Screaming Eyes...

Things don’t always work out ‘exactly’ as you had planned.

My plan for the morning was to wakeup early, grab a quick bite, check my emails, and start catching up on my research-related readings. However, all of that changed from the point I checked my emails...

You ever had the feeling as if something has been calling you? And when you finally get there you see how every little thing has indirectly urged you to look into it.

I guess, it started a few days back when my mother mentioned this news-item she saw on TV about Elephants. She told me about a particular “festival” in India, where villagers gather with their Elephants and take part in a competition to see which Elephant has the tallest neck...?

I sometimes think it’s completely OK to be uneducated – but to be an idiot? That’s just something else. I can understand if they can’t grasp the concept of “global warming” – but competitions based on the performance of any animal is inhumane.

Well, as the news team looked into the matter, they realised that the owners of the Elephants tend to place a small blade near the Elephants ear. So, in order to save his/her neck from touching the sharp blade, the Elephant constantly lifts its head up and up and up. Apparently, one of the Elephants noticed the poking blade on another, and ended up killing a few humans. See, now, in all honesty, I don’t feel bad for the loss of those lives. I, in fact, feel bad for the Elephant, who has been labelled “mad” now – and will probably be caged and killed eventually.

Then for some odd reason, the name PETA has popped up a number of times within conversations (including some with myself). I still didn’t bother even looking into their website, until, the email this morning –

A friend, who visited Modhesh Fun City yesterday, just happened to mention about an area where they had caged animals – and it just felt depressing. Ironically, if you googled “Modhesh Fun City,” one of the few articles that will pop up will read “Modhesh Fun City spreads the message to save the Earth.”

So, I felt the need to at least look at PETA.org. I already knew once I’d visit the page I’d end up feeling a little helpless and almost depressed. I think this comic portrays that emotion well.

Aside from Nike sponsoring an athlete who takes “dog-fighting” as a hobby – I noticed a whole segment dedicated to animal testing procedures at Covance laboratories. Have a look at what is marketed (the soft-image of a comforting medical professional in her clean white Covance coat) and what actually happens (just look into his eyes, and you’ll imagine the scream). I saw a 20 min documentary on the issue. The documentary, apparently, resulted in Covance being fined for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. But, does that really change things?

I’ll end with Kahlil Gibran’s story, once again:
In my father's garden there are two cages. In one is a lion, which my father's slaves brought from the desert of Ninavah; in the other is a songless sparrow.Every day at dawn the sparrow calls to the lion, "Good morrow to thee, brother prisoner.