Rahul Writes

I remember my first poem which was published in our school magazine. I had got a request for a poem and when I looked around for some inspiration, I thought about my neighbor’s dog. They had picked a cute puppy from the roadside and made it their pet. The pup became a hit in the neighborhood. But after some months, it was bitten by a diseased dog and became infected. They tried to get it treated but failed. So they took the pup to a faraway place and left it there. I wrote a touching poem in Hindi, telling about the pup’s plight…  

I recall this episode today because this morning, I saw another dog on the road. It still wore a leather belt in its neck – telling about its once-privileged status. It suffered from some skin disease which had ruined its white fur. The dog had no friends and it wandered here and there. Once in a while when it saw a man approaching, as if in an expectation it waged its tail lovingly. But it got contempt in return. Even the roadside tea vendor ridiculed it – he called it by making signs to offer biscuits and when it came nearby, he threatened it and chased it away. I tried to escape from the sad scene, avoiding its eyes – but that wasn’t to happen. The dog looked at me as if searching for its old loving master.  

Imagine, such pets would find it horrible to settle down in their new life because they weren’t born or raised in those conditions which make street-dogs accustomed to them. 

Such abandoned pets are living examples of this life’s uncertainty. For a part of their life, they were pampered more than like family members. And now, they are rejected and hated by everyone.  

I wonder – even after all this, there are terms like “Animal Lovers”. What lovers would throw their love on their streets when sick and vulnerable? 

- Rahul  

One of my ex-roommates told me a story about his leg injury:  

One fine morning he was walking by the side of the road. Suddenly trouble arrived on wheels and on four legs. When he turned back, he watched in horror a motorbike zooming past him with a pack of dogs chasing it at full speed. Before he could understand anything, the bike had gone past and one of the dogs had run from in between his legs! Yes, while all dogs ran past him, one dog couldn’t wait to move sideways and found his path between his legs! My friend was stunned and paralysed, still not realising what had happened and he fell down on the road, hitting his leg badly. The drama didn’t end here!  

As the dogs realised that this guy had fallen down; and perhaps also because the motorbike had vanished by the time; they returned back. They came near to the guy who was on ground, suffering in pain. The dogs started weeping (this was his guess), making a sound of mee-mee… He was conscious enough to recognise the dog which was the ‘one’ who had passed in between his legs and this dog was the most humble with wet eyes, as if showing sympathy and repenting what he had done! By this time, some people came and sent him off to a hospital. 

When I heard this story which was funny indeed, I started laughing uncontrolled. My poor friend asked me not to laugh at him, though accepting that everyone so far who had heard this story had laughed without exception. Who won’t laugh at this funny incident? But the friend tells the bottom-line of the story: that day he realised how animals like dogs have also got sentiments and feelings of pain and sympathy for others! (I would add other ‘creatures’!)  

This is called a humble learning gained at a costly expense!  

- Rahul

(They also feel pain)

In the absence of George Orwell

These days I am walking through a lane which passes through a particular intersection. It's a special one because everyday it makes me realise that we humans are not the only living species on this earth. On one side of the road, there are at least four goats which keep watching the traffic. The goats are also special because they are really tall and well built! (I know these special goats have survived this long only because their Muslim owners are waiting for some special occasions to sacrifice them.) This makes me remember what happened last year

I had to walk through a particular stretch everyday. It had heavy traffic, so I looked at some alternatives. I found and started using one lane parallel to the main road. This was very calm, peaceful and clean. One day I saw some function happening near one particular building, which I realised was a community hall of some Gujarati association. (The locality was dominated by Gujarati Hindus and Jains.) While I tried to walk past swiftly I was stopped by two ladies. They asked me for my five minutes to fill a questionnaire on the first floor of the building. I was not interested, so they said I could win some freebies as gifts for that and it won't take more than five minutes! At that time, I was tired and returning back from college, and too busy with placement season. I remember this incident as it was one of the few occasions when I said a clear (may be even impolite) "no", mentioning that I really didn't have time. From that day onwards, whenever I passed through that lane I gave a curious look at the community hall. I realised that they used to organise some religious festivals, discourses, and talks in that building. After some weeks, I realised that I was seeing some goats tied near the hall!

