The Other World- A Poem

Last month, a goods train on its way through the Jalpaiguri Dist., Kolkata, rammed into 7 elephants which happened to be passing by the tracks at that time. The drivers of the goods trains have strict instructions from the Indian Railways authorities to drive at a lower speed when passing certain locations, such as the above one. But of course these rules are flouted by the drivers, which led to such an accident. Just a day or two after that, another elephant, a blind one, was hit by a truck, in Delhi itself, and injured. These issues raise a furore, and then it all dies down. There may be umpteen instances where animals have been treated as though they no life in them. Call it an animal lover's pity [I hate pity, I rather feel for them] or a guilt that stems from rising occurences of this kind, well, guilt because, sure I may not be the cause behind them, but I can at least speak of these issues, and bring them to light and people's concern ? After all, one must not just remain restricted to issues related to man.

The Other World

Having evolved prior to human,

Of this land we could've claimed to be the rightful owners.

To the extent of forced sacrifice we made adjustments,

And carried on with sufferings in silence.

We shared land, resources with them. Then they built cities.

We had even lesser space to reside, in peace.

They invented those gigantic machines to ease their lives,

And drastically altered the climate,

Thereby making us all the more helpless,

Then they speak of preserving the wildlife.

Its their minds that've run wild,

Because they're in a frenzy to exploit all that nature has to offer.

Probably after keeping such mindless acts aside,

Could they think of boasting of being the most wise, advanced beings on earth.

They speak of brotherhood amongst various races, religions, to name a few.

Are we of so less a stature to them,

That they forgot, we're their brothers too ?

We do not detest those men,

Who tear at pieces of flesh ravenously.

What we despise is those 'vegetarian seers',

Who go about kicking any animal that may come in the way, thoughtlessly.

For, how does it help, if those 'herbivorous beasts' consider us beings of the lower kind,

Abhorring our slaughter publicly is mere hypocrisy,

Where utter disregard for us is what resides in their minds.

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What use is building animal shelters, if trucks have to eventually mow down any dog or cow that comes up, and kill them. Surely the ones who drive aren't blind. The need of the hour is to strictly implement rules laid down by the Govt., else things are going to remain pretty much the same. :/