Whose world is it anyway?

There is a lot of chatter about how the lockdown has affected us. Humans are social beings and being locked up isn’t for our species. Being locked up is for criminals and some very conveniently include animals in this category…what’s that? Did I hear someone say animals? And what crime have animals committed? Kindly elaborate. I am all ears.

So we haven’t socialized for over 2 months! We haven’t been able to meet up with friends and family. It can be mentally tormenting, this solitary confinement. You have my sympathies, but perhaps this is the perfect time to reflect. Reflect on the plight of animals who spend the entirety of their lifetime being caged or in other forms of captivity or in uncomfortable habitats because of humans, reflect on the strain we have put nature through, and reflect on the future we have carved for our future generations. Reflect on our actions from dawn till dusk! And let’s rekindle compassion while we are at it!

I have been reflecting this whole time. Have humans realized the propensity of their actions? Will they now empathize with animals in captivity? Will they now treat street animals with care? Are humans reassessing and planning for a positive change in their behavior toward animals and nature?

I tune in to the news to see if there are any reports on humans being kind to animals, or if the government has made any provisions for street animals and animals in captivity. I get disheartened; the media is mainly talking about the pandemic gripping the livelihood of humans and the death tolls. Humans are getting all the focus. Humans are allowed to be affected by the isolation. Humans are being sympathized with. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t take issue with humans. But it does make me uncomfortable that the media and government choose to remain silent about positive and negative stories of animals and nature during the pandemic.

Of course, humans are at the heart of every discussion and policy. They are losing their identity. They are losing their mind. And the government is losing its vote bank. How terrible!

The uncertainty of life due to the pandemic is likened to the challenges faced by animals when they don’t know where their next meal will come from. The hungry nursing street dog has lost her food source. And to add to her worries, the people around her don’t want her or her pups there. They may subject her to unimaginable pain and even poison or stone the family. Such is the grim reality of the life of a street animal.

During the lockdown, cases of animal cruelty have gone up. In Jaipur alone, one animal rights group I have come to be associated with- the Arth Foundation- has been reporting at least 5-6 cases of crimes against animals since the beginning of the lockdown. People are indeed losing their minds! Fortunately, activists are braving the lockdown and fighting to defend animals in their neighborhood. FIRs are being filed and injured animals are being rehabilitated.

The good too goes unreported. Raksha Foundation in Jaipur has been doing commendable work feeding 4600 dogs, 2700 cows, 80000 birds, and 2000 other animals daily in and around the city since March 22nd. They have also installed water tanks so animals can have water during the scorching summer. But the media chooses not to report this.

There is no dearth in good people. But somehow they feel unsupported by laws, government, and family. Had the government included animals in all their messaging when they were asking people to donate or care for humans or to commend those working for humans during the pandemic, many of these “good” people would find the support they need to care for animals.

The wise ones amongst us are reflecting. Ideally, everyone would reflect, but not everyone is wise. In a perfect scenario, we would never have brought the world to its knees. So we clearly have been living in a dystopian reality. Whether we choose to destruct the dystopia or not, is for us to decide. I sure do hope the wise amongst us lead the way.

This is the time to come together and stand in solidarity. All this is forcing us to radically rethink our relationship with nature. It is the time to come to terms with the fundamental truth- that this world is as much theirs as it is ours and that only together can we flourish.

The pandemic has been a wake-up call. Yet many choose to sleep with their eyes open. For those of us who choose to be awake, life will be blissful!

May 3, 2020

Yesterday was one of those days. One of those days where my views about humans and religion became further entrenched.

I woke up to the horrific news of some Delhi goons brutally striking a mama dog. The clip was disturbing. My eyes couldn’t hold back the tears. All I could think about was the motivation people have to actually go through with such horrendous crimes against nature. And this wasn’t some isolated, unintentional act; these men had made a conscious effort to cause harm to the poor creature. I looked the guy up and was even more shocked to find that he came from an educated working-class background. It was unbelievable, for a moment I thought this was a scene from a Tamil movie. Only that it wasn’t. The one-minute short clip had me crying profusely. What prompted such evil to the surface? No one will ever know.