They were two goats to be precise, with their necks tied with a metallic pole on the footpath. I realised they were stationed there permanently, or may be they were at times replaced by some similar-looking goats. It was impossible for the Jains and Gujaratis to keep the goats like that, so I wondered who made them captive in this way in Mumbai? The answer was to be seen on the other side of the road

On the other side of the road, there was a low-roof semi-open building. Every evening, some Muslim devotees would come and do their prayers there while looking at a particular direction. Some times, young boys used to sit and a bearded teacher would make them learn lessons. I guess it should be a kind of madarsa or a multi purpose community building. And the two goats who watched their prayers and lessons from the other side of the road just confirmed it. How at the distance of ten steps, life changes so much ' for the goats :)

Now, I also remember the scene from the flopped movie 'Delhi-6'. People in a particular locality were witnessing frequent thefts and weird things, and one day a Hindu noticed that thefts were happening only in the houses of Hindus! Then a Muslim man protested saying, "Didn't my goat also get stolen despite her being a Muslim?" :) Of course he corrected himself a moment after ' if goats could be Muslims perhaps he won't be able to kill them in the name of his religion. Now this makes me wonder: what if goats had the right to choose their religion?

If goats had the rights to choose their religion, what would they choose? They won't choose Islam for sure, as Muslims sacrifice hoards of goats and other animals every Bakri-Id festival. Even if they shrewdly converted to Islam thinking Muslims care so much for brotherhood, they still would have the risk of getting massacred ' as we see the frequent wars between Shia and Sunni tribes within Muslims. If they chose Christianity, they would have to make a Church for goats and need to install a Pope to guide the lesser-goats, and this would be too troublesome. The chances of them choosing Zoroastrianism are also less as the religion is already going to extinction because of diminishing population. Though it would be a blessing for the goats to die first and then get eaten by vultures afterwards under an open sky ' a condition which would make them immune from the hands of any meat-eating man. They don't have the option to become neo-Buddhists, as they don't have voting rights in elections. They won't choose plain Hinduism as many Hindus eat meat too. Perhaps they would choose Jainism or some sects within Hinduism like Vaishnavism ' which would make them remain in peace with this universe after ages But still, there is a threat! If this example of animals choosing religions becomes a trend, I fear the wolves would choose to become Taliban Muslims where they would be able to manipulate their faith to justify butchering the goats and still being religious! Isn't it so?

But in general I think cows would become Hindus and Jains without a second-thought. Horses, tigers, cheetahs and elephants may choose to become Sikhs. Birds and rabbits may fill up application forms to become Buddhists. Zebras and penguins may become Christians, as their special bodily/clothing features would satisfy their ego of being 'different' and 'more evolved'. I think the biggest list of options would be for the one and only Pigs. Since Muslims don't kill pigs for food, I think all pigs can peacefully choose any religion in this world, of course excepting Islam. What would lions choose? I think Islam would be perfect ' their long mane would look like the long beards of the Muslim men and no restrictions on eating would suit their lifestyle But I think there is a big problem in this! The lionesses would revolt against Islam, after all how would they spend their life under black veils? And with each lion now marrying up to four lionesses, it would be too insulting for the proud lionesses to be Muslims! So this won't be workable

What would happen if cows and rabbits started saying they were superior because they had White skins? Or if camels started exerting their superiority of having born in the Arabia and forcing other animals to develop the capacity to run in deserts without water? Or lions forcing every deer and dog to grow long beard? Or worse ' vultures writing a book, electing a Pope and asking all different birds to twitter in the same voice? That would be a horrible world! My thoughts are too troublesome; I think animals should go without their religions Let me get back to my life

Back here, I fear if the next morning I would see one of the tall and well built goats gone missing. Or may be I won't be able to know because it would be replaced by another tall and well built goat! I wish I didn't know counting. Or should I avoid that particular intersection? Enters religion again: I really wish the goats could make a ceasefire with Muslims But it can't be called a ceasefire; it's not a war but a one-sided exploitation of goat's rights I don't see any non-religious solution working for the goats! With goats being fed and taken care of only to get sacrificed one day for the God they have never felt or seen, it seems it's a devil's world out here Is there a way out?

