Was There No Other Way Out?
Early Morning Commotion
It was around six in the morning and was very unusual to hear people shouting in our neighborhood. Ours is a very laid back city and the real activity starts around 8 or so. Especially on weekends you will not see any sense of urgency in the air. But this Sunday was unlike any other normal Sunday.
I was reading my morning news paper and drinking my favorite filter coffee determined to make the most of this wonderful day called Sunday. That is when I heard some noise and commotion coming from my neighbor's house. At first I ignored it as I was in my favorite Editorial section of The Hindu.
What was the commotion all about??
When the noise didn't seem to cease, then out of curiosity I went to see what was the commotion all about. When I reached the place to see what was happening, I was shocked. It was actually a crime scene. There was a dead body on the ground. The head was smashed and blood was still flowing from it. There were multiple wounds all around the body. It was very clear from the scene that the victim was chased and killed mercilessly.
The most unfortunate part was that the killer was proud of his act and the people there were praising him for his ghastly act. There were no call for the police and no arrests made. The Killer was proudly describing the whole incident. It was an achievement for him.
Much a do about nothing
What I thought at that immediate instance was that it was much a do about nothing. There was a dead snake on the ground and people were discussing about it. When the owner of the house saw me he started describing the whole incident to me. He was smiling from ear to ear. He had a sense of achievement on his face.
I asked him a very simple question. "Why did you kill the snake?'' The answer I got was very much on the expected lines. "I killed the snake because it came to my house". I repeated my question again as the reason for killing was not justified. That agitated my neighbor as he felt that the snake was a threat to his family. So he was justified in killing the snake.
Who is trespassing?
I came back to my home but the incident haunted me the whole day. I was forced to think as to who is trespassing? Is it the wild animals or us human beings? Why are so called wild animals forced to venture into our homes and or places where we live? Are the animals really to be blamed for crossing the border? What are the borders? Who created these borders?
Many such questions started popping up in my mind. I could not stop myself from doing the research. I wanted to know how did it all begin.
We are the real culprits
I got my answer at last. And found that the real culprits are the species called Human Beings Yes it is we who are to be blamed for wild animals coming to our backyards. We forced to them to leave their jungles and come to our houses for food.
In the name of hunting for fun we started shooting animals of all kinds. Resulting in scarcity of animals. We went to such extent that some species have already become extinct and some are in the verge of being extinct.
In the name of development we started eating up jungles and cutting trees. We started building our houses and factories and roads in the name of development. We snatched their home. We snatched their jungle. So it is obvious that if we snatch their homes they will have no other alternative but to enter ours.
The act of Killing
What is the most surprising fact here is the act of killing. We assume that these wild animals have come to kill us and in order to protect ourselves or defend ourselves we proactively kill them. But the truth is that these animals are more afraid of us than we are of them.
An animal kills or attacks only when it is either afraid or it is hungry. Even when they are afraid they first try to warn before going for the kill. But we don't even give warning signs. We straight away go for the kill. How absurd an act that is.
Is it too late?
The wild animals coming to so called our area is a sign that we have destroyed the well balanced system created by God. Have we destroyed it beyond repair? It is hard to predict, but yes we are entering the danger zone rapidly.
It might not be too late, but if we do not take corrective measures then we might end up creating a situation where we fight these wild animals on a daily basis. We might end up winning the battle, but we will surely loose the war. As we would have nothing to pass on to our future generation.
