Srinagar, Jan 14 A bizarre rumour in Jammu and Kashmir that an owl weighing over three kilograms can turn its owner into a millionaire has spread like wild fire in the rest of northern India.The Srinagar office of IANS is receiving scores of telephone calls daily from northern India, with callers desperate to know the contact numbers of the mysterious man who has offered a fortune for such owls.And at least one Hindi newspaper that carried the original story says its phone lines are literally jammed.'Sir, I have an owl weighing 3.1 kilo. The bird is in good health and unharmed. Please tell me where is it to be delivered so that I can collect my reward,' pleaded Naresh Kumar, who said he was calling from New Delhi.Similar calls have come to the IANS office from Ludhiana and Jalandhar in Punjab, Hissar in Haryana, New Delhi and also Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir.Bhupinder Singh of Ludhiana said: 'I have an owl of the right weight.I am feeding rats to the bird. Where can I claim my reward?'Those making the queries about the dream merchant who floated the rumour about the million-rupee owl are not just the ordinary citizens.Many journalists too are eager to interview either the elusive owl buyer or simply some of the locals who have been braving the winter chill in Kashmir to chase an owl in the state's northern parts.That is where the rumour began. Just how, no one seems to know.'It is such an interesting story. I want to interview somebody who went on the wild owl chase. We also need a photograph of the person. Can you help us?' a desperate journalist from Jammu asked.The beauty is that almost all the callers seemed to believe that there must be some truth to the rumour.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
