long-term demographic change.

Exam Paper Leak

Yet another exam paper leak. Yet another round of placard-waving, visual media friendly outrage. Yet another volley of memes on social media. Yet another round of assurance of investigation and bringing the culprit to books by the concerned authorities and the government.

It is happening with increasing frequency; even the pattern is familiar now. So is the pain of hundreds of thousands of examinees, who have spent countless hours preparing for it.