If Goats could talk to God, what would they ask? Or better, if God could see Goats, what would God feel?

(Rahul)

The difference between USA and India

“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.” - George Orwell, Animal Farm, Ch. 1

Saw a wonderful website www.mothercow.org and thought to do something creative :)

India

Kerala

They also Feel Pain

We all must have heard of and accepted the term "God's Own Country" for the state of Kerala. And I always wondered why would some people call their country as "God's own" and hence would imply that all other countries are not God's own? Here is the short background:

The term “God’s Own Country” has been used for over 120 years by New Zealanders to describe their country. The term has also been used by countries like Rhodesia and Australia, and even by Yorkshire, in praise of their motherland.

In case of Kerala, this same term was proposed by an advertising agency (In fact the guy was late Waler Mendis, a copywriter then employed with the ad agency Mudra) and promoted by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation from 1993 onwards. And Kerala is not a country in first the place! Wonder how fast the term has become a second name for the state, which was an innovative phrase borrowed/acquired by some smart marketer!

Read now onwards to know what God’s children do… It seems Kerala is expert at 'acquiring' more things than catchy phrases.

It is not about religion: according to the 1991 census 57.38% of the population of Kerala is Hindus, 23.33 Muslims and 19.32 Christians.

It is also not about economics: Kerala has surplus milk from the cows, and it exports beef!

And for any reason: if it has a shortage of agri-products, it can always procure from other Indian states. But only if it wants to leave the feeling of a country; opps, God's own Country

God’s Own Trade

The article "Beef without borders" (R. Krishnakumar, Frontline, Sep 12, 2003) says:

The meat trade in Kerala evokes images of a savage cattle trail: cows and bulls jammed into trucks and box cars coming from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, or tied horn-to-horn in small groups, trudging across the inter-State border. The crossover is often done surreptitiously, the animals going without food, water or rest and with broken tails and bones, dislocated necks, chilly-peppered eyes and horn-gouged body parts.

In 1998, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, engaged locally in livestock development, estimated that a total of 11 lakh head of cattle “migrate” thus to Kerala every year. The figure could be higher today. Only 4.16 lakh head of cattle pass through government check posts, the rest are smuggled in. Eventually, all of them end up in slaughterhouses lining the State’s towns and villages. There are 774 authorized abattoirs and, according to government officials, over three times that number of unauthorized meat stalls.

Kerala is one of the few States (including West Bengal) where the slaughtering of cattle is not prohibited. State Animal Husbandry Department statistics indicate that nearly 4.83 lakh head of `white’ cattle (excluding buffaloes) are slaughtered legally in the State, producing 24,278 tonnes of beef every year. The Department estimates that three times the number are actually killed every year, the rest in the unauthorised sector, the total beef production thus being 72,834 tonnes.

According to Dr. P. N. Rajasekharan, head of the Agriculture Division of the State Planning Board, rearing of cattle for meat is a losing proposition, though it may appear to be a contradictory phenomenon in a State where over 70 per cent of the population is understood to consume beef. Farmers are reluctant to keep male calves, as they find value only as a source of meat, and fattening them with purchased inputs is unviable.

Moreover, milk production in the State has been in surplus since 2001 compared with the situation in the early 1980s when it produced only about 50 per cent of its requirement. The availability now is 27.18-lakh tonnes, nearly four-lakh tonnes more than what is required.

