Our star shines in the nether world now

We lost this girl 4 days back.

 

 

 

Exactly 11 years back, we brought Judy home along with Tommy.

 

 

 

 

 

Prostrate cancer took Tommy away from us 5 years back. Both were apples of my mom’s eyes and they were vying for her attention all the time. Mom was devastated after Tommy left but Judy’s presence kept her afloat. It’s kind of weird, but everyone in my family has a mind of his/her own and we never agree on most of the things. My granny was like a radio, there was no point trying to tell or convince her about anything. What is astonishing is, every pet we have had, be it dogs, cats and even a cuckoo bird, all of them imbibed this personality automatically.

Tommy and Judy used to know each and every activity inside the house, especially what mom does. They used to disappear the moment they understood that mom was getting medicines ready for them. They would try to keep their heads away from her sight as much as they can. If they had a chance to bury their heads in the ground they would have. Both of them used to sleep as close to mom as they could at night and Judy used to do periodic patrolling inside the house and around mom to make sure nothing were there to disturb her sleep. There is a reason why dogs get attached to us so much. Tommy and Judy were taken away from their mothers when their mothers were still nursing them. They came home and mom started feeding them so mom became mother to them. There is no love bigger and more envious than the love between a mother and her child. Even in his death bed and in his last moments, he was constantly looking at mom. Ditto with Judy as well. We made sure we were around her all the time so that she wouldn’t miss her family in her last hours.

Love in the animal world is straight and simple. Feed them and take care of them and they will give their complete loyalty in return. Their love is unconditional unlike in the human world. What pets do in our lives is something unique and special. They fill up spaces in our lives left behind by other human beings. Parents, siblings, family members, friends; pets make sure that we do not miss them. How do they do this? By constantly seeking our attention. They know when we are sad and need to be left alone and when we should not be alone. We believe animals are less intelligent than us. Most of our knowledge is built from our education system and what we experience in our society which has been created on the concept of wealth. The knowledge that animals possess is rooted in nature which is why they understand love, empathy and compassion much more than us.

Why does death hurt every living being? It’s just not us; every animal displays remorse at the passing of their loved ones. There are two things that happen when a beloved one passes away. We can no longer communicate with that person and most importantly we can never see each other again. This is what hits us first, especially after the funeral. Before this sinks in, we start missing that person and what hurts the most are the little things. Judy used to constantly move around inside the house and keep shifting her resting places. Her footfalls could be heard most of the time. Now there is a certain deathly silence.

What we need to understand is that our comprehension abilities are limited through our 5 senses. We were created with the knowledge that if we understood the entire process and cycle of life and death, we would become reckless beings and would never respect the rules of the Universe. If I knew when and how I was going to die and what would happen to me after death, I would live my life out without care rather than respect the time I have and everything life has given to me. This is why the entire system of life and death has been restricted to us. But as we approach death, that world opens out to us; especially in cases where people have lived out their lives and are dying of old age. My grandpa had a big wide smile on his face as he took his last breath. Death is release from the agony and miseries of our physical existence. Our souls are chained to our bodies just like we put birds and animals in cages. This is why I despise seeing any animal in chains or inside cages because their sufferings are doubly ignominious.

My dad reminisces about all the pets he has had from his childhood and keeps wondering where they are now. Of all the 7 billion people in the world, why do we know only the people we know? Out of them, very few become our best friends and soul mates. Why did we pick Tommy and Judy out of all the big bunch of babies that were there? It is impossible to believe and accept that all of this is random selection. There has to be some sort of connection that brings two people or a person and an animal together. When I look back at all the friends I have made, none of them seem to be random connections. It just happened with each one of them without any explanations. I thought about one of them yesterday and lo and behold, I see his call on my mobile in the evening. I keep telling dad that his beloved pets are just no longer in the physical form; they are in the form of energy and are everywhere. Our beloved ones become our guardian angels when they go to the spirit world and in the spirit form they will have a lot more influence in protecting us. We will not see them in the same form again. They discarded it when they left. But they will always be with us. I don’t miss any of my beloved ones because I have realized that there is no going away. We are eternally connected through space and time and once we realize and accept this, the boundary between life and death will vanish from our minds. We need to actually look forward to the end of our physical existence so that we could be with our beloved ones again.

Judy, my girl, be at peace wherever you are. We buried your body but your memories will be with us till we go to our own graves. Till we meet again in the spirit world…..

My message to the LGBT community

I came across this video (https://youtu.be/RHZbeLdVxnY) today morning and it incensed and saddened me to know that someone who has enough confidence to address President Obama had to beg and be a prostitute in the past. I have been coming across different news articles about the discrimination meted out to the LGBT community for quite some time now. The problem with us is, unless we are able to draw parallels to situations, our advice and views fall on deaf ears and it can also get me admonished for doling out advice without proper comprehension of other’s plight. So here is my message to the community.

