As a child, I recall the good old days when my grandmother kept chickens, from roosters, little chicks to fully grown hens that provided eggs all around the week. Those were perhaps simpler times, when it was quite customary to encounter chickens pecking away in the courtyards of many a Kashmiri household. But as time progressed, raising chickens came to be seen as an antiquated practice. Regardless of this shift in our society, I maintained my childhood memories of having chickens around the household just as I maintained my many precious memories of my grandma.
Fast forward to the present, this story begins with a simple Facebook post of a fully black feathered chicken with the caption “Photoshop or Real?”. Being curious, as usual, I asked Google. To my surprise, I found that a completely black chicken really exists in the world. Giving imaginary pats on my own shoulder for solving the conundrum, I was tempted to know more about it.
By and by, I learned that the black chicken originated from Indonesia and is known as “Ayam Cemani”.“Ayam ”meaning Chicken in Bahasa Indonesian and “Cemani” meaning “all black” in Sanskrit. From the plumage, comb, eyes, beak, tongue, legs and toe nails to its meat, bones and other organs, the “Ayam Cemani” chicken is all black. The only thing that isnot black is its blood.
While browsing, I found that apart from its peculiar physical appearance, the breed has extraordinary qualities.A 100 gram piece of its meat contains 30 percent of protein (10 percent more than a normal-Broiler), lower cholesterol (0.73-1.05 percent only) while a white Broiler chicken contains 20-32 percent of cholesterol.
Also, Cemani contains high levels of 18 amino acids out of which eight are crucial for the human body. It is also rich in Vitamin B1, B2, B6, B12, C, E, Niacin, Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron, Nicotinic acid etc.
I also found that its cross-breed, Kadaknath, can be found in Jhabua, a remote tribal area in Madhya Pradesh, India. Deeper research revealed that it was brought to India by Dutch colonial settlers. The Dutch breeder dropped it in many places in India but it only thrived in a couple of areas, among them Jhabua.
With so much fascination from only knowing about the breed, my inner voice told me, “You’ve got to see this breed once in yourlifetime.”And that is from where the chase started.
On the very next day of this unique and exceptional discovery, I boarded a flight from the Indian capital and landed in the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal. From there, I took a train to Megh Nagar, being the nearest railway station to the adjoining Jhabua area. Then I had to take an SRTC Bus, the only option, to Jhabua.
Jhabua, once the capital of a princely state of the British Raj’s Central India in the Bhopawar agency, is a small town in Jabua district, located in South West of Madhya Pradesh. The area is rich in black cotton soil and is sheltered by Bhil tribes all over.
I planned to stay there until I found a real and rare breed. I explored the adjoining tribal areas, including the Toranmal Wildlife Sanctuary, to trace the bird. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any of the specimens there. That’s where I met this old tribal man called Jyanti Kaka. The tribal people usually don’t talk to outsiders. They still possess bows and arrows to protect the territory and still live by hunting.
However, and I don’t know why, Kaka showed some interest in talking to me. We sat on the Charpayi and, as a part of their tradition, he offered me a cup of fresh palm wine (locally known as ‘Taadi’).I refused and instead asked for a glass of water to keep the conversation going. He wasn’t disappointed with my refusal.
Kaka told me the stories of hunting with bows and arrows and how he and his friends used to loot the goods carried on trucks. He told me about their local Festival ‘Bhogoria’ that is celebrated for 15 days, where young boys and girls were allowed to elope after choosing their partners.
After a while, I asked him about the black chicken. And he replied with “Kadaknath”. He told me that the Kadaknath is not the pure Ayam Cemani. It is a crossbreed of the Ayam Cemani hen and the country rooster. He explained thatthe Kadaknath is fully black though it has little pigmentation of red in its comb and few golden patterns in its plumage, while the Ayam Cemani has no other colour than black and you won’t be able to find it here.
On the next day, I hired a jeep and started my expedition. I went to jungles, villages and chicken farms only to disappoint myself with the sight of the Kadaknath everywhere. In the end I thought Kaka was right, “You won’t be able to find the Ayam Cemani”.
I was broke. Even though I made the best use of the trip to document the Kadaknath, it was done with half-hearted interest. It was April 15th, and the weather was getting hotter day by day. After a two month long journey, I finally decided to end the trip, move back home and be happy with whatever I had gathered.
I didn’t sleep that night. In the middle of the night, with that time being the most comfortable, I was packing and planning my journey back home. I made myself a cup of coffee.
Holding that mug in the despair of not finding the Cemani, I went to the terrace to enjoy the cool midnight breeze. Eventually, a voice in my head told me,“You will find it”. Remember: a cup of coffee is a thin line between giving up and digging deeper.
I changed my plans and decided to stay and search for a few more days, and I did. However, to no avail.
One fine morning, as I was taking pictures of the Kadaknath, a man, probably a tribal, came to me and asked me “why are you photographing chickens?”
I replied, “I am searching for a pure all black chicken. I have been chasing it for last two months. But all I can get is this”. The man further enquired, “Have you met Kaalu?” “Kaalu?”, I asked, responding to his question with a question. “Have you seen that house with coloured grill gate near Ambua Choraha (Chowk)? Kaalu is there”, the man replied.
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That man just arrived like that voice in the middle of the night that rang in my head. I packed my gear and ran. It was like half a mile from that place. I was running in the air, like I saw a diamond sparkling in a coal mine. Within no time, I reached the gate and peeped though the grill.
Awestruck and euphoric from a mixed emotion of anxiety, joy and relief, there I stood before Kaalu, with all his elegance, grace and aesthetic magnanimity reducing me before my awe. A pure black rooster, with all his movements, stood there tall and beautiful. I didn’t take off my gaze for around two minutes until a lady came out of the house and asked “Haan Ji Bhaya?”
I politely implored,“Can I take few pictures of your rooster?” After a little explanation from my part, she agreed. I shot photographs of Kaalu for an hour. Yes, it was a diamond sparkling right before my eyes. I took pictures from every angle I had learned in my photography classes.
The distinct crocking of “The Lamborghini of Chickens” was quite telling. The chase was finally over. Although it wasn’t for sale, the lady told me it costs more than 1.5 lakh rupees. Happy like never before, with a treasure of photographs in my memory card that I hid inside my jacket like an amulet, I packed my bags and returned to Delhi the very next day.
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