In truth, however, Kerala’s beef is not its own. Cattle from local homestead farms account for only a very small percentage of the total beef produced in the State. According to the State Animal Husbandry Department, of the 4.83 lakh head of `white’ cattle slaughtered in the authorized centers, 4.16 lakh are cattle imported from neighboring States. Such legal trade is a mere one-third of the total beef business in Kerala and there are no reliable statistics on the unauthorized trade.

The cattle that migrate from other States, too, are not `beef cattle’ - those fattened exclusively for meat. Often what come in are gaunt, unproductive, sickly, culled cattle, rejected from farms in States where slaughter, sale and/or transport for slaughter are prohibited by law. Yet, Kerala continues to experience a shortfall in the availability of meat. According to Dr. Rajasekharan, sample surveys have indicated that 97 per cent of the rural population and 85 per cent of the urban population in Kerala are non-vegetarians. Beef is said to account for between 40 and 70 per cent of the meat consumed in the State.

“Beef has become an important component of the poor man’s diet. It is the cheapest source of animal protein available for the common man. Over 10,000 families are engaged in the State’s slaughterhouses alone,” said Dr. Ani S. Das, managing director, Meat Products of India, a State government meat-marketing agency.

On a small scale at least, beef is now regularly exported from Kerala to West Asia and countries like Malaysia. There is also a roaring business in the byproducts of the meat trade, like hide, blood products, bone meal, calcium and gelatin.

The State government also has plans to promote the export of beef, and is currently working on a Rs.30-crore project with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to create “disease free zones” for cattle, aimed at the export market.

Picture: Cattle being transported to slaughterhouses in Kerala from Tamil Nadu.

Mumbai

They also Feel Pain

Save one

I stopped as I saw a curious crowd in a section of the road which is normally empty. They were all looking towards something high up. Suddenly, a fire brigade came in rushing. Four or five of the firemen got down and started preparing for some operation

By this time, I saw something on a nearby tree. A crow was struggling to get free. It was trapped in the thread of a kite. Around Makar Sankranti, Mumbai celebrates kite-flying-season. There are kites all over the sky, and even most of the trees and electricity poles become colourfully decorated for free of cost. But this practice of kite flying means a lot of sad death for the birds. (If kite flying is done only in the open fields, this can be avoided) This crow was in some real danger. The harder it tried to set free, the more the thread cut into its wings

The firemen were brilliant. Within a few moments, they tied two long poles and attached something on its top through which they planned to cut the thread. And then they raised the pole so as to finish the job. As soon as they started, the crow sensed some alien approaching and phew it flew away!!!

The firemen grinned and very mechanically, they got inside the car and went away. The crowd laughed aloud at the sudden turn of events and were not sure if it was climax or anti-climax.

This is Mumbai. It is crowded and over-loaded, but it has the heart to try save a crow.

On an afterthought, there must be one person who would have made a call to the fire station. And there must be one person at the fire station that would not have ignored the call and would have made sure that his team comes down to save the bird. What happens when such right minded people grow in numbers? They make a change.

This is also the Mumbai, which has Asia's largest slaughterhouse; where brokers smuggle even young and healthy cows from far away places to be killed and their meat be exported to abroad. Through tax-payers money, the government was trying to expand the meat processing capacity ' for export purposes. And the reality is this:

Despite exporting nearly 50 per cent of the butchered stock in 2004-2005, BMC incurred losses of over 9 Crores. More than 16 lakh animals were slaughtered, of which 7,72,000 were exported and 7,45,482 kilolitre of water was used. (ref)

What keeps such loss making projects run? Politics of appeasement There are jobs involved and blood-money is very luring.

Will we save the birds ' because it looks bad to see them dying in front of our eyes ' and let the animals slaughtered for flavoursome food of the foreigners? Then let us be prepared for our future:

Teacher asks a student to draw a picture of a chicken, and the kid draws a plate full of chicken-tikka.

Mumbai

They also Feel Pain

Few Good Mayors

I am not sure if I am a man of action or not, but sometimes I really get annoyed when people praise someone for 'saying' something. What matters in this world is 'doing' something good, not saying something.

