I Think So...

The Bharatidasan Colony at KK Nagar, Chennai houses 640 happy and unhappy homes. One among them is mine. This is a housing board colony that was meant for providing houses to the people in the lower strata of economic class. These apartments were technically called LIG (low income group) flats. People started a humble beginning here 30 years back.

As the life progressed and due to changes in the economic policies, many of them found themselves rich enough to be no longer termed as low income group. Though their houses were constructed with single phase power supply and mosaic floorings, down the line, many of them converted the power supply to three phase and mosaic floors gave way to tiles. Many houses have air-conditioners too. Of course, meticulous planning and hard work went into this

prosperity.

In the recent times, I could observe a sudden spurt in cars parked in the colony. Our colony has no covered car parking but there is ample open area available for keeping the vehicles safely. No pot in the open ground is allocated to any individual. But,slowly the car owners started occupying space in the open area exclusively for their own car. They prevented others from parking their vehicles in their territory. Of late, in the past few months, car owners started installing metal poles and detachable chains in their territory to establish the ownership of the piece of land they occuppied. First it was a quest for a shelter above their heads. Then slowly the needs increased. They needed not only a car but an exclusive space for parking them that could never be owned by them.

In the history books, it is said that the primary aim of human beings building houses was to protect themselves from the attacks by animals. They feared animals. Animals were given heavenly honour and worshipped. Time has changed. Human beings no longer needed to fear animals. In fact, animals had to run away from human beings to protect themselves. Perhaps the only thing the animals pray to their creator is to give a less painful death at the hands of the most cultered species on the earth.We started deciding their fate.

Dwelling places were no longer shelters that were used to get protection from animals. They were turned into proclamation of wealth and a symbol of social status. Humans, instead of fearing animals, started fearing other human beings. They started doubting the fellow human beings. They needed fences to protect what they conquered. They not only needed fences, but also security guards, safe lockers, CCTVs and mighty walls around their bungalows to protect the material wealth they earned or to be precise what they conquered.

Animals, in the mean time, started feeling the heat. They were driven out of their natural habitats. Every inch of the earth became the property of one species- that is human beings. Dogs became street dogs. Government appointed dog catchers brutally murdered these ‘street dogs’ ocassionally.Cattle were made to roam around on the roads and eat even plastic bags. Elephants and leopards were displaced in their habitats in thick forests. Human beings started encroaching even forest lands and building houses there.

When the restless elephants responded against this, it made news headlines. People dubbed it as elephant menace. Leopards were forced to venture out of forests in search of food. They were chased and attacked when sighted in the villages or towns. Hapless animals died without knowing how to escape from the attacks by the civilized creatures.

Anyone who happened to look at the Discovery Channel, National Geographic or Animal Planet could realize that how disciplined these animals are. ( we invaded their privacy with cameras. We shot how they have sex, how they give birth, giving sant respect to their rights. We are living in a world were even mass killers are pampered in the name of Human Rights)

Animals live in perfect harmony with the nature. Nature provides everything that is needed to sustain life. While herbivorous animals feed upon leaves and fruits, carnivorous ones hunt other animals to have their food. They kill only to fill their stomach. They never save anything for the future. Mother Nature gives them everything every day.

They never attack other animals to settle scores. They never kill other animals to steal their property or because their Gods were insulted by the other animals. Animals involve in sex activities only when they need to reproduce. Sex activities in animals are seasonal and confined to aim at reproduction. Unlike we , the civilized animals, other animals do not have sex 24 x 7. Everything in the animal kingdom happens as mandated by the nature.

Look at the following examples...

A few months back, two young children were kidnapped in Coimbatore. Their businessman father informed the police of this. When the kidnappers sensed danger, they brutally killed the children. The two children were forced to climb a hill. The girl child was sexually abused. They were force fed dry cow dung. After this they were pushed from the hill to a water body in which they drowned.

Govindachami is a one handed beggar. He entered a ladies compartment of a train one day. Attacked a young girl on board. Pushed her out of the train, sexually assaulted and then hit her with a rock. She later died in a hospital. After a few months, when the case was taken up for trial in the court, people were shocked to see big lawyers lining up to defend a beggar called Govindachami who changed his name to Charlie long time back.

Which animal on the earth does such heinous crimes other than the human beings? In a television discussion, I heard one learned personality telling that an element of animal is sleeping in every human beings. I wish once in a while this ‘element ‘ woke up and acted. A society devoid of greed, cruelty, disharmony and dishonesty can only be achieved when this element of wildness acts in us. So till such time, never call me a dog when you get angry at me, a donkey when you want to tease me and a tiger when you want to praise me. Such affronts to animal self respect may not be taken kindly by them…