Harsh Realities- an insight into Speciesism

Today the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) Census kickstarted in Nagpur. And, Mother Nature, I reckon, chose this as an opportunity to teach me a lot more than just tracking a bird; to make me understand the harsh realities of the speciest society we live in, and what lies ahead in the fate of the victims of speciesism.

To hell with those who invented the word ‘humanity’ and to hell with the makers of the dictionary who assigned it the meaning ‘sympathy & kindness’. Humans, by nature are dominant and tyrannical. In its true sense, ‘humanity’ should ideally mean ‘domineering, devastating and destructive’. Here’s how I justify that through three misadventures of this fateful day.

Misadventure # 1: We were en route to Bhivapur- a village on Umrer Road, where we to start our search for the GIB. The highway wasn’t calm, but doves of all 4 species found in Nagpur flew onto it to peck or court, and flitted away just on time. The jeep behind us was honking. And one oblivious Red Collared Dove landed on the road ahead. We slowed down, and the jeep kept honking. In no time, it overtook us with a zoom…and white down feathers; many of them, frantically floated, searching for their owner, who they knew not, had started its flight towards heaven sans them.

Misadventure # 2: After a futile search at Vakeshwar, we decided to check on an unconfirmed GIB habitat on the Umrer-Butibori bypass. On a hillock at Umrer Road, we spotted a Great Horned Owl perched…unpeacefully. Reason? Three young men were attempting to capture it. The owl had taken cover in a short tree. Pretending to be officials from the Forest Department, we took photographs and names of the men involved and waited till they were sent off. Meanwhile, the owl after preening, had flown away to seek shelter in the cliff. Its behaviour suggested it had probably sustained minor injuries due to the stones pelted at it.

We were just on time. Seconds later, and the planet would’ve lost a precious denizen. More so, a precious resident for Umrer as it rids the farmers’ fields of rodents- a thought that seemed way beyond their understanding. People like us who protect wildlife for ethical reasons, had the feeling that an owl who had nothing to do with the street he overlooked; who knew nothing of the myth (read- crap) about Laxmi; who only wanted to have his world in an isolated cliff, feasting on all that he liked- was prized at lakhs of rupees at local / national markets for the (un)holy sacrifice to Goddess (?) Laxmi. Anyway, at the end of the day, the Great Horned lived to see another day. Wish the Russell’s Viper shared his fortune…

Misadventure # 3: Following local knowledge that the Hoom was mostly seen in the afternoon, we were back at Vakeshwar before evening. Fruitless, as it had seemed throughout the day, we had just withdrawn our search when we were alerted by the words, “Maaro! Lo maaro usko” By the time we turned around, three blows of a stick with an iron tip, had already been struck. We shouted to stop, horrified at the sight of the merciless final blow. “Kya hai?”..”Saanp”, wasn’t shocking to hear the simplicity with which it was said by the farmer. I immediately jumped to the spot. Dismal! “Russell’s Viper”, I said to Rohan and Haseeb in utter dismay. The following minutes passed in negotiating with the farmers. The snake wriggled its tail a bit…It was living to die. We tried all possible, polite explanations and when things turned sour, Rohan spoke his heart out. “Tum jaison ko goli se maar dena chahiye.” We had to reverse. Knowing they are pantheists, the least I could say before retreating was, “Shaap lagega aapko.”

I found nothing wrong in what Rohan said. What the farmers did was not an act of self-defence. It was tyranny, nothing else. The man who knew he was at least a hundred times taller than the little ‘creep’ that had crept in (only to indirectly help him) had his chance of expressing dominance over the fiercest snak which undeliberately kills over 7000 people a year in India. Three blows was all he needed. Since he had spotted it resting harmlessly, he could’ve scared it away; but wouldn’t that be too kind of a speciest? Even more disturbing is the thought of imagining the number of snakes which meet the same fate.

All the way, Rohan echoed, “In jaison ka koi ilaaj nahi. Yeh log laaton ke bhoot hai.” I agree. Things won’t be any better, ten years down the line. Speciesism won’t end. Casteism almost has, raceism will; simply because the victims can speak out. Speciesism can’t…not until we see an extinction of Homo sapiens.

P.S. Rohan & I abused a man for kicking a dog…Some things never change, you see!