Sunday, September 30, 2012

To Bear The Guilt Of Walking Away


Yesterday I witnessed a very unfortunate incident. A truck full of cows and buffaloes were brutally being "unloaded". The animals looked distressed & terrified - one of the cows even fell off, but the man continued pulling it with the rope tied around her neck. I suspect they were being taken for slaughter? 

Not that I haven't seen animal brutality earlier on video etc, but to eye-witness something like that, was extremely upsetting. Not having faced such a situation ever before, I could only manage to scream and ask the man what the hell he was doing? He gave me a vicious smile and continued torturing the cow. 

This made me realize how tough it was to work for this cause. Sympathy isn't enough and being an animal lover is hardly the thing. It's all about knowing the laws & being a fighter. 

I can't help but feel the guilt of never being able to know what happened to those animals. Because I walked away. But I'm sure one day I will have the right knowledge, the strength to fight and some more experience on what to do in such situations. 

A huge call out to all those who don't walk away in the real world. More power to you!

-
N

Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Holocaust Continues...


It's way past midnight and yet no signs of sleep. Here's why...

I agree watching war documentaries may not be the most ideal way to spend a weekend! But the German visitors at home had left me curious. During their stay here we discussed a bit about the Nazi Rule and how they found it shocking that I'd read Mein Kampf (purely due to an interest in World History. I had to clarify).

"Have you seen documentaries based on the Holocaust or the Third Reich?", I asked Mum. "Well not really, unless you consider war based movies like the Schindler's List or The Pianist", she responded. And I thought the only reassurance with those movies was the fact that it was all enactment. 

But today there was no Adrien Brody and there was no enactment. I was witnessing history unfold itself. These were the real victims. For an hour and a half on the clock I watched humanity being butchered. The Nazi extermination camps, euthanasia in gas chambers, man slaughter, human experiments on the disabled. Oh, it was all too much to take in. Unsure of whether I would be able to hit normalcy through the week, I decided to make a switch to a lighter genre.

In the 'animal abuse documentaries' section, a documentary titled 'Supermarket Secrets' caught my eye. I'd always wondered how supermarkets had changed things in terms of public health, quality of products, consumer buying patterns etc. And interestingly this one focussed on behind-the-scenes of livestock rearing and large scale factory farming of animals before they make it to supermarkets. Well, probably this was not the 'lighter genre' I was looking for. 

The revelations were disturbing and shocking. Factory farming of animals, abnormally sped up growth of chickens (142 days reduced to 45), crippled & diseased ducks with no water to swim, unhygienic mechanized dairies where cows were milked to the very last drop and pushed to slaughterhouses once they were mere lumps of fat. I have always had a special adulation towards cows. Their calm appeal and the striking innocence in their eyes is so endearing. Should we not be grateful to them for providing us with the single most important source of nourishment (milk of course!) for us since childhood? It's almost as though we owe something back to them. If not that, least of all a brutal death. I find it devastating and unimaginable to think of an animal as harmless and 'holy' as a cow being butchered. 

By the end of it all, I began to draw a hopeless parallel between the two documentaries and somehow it started to make complete sense. 

A German Lieutenant interviewed in the war documentary said : "They (the Jews) were always very quiet. They never screamed or squealed in pain." Are they not what the chickens, cows and ducks are today & this is the holocaust that continues...

Adolf Hitler once said "The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human". Ironically that is how I feel about the human race today. 



References : Documentaries - Hitler's Holocaust (1-6) and The Secret of Supermarkets (1 & 2) can be found on http://freedocumentaries.org

- N

P.S - The author of this post does not honk at cows blocking her way on a busy street in India. Dear suffering animals - for some of us you are more than just finger lickin' good! 

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Realizations


I start the year with nothing but "Realizations".
Ever thought there are so many to be indebted to? I didn't!

First things first, to realize the worth of Family.
The be-all and end-all for me. The only source of unconditional love.

Next, to realize the worth of Time and Money.
There isn't  much of it and it's you who decides how and what to materialize it on.


To realize the worth of Respect.

“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path"


Once you learn this, you realize the worth of respect.

The ones who do learn the worth of realization, look at life with depth and a very humble, positive perspective.



- N

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

An End To A Dramatic Year!


The year which marked an end & a new beginning to a lot of things for me (with the most unexpected ups & downs. An adieu to college life, a step forward to the supposedly more serious things in life..(My first job!) Well, 2009 has brought a lot of learning for me, an insight to subjects I'd never give thought to otherwise. No promises, no resolutions. 

Happy New Year!

- N

Friday, December 11, 2009

The Why & The Why Not?



The why of a beggar’s hungry stare?
But the why not of a compassionate heart?
The why of a quirk of fate?
But the why not of hope?
The why of scurry?
But the why not of serenity?
The why of I am always right?
But the why not of I can be wrong?
The why of vanity?
But the why not of humility?
The why of me?
But the why not of you?

--
The Why Not?

- N

To My Father,




Very few moments in life can/will come close to matching the intensity and array of emotions such as this, handing over your first salary to your father. I wanted to capture the moment in words & cherish it forever!

...It’s the feeling of never having felt the same before. A rush of a strong emotion, a sense of achievement, pride and contentment for the joy I give him. The purity and genuineness of a feeling as this, makes it even more indescribable. That face lit up with pride leaves an imprint on me forever and for always. 
For what I am and will always be, is all ‘cause I have you… Love!


- N