It took a while for this to sink in. I perhaps even experienced an anxiety attack. Now, every time I get stressed I either begin to clean the house or go stand under the shower as a way of dealing with the panic symptoms I experience. Since I am in a hostel room, the former wasn’t really possible. So it had to be the latter. I undressed and just as I was about to turn the shower knob, I heard a terrifying whine and continual barking. I looked outside the window and I could see something wasn’t right. I put my Tshirt and shorts back on; I didn’t even have time for the bra. I just rushed down the stairs and out on the road. And there it was…just as you think it cannot get worse…

There lay in a pool of blood Pluto, one of the pups from the family of dogs I have been feeding and playing with every day since I moved to the hostel. I gave out a yelp! I saw another pup, who I had named Daisy (previously nicknamed Tom as I thought it was male) suffering in pain. She definitely had injured her hind legs. Now I was screaming and crying. I was in a panic mode. Some neighbors stepped out perhaps because of my screaming. I feel on my knees and tried to revive Pluto, the mom barking and trying with me too. But I knew it was futile. I looked around and there she was the murderer in her grey car just watching me. And then she drove off. I ran after her. She hadn’t gone too far along. She stopped outside a temple and she went in to pray. I waited for her, still all in panic mode. I requested some girls from the neighboring building who followed me to contact the police.

I confronted her. She showed very little remorse. Does it help that her mother later brought out a bowl of milk for the mother of the pups?

I am not sure what I was mad about. Was it the fact that she had run over 2 puppies, one of which had died on the spot and the other one needing urgent medical attention, or was it the fact that she went straight to a temple after "accidentally" running over the pups?

"Who does that?" I kept asking her!! I felt like a madwoman. I told her she had to help me get Daisy to a vet. She didn't pay heed.

She got into her car and drove back to her home, went straight in, and didn’t bother coming out. The accident happened right outside the gate of her house.

The mama dog who I had nicknamed Minnie, was furious and now wouldn’t let me get close to her pups. She was mad, and rightly so. I tried to stop a policeman who was passing by and he did nothing.

Fortunately, in this unfortunate incident, I had access to the Executive Director of FIAPO who also lives in Jaipur and I dialed her. I was shaken. She sent help and the pups were taken to the animal hospital thanks to Raksha Foundation. The whole time I just prayed that Daisy would make it. I could see her mom was in pain too because she had just lost a pup. Yesterday broke a part of me that probably can't ever be fixed.



Later that day, a community member from the animal welfare fraternity Dr. Sahil Singhal and I went to talk to her. She said it was not intentional. That she had gone to the temple to ask for forgiveness. I knew this was all bulls**t.

So I simply asked her one question. If these were human babies that she had “accidentally” run over, would she head to the mandir first, or would she have rushed them to the hospital?” She realized that she had been cornered and pleaded guilty.

Daisy, the other pup was diagnosed with a hip fracture and was brought back to her family after being given some pain killers. She was definitely in a lot of pain. Her road to recovery will be a long one, but she is indeed loved not just by me but also by the feeders who come by especially Nikhil (someone who deserves a whole post for himself).

It was a long, long night for everyone involved. I had to stay up to keep the kiddo off the road (considering the speed at which these cars were being driven) and comfort the mother who wouldn’t leave her child’s side. I bet if any of the neighbors had seen me they would think I am the new crazy dog lady. I rather risk that title than see the mama lose one more of her pups. Then it began to rain and I had to reach out to Nikhil to take the pup to his place as I felt she would be safer there.

But both Nikhil and I kept in touch throughout the night. Neither of us was able to sleep. For me, the image of that morning kept playing in my head. I couldn’t stop reasoning. I couldn’t understand, how people will still use religion to not feel the guilt or remorse. I mean it is so f*cked up, this world!

Most of all I empathized with the mom, who refused to eat anything until she was united with her pup. I know she was mourning the passing of one of her pups, but she was happy to see Daisy make it back to her.

It has been over 36 hours since the incident and now I will finally rest, thanks to Nikhil’s insomnia.

Tomorrow I want to awaken to a very different world; where people are compassionate, and not believers of any religion except the religion of love for all living beings.

It is a long shot, I know. But one can hope. Not that I am a pessimist, as I have also seen some good coming out of our kind, but somehow the bad always overpowers the good when it comes to the treatment of animals.

Whoever made human beings the superior species should undo their error. Even a global zoonotic pandemic hasn’t changed us. I am not sure what will.

Good Night universe. Please grant me my wish.

And my fellow humans, drive slowly and carefully. Be mindful of what you are putting out in this world! The universe is watching!