I was in a temple with my dad recently. There was a sizable crowd milling around and suddenly we saw a cat walking by with it’s tail up. The first thing that came our minds was, if that was any other animal, even a cockroach, it would have drawn some sort of response from the people. But no one bothers about cats. There are people who like cats and people who don’t but the general consensus is that of acceptance. How do they achieve this? They package themselves beautifully. They tempt us to cuddle them, they purr when we stroke them, they keep themselves clean and they do all sorts of weird things to attract our attention to them.  Now, all members of the feline family are notoriously elusive. How come only cats adapted to us? Because they know we have adapted to them and they would be safe among us. But cats can never be domesticated completely. I have lived with cats all my life and I know that if I touch them when they are busy or doing their own things I am going to get bitten or scratched for sure.

Let me draw that parallel here with the LGBT community. Transgenders throng buses, trains and traffic signals in India, they touch people and ask for money. I find it very uncomfortable because physical contact with anyone, be it with fellow humans or animals should always be based on mutual consent. Why would I give you money based on your sexual orientation? Why would I care about the sexual orientation of people who are travelling or working with me? I may not know the sexual orientation of my colleagues sitting around me and they may not be knowing mine, but how does it matter? By highlighting your sexuality, you are taking the worst possible way of projecting your image to the world. This is a world where it is possible to sell anything if packaged properly. In business, no matter what people come up with but unless they have a proper marketing strategy, their ideas will never be successful in the market.

Unless we strive for recognition and work for it, the world will never accept us regardless of our religion, caste, colour and sexuality. Our sexuality is not the only aspect that defines us. Don’t let it define you and don’t allow the world to do it either. How do handicapped people become successful in life? They direct their focus on what they have and work on enhancing their abilities. That’s how Beethoven composed his music despite being deaf. We all have talents and abilities, we just need to open our minds and ask ourselves what is it that we want to do with our lives. Kent Cullers is an individual worth knowing about in this context (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Cullers). He is just a regular guy who was totally blind from the time he was born and went on to head SETI, NASA’s highly advanced space program. The world around us is filled with such inspiring stories of people. When nothing could hold them back, why is your sexuality coming in your way and stopping you from becoming successful?

I will not accept you as L, G, B or T; I can accept you only as human beings. The world is also looking to do the same. The change has to come from within each one of you. Humans did not accept cats into their lives one fine day. It took thousands of years to reach the level of understanding and coexistence we have now. Tap into your talents and force your way through. Crack those entrance exams to get into the top engineering and medical colleges, business schools and civil services. Start your own businesses. This is a time when even small ideas are getting promoted through funding. Who is going to deny and stop you then? By asking to hug him, Akkai Padmashali was looking for acceptance from President Obama, not for herself but for the whole LGBT community. By touching us and asking for money, you are actually seeking our acceptance. Don’t beg the world for acceptance, bring the world towards you, like the cats do. Wrap yourself with your abilities, reveal your true self to the world and see what happens.

By the way, why do you care if LGBT is a crime in India or anywhere else? It is just a law and they say all laws are meant to be broken. Cheating on lawfully wedded partner is also a crime, but is the law acting as a deterrent for anyone? What do you hope to achieve by getting a legal stamp over your sexuality? A law in India will not liberate you from society’s discrimination. Is it about marrying your partner? Marriage is a social norm that has outlived it’s purpose by a long way. Be it in any sort of relationship, two individuals do not and should not need the consent of anyone to be in that relationship and no one should be bothered unless you and your relationship is creating any negative disruption in the society and is adversely affecting peoples’ lives.

Its not just you, the entire human race is confused about our purpose of existence. If you are confused about being L, G, B or T, then I should also be confused about why I was born straight. Understand one thing very clearly. Nothing exists in the Universe without a reason. There is a purpose to every event that happens in the cosmos. There has to be some purpose for the existence of each one of us. If no purpose exists, we would not be alive. There has to be reasons about your sexuality as well. Maybe it is not yet time for the reasons to be revealed. You are alive and breathing now and nothing else should matter to you. Shift your focus away from your sexuality and focus on becoming successful in life and you will force the world to shift it’s focus from your sexuality to your achievements. Become those cats. This transformation will not only bring you peace it will also make the world a better place to live.

Our eternal bonding with the animal world

I have often wondered, what is it that binds us to pets so closely and we feel so hollow when they die and leave us. Sometimes, the pain of separation can be even greater than the departure of fellow human beings who were close to us. Our connection to animals is mystical and goes back to the dawn of humanity. We have coexisted with them for a long time before we moved on to a new distinct society based life. But evidently, the connection was never severed. No human being’s life is complete unless he/she knows the joy of being with an animals and the pain of separation from them. This is exactly why the training program for Hitler’s SS operatives was so cold and cruel. Every new recruit would be given a pup at the beginning of the 2 year training program. The recruits had to raise the pups with proper care. The final test to pass the training program was to cut the dog’s throat. SS was a manufacturing factory of lifeless human monsters who would readily give up even their own parents if they betrayed Hitler.