Just the other day, I wrote somewhere that I am still to hear a single 'difference' that our woman President has made while into her chair. Mumbai has a lady mayor. See how she made a difference:

Mayor Shubha Raul had given shelter to a cow and a calf at her residence. There were criticisms because it was not permitted to do so within the city limits. But BMC health department decided to allow her to keep the cow as a special case, without applying for a license. Now here is the 'difference':

The cow, which Mayor has named Kapila was pregnant when she was being taken to the slaughter house at Virar. The cowshed owners saved the cow and gifted her to the mayor. Mayor also took her calf in her house, which she named Gopi.

Kapila and Gopi are alive today, because of the few good men and women who chose to make a difference by doing it!

PS: Slaughter of healthy cows and livestock still goes on in Mumbai. Government earns its revenues; and brokers their commissions. But still, even a small good act counts.

Middlemen dealing in animals bring old cattle to Mumbai from interior villages in Maharastra to sell those to the slaughter houses. The cows and bulls are made to travel for several nights in covered trucks, and they suffer a trauma. When they are handed over to the new owners, who keep them for some days before sending for slaughter, they don't accept their new place, don't take any food, and grow weak. To prevent this, the dalals injure the animals before transporting them in trucks; often the injuries are internal, so that the animals in pain can't feel the trauma of transportation and their new place.

Recently, two oxen were seized and brought to the government hospital. Someone had damaged one eye of each of them, and blood was coming out even after several days. The oxen were healthy otherwise. Violence.

***

Children were in the mood of Diwali. Two of them saw their neighbourhood pup. They called him towards them; he came shaking his little tail. While one of them played with his ears, the other attached a string to his tail and when he finished with lighting the latai of crackers, the neighbourhood was filled with the noise of the crackers. What others couldn't see was the voice of the puppy which was running around in a state of panic. Violence.

***

They were returning back after holidaying in the resort. It was slightly cold in the evening, and the window panes were down. Both of them were still in their memories of the nice time spent together.

Suddenly she heard a sound and felt some resistance with the car tyres.

"What was that?"

"Perhaps a dog came below the car " He said.

"Perhaps? Why didn't you see that and prevent running over him?"

"Forget it yaar; McD is coming, let us have a bite.."

And they continued. Violence.

***

Ram Bahadur and his dog Shyam are two of the most famous people in the chawl. How many people know each other from all the neighbouring flats is not certain; but almost all of them know these two.

Ram had lost his one leg in the Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993 while he was near the BSE building selling mungfalies. Shyam had lost his one leg in the serial train bomb blasts of 2007 while he was near the tracks searching for food. Violence.

Dedicated to V T and inspired by his post.

Missing Dogs from the Streets

A story of how sometimes our neglect can result in some real loss.  

Recently there were extensive public debates about whether the BMC should kill the stray dogs or not. There are around 6 lakhs stray dogs in Mumbai, growing at around 2 lakhs every year. There are cases of around 50,000 dog bites every year. BMC spends around Rs 4.25 crore every year to procure Anti Rabies vaccines (ARV). There are several solutions suggested, but the time tasted one is sterilization of female dogs. I don't want to bring this debate to the street. I want to tell a short story.  

My story goes back to the time when I was working in a cement plant near Raipur. Number of stray dogs in the colony had become very large, and some one brought attention of management towards the growing threat to safety. Point was noted in the minutes of weekly coordination meeting. The solution as suggested by the security head was short and simple ' kill them by poisoning. Our works manager was a very kind man. He was not ready for this solution. He asked why not dogs could be caught and left away from the place. The security head was asked for arranging this.  

Now, every week, the security head brought a new problem, objecting the scheme of catching the dogs. The sequence was this:  

Week #1: How can we catch the dogs ' they will bite us. (Solution: inject them to make them unconscious)

Week #2: There are no such injections available in plant dispensary. (Solution: get them from outside)

Week #3: We don't have trained people to catch the dogs. (Solution: Search outside)

Week #4: The dogs will come back after coming in senses. (Solution: Leave them 50 Km away)  

The security head was like testing the patience of the works manager. Every week, he brought some new problem. Works manager would suggest the way out and would ask him to do the job very fast.  

