Is cohabitation with animals that difficult??
I have grown up in the outskirts of a small town in my ancestral home which is in stark contrast to where I live today. For me, backyards, wells, attic, terrace, verandas are more than just words in some stories of yore. I belong to the last of the generations to have actually experienced them and the adventures they foster, one of them being rescuing cats stuck in any of those above places. I and my sister would just walk down or climb up into any difficult terrain in the house including walking barefoot on slippery earthen tiles to find the source of the “meowing” and bring them home, even sometimes when they didn’t need any rescuing.
My mother would always wholeheartedly allow us to bring them in, feed them and take care of them, though at one time our generosity led to a heavily lopsided ratio of four-legged: two-legged beings at home standing at 16:4. That is when I learned the word “compassion” much before I learned how to spell or pronounce it.
We are living in a different world now. We talk of houses in square feet area, backyards have been made over into parking lots and earthen clay tiles are a part of the design to give an “old world’ feel. We have not only made peace with it but bask in the convenience, sophistication, and security the new set up provides us. The areas we live in must have been at one time full of natural vegetation with its fair share of animals and other beings. They all left. When their habitats are destroyed, they move towards human dwellings, that is what I teach my child. And we have all seen what that led to in Mallapuram.
I am sure in our school days all of us must have encountered this question from that serious looking science teacher on the first day of the nervous system, “Ok class! What do you think makes human being the supreme creature”?And we thought and thought and that smart chap raised his hand and said “Because he can think”, and we again thought and thought as to why could we not think of that answer.
Yes, we can think, rationalize, weigh, ponder, manipulate, empathize..as the situation demands. Those perpetrators in Kerala simply chose not to think that the elephant meant no harm to them, that she could have been pregnant, that all she wanted was some food for her and the unborn’s survival. Even in an injured state, she didn't harm anybody. We as the alpha creatures have some responsibilities towards those who cannot think but are only driven by their instincts and the least we can do is not bother them.No animal is interested in us unless we show interest.
The phantom of the Blackbuck haunted Salman Khan for 20 years in full public glare and finally gave up. A pregnant elephant… I really can’t comment on the speed.
But when the same human being chooses to think- the world suddenly seems like a better place. During this lockdown when strays have been struggling to find food with no garbage from eateries and their favorite meat shops closed, there are people who have taken the effort to procure special passes to feed them with whatever possible. We read stories about people abandoning their sick pets for the lack of medical help or fearing contracting coronavirus from them and of people finding them, feeding them, and giving them shelter.
I recall getting mad at the grocery stores during the lockdown as I wanted to bake a cake and plain flour seemed as obscure as saffron. Perhaps I didn't notice the cow that was chewing on a piece of polythene, the dog limping on the road or the cat hovering around the closed fish market. All it takes is a thought. One doesn’t need to be an animal lover to show some compassion and if not some basic tolerance.
More than three decades have passed, but I still feel the pang and I involuntarily open the door to my heart to see if any cat needs my rescuing.
