The Other Side




Remember your first trip to the zoo? It is almost a ritual in families with young children to picnic on Sundays in the nearest zoological garden. The trip is supposed to expose the child to the rich biodiversity that exists and a face to face encounter with it. Why then do these children grow up to become animal skin traders, corporate heads who bribe the state into wiping out rainforests or simply people who crush out snake heads in their backyards and melt honeybee nests by setting them on fire? Why do we become sterile to the blatant disregard for animals around us?
It is because something is greatly amiss in the first encounter.
When you see a Royal Bengal Tiger behind bars, sitting dejectedly and looking into blankness and being troubled by loud passersby, nothing appears Royal about him. When you see a mating pair of lions being photographed (flashes on!!) by over five hundred people on honking Sumos you almost begin to look at it as an object. And when you see pythons and cobras behind glass boxes in artificially lit nocturnal caves you realize that there is only one animal worth his salt: Man
Respect comes from watching a deer run wild in its habitat, a crocodile lie undisturbed on a sandy beach for hours or an elephant being the master of his own will and splash in water. Respect comes from observing it from behind bushes and not disturbing the animal’s peace and space. Respect comes from acknowledging that he too had a right to life and privacy.
We, with our giant footprints have left no space for animals to exist. They can now either die of extinction or exist in zoos and national parks as objects where their life and death is a public spectacle.
I can almost imagine a day in the near future when the divide between the robbed and the rich would be so great that nobody would raise an eyebrow to exotic human exhibits: Tribals from Madhya Pradesh, Baby foetus floating in glass boxes and aborigines from Andamans.
For reconsidering your way of life and thought please watch: http://www.greenthefilm.com/