Well, pets are of three types, ones we buy and bring home, ones who come home on their own and ones we find from out of nowhere. I have experienced all three. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter. We love them all the same nevertheless. But we will never know how and what they feel about coming and being with us. I was in my teens when this cat walked in through the front gate of my house, came in and just sat on a chair.

We were all dumb struck. He just stayed on for the next 10 years till he died. He grew up into a strong and handsome brute that would bully down and beat every male cat in the neighborhood. But he would always keep his distance from the female cats at home and we used to wonder why. Then we found out that outside the walls of our house, every female cat was his consort and he had kids like him with everyone. He actually knew family. He had a regular partner with whom he used to have kids. One day early in the morning, when my mom opened the work area door, she found 3 cute kittens on the mat. He and his partner were sitting a little distance away. He saw my mom and walked off. His partner also left after a moment. Then it dawned on mom. He had brought his kids home. Apparently, only human beings have intelligence to understand family and bonding.

When we buy pets, we have to consider many things. Like when we buy puppies, the standard to follow is to buy a pup that is exactly a month old. Mother dogs feed puppies for about 45 days, so the intent behind separating pups from their mothers in 30 days is to make them bond quickly with the human parents. They bring out the best of our parental instincts because we naturally tend to care for them as our own babies. But it’s with strays and the ones that come to us that becomes random and unpredictable. We find them at different ages, some might bond with us and some may leave, but with the ones that stick with us, their gratitude for us is a thousand times more worth than all the money in the world. A cat with a family in my neighborhood had grown close to me.

When they moved to another city, they took him along. After about 6 months, when I visited them, they told me that he had left home one day and never returned. I knew immediately. He had left home in search of me. I was heartbroken.

How can I forget this scoundrel I came across in Bangalore?

The whole street where I used to stay was his home. Everyone used to feed him and pet him. We hit it off quickly. He would catch me whenever he sees me and won’t let me go unless I feed him a loaf of bread. He was pampered so much by everyone that he used to amble into a ladies’ hostel nearby, get his tummy filled and calmly walk out. He was a stray, was picked up and castrated and left in the neighborhood. He found refuge with a family who took him in and that’s where he spent the night. He grew ill and they admitted to him a vet hospital where he passed away.

A cuckoo bird we had found as a chick passed away a couple of days back after spending nearly 10 years with us.

We tried our best to make her fly but she couldn’t. Cuckoos lay eggs in crow’s nests, so the mother crow must have pushed her out. Birds usually push their chicks out when they reach a certain age. The ones that can fly are the ones to take the lineage of the species forward; ones that don’t must fall and die. Darwin’s theory. The body weight of the chick must also be in perfect proportion so that its heart can support the beating of its wings. We had to keep the cuckoo in a cage to protect her but we were always sad and helpless. We got used to waking up to her squeals every morning as she spoke to cuckoos outside. She knew everything dad and mom did in the house and learnt to ask what exactly she wanted to eat to mom. In her final moments, the last thing she did was to lift her head up and acknowledge mom.

We have similar experiences with our pet dogs. They know exactly everything we do and to react precisely to our feelings and emotions. The other day, I was watching two stray dogs joyfully playing when one of them suddenly overstepped on to the road and under the wheel of a car. The driver of the car braked in time. The dog slammed itself on to the tire and was shaken. When I looked at the other dog it was cowering in a corner. It was mirroring the exact fear the other dog was feeling. Under the assumption that animals are inferior in intelligence to us, we are doing everything possible to hurt them. I just can’t understand how we can treat them as just blood and meat when their emotions are fully alive. It’s all in their eyes. We need to have compassion in our eyes when we look into theirs. Then only we can see their gratitude and acceptance. My dad and I feed so many stray dogs in our neighborhood that when we come across strays in other places, they immediately pick up the scent that we are animal lovers and start following us. Only they know how they figure that out.

I have heard that our soul start off by being inside small animals, progressively grow up into bigger animals and eventually becomes human beings. Animal world is considered to be inferior to ours because they kill each other for food and they are not evolved as a society as we are. Are human beings less violent than any animals? On the contrary we have evolved into the most cruel, mindless and selfish creatures on the planet who would care nothing to hurt a fellow being. When we term a barbaric human act like a murder or a rape as animalistic, let’s remember one thing. Animal world is cruel, no doubt, but they kill only for food, water, procreation and the survival of their species. All of these are necessitated by Mother Nature herself to maintain the balance of life. There are no seven sins in the animal world, animals don’t torture one other physically or emotionally and keep their victims alive so that they can have sadistic pleasure at the expense of seeing their victim’s suffering. We do all of this. We have absolutely no respect either for our own kind or for any living being. If our existence itself is based on hurting all animals and exploiting our fellow beings, it’s high time for introspection. Everything that is being called as inhuman can actually be defined by the word human now.