194 BOMBAY DUCKS 



Review " : " Whenever Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, 

 is seen, Hindus pay their veneration to it by touching 

 their cheeks with their fingers as they repeat a Sanskrit 

 verse which, when rendered into EngHsh, is as follows : 

 ' I bow to thee, king of birds, and (as such) the vehicle 

 of Vishnu, whose parts are coloured crimson and whose 

 neck is bright as the moon,' " Now, I presume that 

 Mr. Trivikrama Rau is here indulging in a little 

 Oriental hyperbole. 



It would be all very well for the pious Hindu to act 

 thus when he lives in a place where one only sees a 

 Brahminy kite once in a blue moon, but it is surely 

 expecting too much of the Madras Hindu to do all this 

 whenever he sets eyes on one of these birds. Every one 

 in Madras must see dozens of Brahminy kites daily, 

 and I cannot bring myself to believe that he does and 

 says all the above every time he beholds one. Mr. 

 Trivikrama Rau also tells us that the sight of a Brah- 

 miny kite "on any day, and particularly on Sunday 

 mornings, is considered lucky, for it is believed that it 

 is then returning from Vishnu, whom it has gone to see 

 on the previous evening." The Madras Hindus are 

 certainly in luck's way, for every one of them may 

 depend on seeing a dozen or more Brahminy kites 

 every Sunday morning throughout the year. 



