Maxenacho Combo - Aunt's Rooster
My first encounter with the magnificent farm bird was when I was six years old, I had just come back from Bombay where I had spent a couple of years of my young life before that I don't remember anything of Goa. I was brought to Goa to be admitted at the then famous Loyola High School. It was the summer of 1966, We had a three room small mud house by a small hill side and a few meters away was my aunty's house. There was no electricity at that time, I was very uncomfortable, after being used to the well lit Bombay and scared of darkness at first. Apart from me, my mom and my two elder sisters lived in the house, dad was working on the ship. After going through my surroundings, I was getting worried indeed, a huge bread fruit tree at the side of the house belonging to my aunt, hill on one side and to top it all pigs and fowls every where all belonging to my Aunt. I was a very light sleeper right form my child hood. Very early in the morning I was awakened by a nasty cry which sounded "cock re cock" a few number of time, it looked like as though it came a few yards from where I lay and the noise continued ever few minutes, this damn thing was disturbing my sleep, I sat on my mat and my mom came running "baba nidd panch oram zatat timga assa" to rodtta to Maxenacho "combo", what ever it was I wanted to kill it. With the continues pounding of "cock re cock" in my ears I couldn't sleep any more but just lay on the mat, thinking of a solution. One thing had struck me, how on earth did my Mom know that it was five in the morning ? She kept her watch in the jewelry box hidden in the cupboard with clothes around it. As day light began to creep in I was up and about breathing fresh air and enjoying the beautiful surroundings it was then that I noticed a magnificent bird perched on the roof of our house, I knew it was a fowl out of a good many belonging to my Aunt but among them all, this one stood out like an "unicorn" among horses. It was heavily built, with a slightly longish neck which moved in all direction in a very agile manner, it had a nasty looking huge beak with a magnificent frill that resembled the top of the Roman soldier's head gear, on top of the head and a smaller one that connected it's lower jaw to the neck, from round the neck to the wings were colourful feathers flowing downwards followed by black feathered powerful built body and a majestic arched tail that matched the colour on the neck and two feet with huge frightening claws. What a magnificent bird was that ? At that very moment as though he wanted me to see him in all his glory, he spread his wide black wings stood tall on his stretched feet and with a particular movement of his neck went "cock re cock, cock, cock, cock re cock" this was something I had not seen in my life before. He repeated it a few more times, his showmanship and performance was excellent. It was at this moment I fell in love with this magnificent bird. As young as I was I began to follow it's trail, as soon as I was too close, he would swipe his agile neck and snap his ugly beak in my direction and run off, I also noticed that he could not fly a long distance and every time he tried to fly away from me he would go "cock re cock, cock, cock, cock re cock" and all the rest of the fowls would cry the same way it looked all the fowls were hysterical but his cry out did the rest. In times like these some of the mother hens around would gather their chicks and push them under their wings and the chicks would stop their twittering and stay quite and motionless under the mother's wings, my aunty would come out and scold me for chasing her fowls away. During their feed time at noon they would somehow be in close proximity of the back entrance of my Aunt's house, when feed was thrown around nobody dared come close to this big bird, even when he made his way close to the other males, they would just repel like magnetic poles of the same kind, but he would be accommodating to the females, his dominance was so great that no other male came close to the hens and even if they dared, he would instantly make his presence felt. Sometimes he would stretch one of the wings to the ground close to the leg and go round the female turrrrrrrrr, it looked like a ritual dance, most of the time hens would run in all direction and sometimes he would run after them, perch himself on top and tangle his tale with the hen's and then dismount and both would shudder a little and every thing would be normal, some times when my cousins, who were much elder to me were witnesses to this act, would often be amused and laughing say "falleam sure tantem assa" I was totally ignorant of the act and one day it so happened that Dad was down and we were all sitting in the verandah when the same thing happened and I shouted innocently "falleam sure tantem assa" and I could feel my Dad's eye's burning a hole in my face, Ooops !! I knew I had said something I shouldn't have and I dared not say it ever again. I only came to know of the significance of the act a couple of years later, "Buddu" !!! I was one at that time !!!! Did not know anything about the birds and the bees "stuff" During the feasts and family occasions a few of them made their way to the lunch and dinner tables but this big guy was never touched, later on I realized that this was a prized breed and kept for the sole purpose of procreation, sort of a "stud". During the holidays when Dad was down and if we had to travel to Margao or other places, I would hear Dad shouting early morning, "maxenacho combo rodlo ani tumi azunui nidun assat". "Maxenacho combo" was certainly the alarm clock during those days. To catch the bus we had to walk for more than half an hour, two up slopes and one down and the bus made just two trips, morning and evening and later on three trips. Every time I came down for my holidays from the boarding I would go looking for the magnificent "Maxenacho combo", and every time I saw him I was amazed even more but during one of my visits I tried to locate him, but in vain, I later found out that he had become a victim of my Dad's rage, when he was disturbed during his afternoon's nap in the verandah, he hurled the first thing he could lay his hands on, unfortunately it was a brass tumbler (tambio) that hit him smack on the head, I was also told that there was some exchange of words between my Aunt and Dad at this incident, surprisingly they did not make a meal of it but buried it next to the bread fruit tree. When I came down I did cry at the grave and I still remember rearranging soil on the grave of the Magnificent Maxenacho Combo. Early morning I was awakened by the ringing of the alarm bell of the big round clock that stood in the middle of the table, mom had some how managed to force Dad to buy the new accessory but the uncontrolled "triiiiiiiiig" was very irritating compared to the wonderfully soothing "cock re cock" of the old Combo, there were a lots of other "combes" but probably they did not have the inbuilt, time specific clock that the original Maxenacho Combo had !!!!! Till this day, I have not seen a more majestic and time specific "combo" than the original "Maxenacho Combo" - Cock, Cock, Cock re Cock Freddy Agnelo Fernandes -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. 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