Then I went out for a week. When I returned back, I found this: The security head, informed that there was no supply of the drug used to make the dogs unconscious, and persons and vehicle to catch the dogs were difficult to find. The works manager was fed up and gave in. They poisoned many dogs for several days. After the dogs were finished, equal number of stray dogs from near by villages took exactly the same position where the original ones used to live!

Essay on Cow

Some times our slight neglect results in sealing the fate of a living being.

During my childhood days in school, we were frequently asked to write essays on "cow". We always began with the sentence "cow is a domestic animal". We were asked to write sometimes 10 sentences and some times 15. How to do that? We used to increase the sentence count like this: A cow has four legs. A cow has two ears. A cow has one tail. A cow has two horns. A cow has one mouth too. Did you laugh? But I didn't stop there. We prepare sweets from cow's milk. We prepare curd from cow's milk. We prepare butter from cow's milk. We prepare ice-creams from cow's milk too. I would go on like this until the required number of sentence count was over.  

This was my original one. Now some years back, I 'witnessed' one of my cousin brothers write an essay on cow. He had lately caught fancy with the phrase "by the grace of God", and loved to use it everywhere. He writes: By the grace of God, cow is a domestic animal. Cows give us milk by the grace of God. We prepare sweets from her milk by the grace of God . His teacher just crossed his essay in red ink, by the grace of God.  

Now this was on lighter side. Now I narrate something more serious.  

The day goes back to 2005 when I was posted in a plant near Raipur. It was a fine Sunday morning and I was going towards society's shops for a hair cut. I found that it had rained heavily last night and branches of trees were lying here and there; indicating a storm also. While passing in front of the guest house, I noticed something in the drain by the side of the road. The drains were open and very deep, mainly carrying waste water. To my surprise, there was one young cow lying there, her legs up and head down, stuck in the narrow walls of the drain. Was she alive? I saw her neck was twisted, but her nostrils were out of water. Water flowing through her faced disturbance because of her body, and formed a small waterfall as it passed. Her four legs were out in the air, while most of remaining body was immersed in water. She was tightly fixed in the drain, and didn't move. There were some flies moving around her body. I could sense she was dead; but who knows? I wanted to help her, at least to ascertain if she were alive or dead. But I didn't like touching it.  

I reached the shopping centre. To my relief, I met one officer who was in the administration department. I narrated him the scene and he said that he would call someone to take her out. Half an hour later, while I returned back, she was exactly in the same position. I met one other personnel from administration; he said he would do something. It being a Sunday, there was no one in the colony maintenance office. I called the security personnel at the plant gate; they said it being Sunday, fewer staffs were present, but they would try to help.  

Around 12:30, I went for lunch in the guesthouse. Her body was unmoved. After lunch, I told the guesthouse waiters about her and asked for help. One waiter, Baratu, went with me to see her and said that there is little chance that she would be alive. Then he called the security gate and informed them that a calf had fallen into drain and was alive. I appreciated his practical approach. As he told them that the calf was alive, there was a good chance that they would come.

I was feeling helpless. What if the calf was alive and dying? No body had come to her rescue since morning.  

Next morning, her body was still there. I felt really bad. I knew then for sure that even if she was alive on Sunday, by this time she would have certainly died. 

On Tuesday, I called the colony maintenance office and enquired about the cow. I was informed that they took her out, dead, on Monday afternoon.  

I felt very guilty. I was almost sure that she was dead when I found her first. But what if she was alive then? We took her out only after one and half day. There was no chance she could survive so long lying in that position. Through out that period, I only tried to help her through others. Why didn't I pull her out myself? It would have cost me maximum dirty hands and dirty cloths, but I could have saved a life. I still carry the guilt of that day.  

[Kumar Rahul, Wednesday, April 11, 2007]