Mornings are usually the same for me - The same chaotic impatient urge to drive fast and reach the destination in the shortest possible time; the same tendency to snap at anyone who would not follow the rules while I would happily flout all rules coz like all Indians, ‘it doesn’t apply to me”. Today was not much different.
As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a dog chasing at all the cars passing the road. It was a busy road within the confines of the sector where I stay. Dogs chasing cars is not a new sight. I’ve always thought dogs get a cheap thrill out of chasing the cars and bikes; that joy of intimidation that is so like the humans. Even uncanny is the similarity with which the dogs scamper away at the slightest hint of retaliation. Aren’t humans the same? Absolutely! We try to intimidate those we think are weak and the moment we see somebody equal or stronger, we wouldn’t even dare cross their line.
I thought this is just another of those dogs, probably gone senile with the smug self-conceited notion of power. I passed this judgment with sheer dismissal, almost to the point of being arrogant ‘Mr Know it all’. But my arrogance shattered the moment I saw in my car’s rear-view mirror the reason for the dog’s agitation. A small puppy lay still in the middle of the road in a morbid lump that would make only one thing clear – One of us humans killed it and probably did not even care to stop.
I pass the horrendous sight of animals hit by vehicles on the highway everyday, make a small gesture with my hands touching my forehead and then my lips and within a few seconds forget all about it. So it was not a new sight by any standards. But this incidence shook my conscience and it was lasting sight in my memory. That ‘senile dog’ was probably the mother of the little puppy and wanted vengeance from its killer. Or it just wanted to get close to her baby and ‘lick’ her back to life. Or probably, it was wailing and wanted somebody to just listen to her. Would somebody stop for a minute or two? Would somebody catch the culprit and bring him to books? No, for killing an animal is not an offence and even if it was, nobody cares! All lives aren’t the same and certainly human lives are much more valuable. God forbid, but had this been a person, people would have gathered around - curiosity taking the better out of their urge to reach the destination on time. Somebody might even have taken the pains to trace the guilty and bring him to the books if he wasn’t the son of an “influential” person. But this was just a dog – one of those many hundreds of thousands of stray dogs that stay at the mercy of our civilization.
We often hear this expression “This country has gone to the dogs”. But honestly, we have no right to say that. We humans are probably the most apathetic bunch that ever walked on earth. Apathy is one thing we are so good at, not the dogs. Probably reaching office on time is much more important. That’s why I chose to drive on. But let us, for once, reflect on what we think is righteously ours and respect the same for others too… what if it’s just a dog!
As I was driving to work this morning, I saw a dog chasing at all the cars passing the road. It was a busy road within the confines of the sector where I stay. Dogs chasing cars is not a new sight. I’ve always thought dogs get a cheap thrill out of chasing the cars and bikes; that joy of intimidation that is so like the humans. Even uncanny is the similarity with which the dogs scamper away at the slightest hint of retaliation. Aren’t humans the same? Absolutely! We try to intimidate those we think are weak and the moment we see somebody equal or stronger, we wouldn’t even dare cross their line.
I thought this is just another of those dogs, probably gone senile with the smug self-conceited notion of power. I passed this judgment with sheer dismissal, almost to the point of being arrogant ‘Mr Know it all’. But my arrogance shattered the moment I saw in my car’s rear-view mirror the reason for the dog’s agitation. A small puppy lay still in the middle of the road in a morbid lump that would make only one thing clear – One of us humans killed it and probably did not even care to stop.
I pass the horrendous sight of animals hit by vehicles on the highway everyday, make a small gesture with my hands touching my forehead and then my lips and within a few seconds forget all about it. So it was not a new sight by any standards. But this incidence shook my conscience and it was lasting sight in my memory. That ‘senile dog’ was probably the mother of the little puppy and wanted vengeance from its killer. Or it just wanted to get close to her baby and ‘lick’ her back to life. Or probably, it was wailing and wanted somebody to just listen to her. Would somebody stop for a minute or two? Would somebody catch the culprit and bring him to books? No, for killing an animal is not an offence and even if it was, nobody cares! All lives aren’t the same and certainly human lives are much more valuable. God forbid, but had this been a person, people would have gathered around - curiosity taking the better out of their urge to reach the destination on time. Somebody might even have taken the pains to trace the guilty and bring him to the books if he wasn’t the son of an “influential” person. But this was just a dog – one of those many hundreds of thousands of stray dogs that stay at the mercy of our civilization.
We often hear this expression “This country has gone to the dogs”. But honestly, we have no right to say that. We humans are probably the most apathetic bunch that ever walked on earth. Apathy is one thing we are so good at, not the dogs. Probably reaching office on time is much more important. That’s why I chose to drive on. But let us, for once, reflect on what we think is righteously ours and respect the same for others too… what if it’s just a dog!
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