Scavengers in City

Animals feed on leftover food. The crows and the street dogs would be the usual sight. But have you seen cows?

Of course, cattle are vegetarian by nature. But going through the roads of Bangalooru, you can see them rummaging through the garbage piles. If you take a closer look, you can see them deliciously chomping the polythene bags and the biodegradable trash bags. Can you overlook the fact that some amount of meat maybe gobbled up by them?

More than two decades have passed since the epidemic Mad Cow disease in the UK. However, there is no guarantee that it won’t come back. Mad Cow disease is actually called Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. Yes, it sounds silly, but it has caused even the death of humans.

It was reported that about 4.4 million cattle were killed during the eradication program in 1989. Before this widespread disease could be eradicated, it spread to humans, killing about 200 of us. During the ’80s (Although I think, this must have been happening for a long time), the cattle rearers used to mix the animal by-products with the cattle feed. Over time, the consumption of meat by the animals led to the Mad Cow disease.

Almost all the areas in Bangalore city has a particular type of space for garbage disposal, which the municipality did not allot. It can be a corner of a road, a sidewalk, among the ruins of a building. It can be any place the public feels convenient to dump the garbage. Isn’t that so moronic?

Those who have seen the city at least once will agree when I say the garbage situation here is hopeless. For a start, deploying huge trash containers will be a good idea, instead of tossing it on the sidewalk. At least, this would keep animals away and the city clean.

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Image source: jokeroo.com

The Story of Triumph over Evil

The battle raged on for nine days and nights, and on the 10th day, Goddess Durga gained victory over the demon Mahishasura. According to Hindu beliefs, Dusserah or Vijayadashmi was the day the demon was finally defeated and killed by Devi Durga, thereby regaining the balance of the cosmos.

Maha Navaratri is a festival celebrated on 5th of October to honour and worship Durga and her nine incarnations. On all the ten days, believers attend Devi temples to pray and offer pujas to please the Goddess. Sometimes the idol of the Goddess is draped, adorned with flowers, placed on a raised platform and secured to large vehicles. The Goddess is then escorted to different areas in the town or city by priests so that the believers can offer their pujas and seek blessings.

The Story Behind

Mahishasura was an asura who achieved penance from God Shiva. He prayed to God Shiva to grant him the boon of being unkillable by any God or man. With the increased power, Mahishasura and his followers grew arrogant and triumphed over Indra creating havoc in all the worlds. Defeated, Indra requested the ‘Great Trinity’ (Trimurti Gods) for justice. The supreme Gods created the warrior Goddess Durga to eliminate the asuras.

Terminology

Devi –  Feminine power or Goddess
Deva – Masculine power or God
Durga – Durga is the most powerful incarnation of Devi
Cosmos – Universe and its order influenced by divine beings (in this context)
Puja – Offerings or gifts to Gods to receive blessings
Asuras – Asuras were a different power seeking beings who always wanted to gain control over the devas
Indra – Indra is another deity who is the lord of all the gods and the ruler of heaven
Trimurti or Great Trinity – They are three supreme deities who control the function of creation, maintenance and destruction. God Brahma is the creator, God Vishnu is the preserver, and God Shiva is the destroyer or transformer. Like Trimurti, Tridevis are their counterparts, which embody the feminine power. Parvathi (or Durga) is the counterpart of Shiva.

Road Flush

India has different customs and traditions as a result of a diverse culture. Most Kannadigas splash water on the courtyards of their residence or the entrances (front of commercial establishments) to wash away the dust and dirt. Commercial buildings are left at that. However, if it is a residential building, women from the family paint beautiful kolams on the floor. A charming custom practised here.

Source: Sridhar Rao Chaganti (Flickr )

Another typical yet peculiar custom performed exclusively by the water suppliers is washing every road they pass; a practice they observe dutifully. They have been cleaning roads since the early 1990s.

It’s a ridiculous problem faced by many states in India as if water scarcity and water mafias weren’t enough.

The quantity of water wasted while transporting and transferring is unbelievable. Most of the water tankers have the cheaply made circular drums that leak awfully. A large pipeline is connected and disconnected at the water outlet. These vehicles have one inlet on the top and two outlet valves in the rear. If the driver is not careful to secure the pipe correctly, the water will be leaking in several places. And if the driver is extremely careless while securing the pipe to the outlet, gallons of water are wasted. The outlet is few inches in diameter, so even 10 seconds is long enough to waste a significant amount of water.

Road wash

Road wash @ BEML signal (Bangalore)

If you happen to be behind this vehicle about to near a speed bump ahead, you are sure to see water spurting from the outlet; spouting like a happy whale. The funny thing about Bangalore’s residential lanes is that a kilometer distance has at least 10-15 speed bumps. Bangalore is also gifted with unfathomable potholes. By the time water reaches the consumers, precariously trundling along the bumpy roads, there will be a significant dip in the water.

Poorly designed so-called water trucks, sorrier than ever state of the roads and the wonderfully irresponsible people in charge; what a mind-blowing mess!

Not everyone’s the same

How upset will you be if anybody accuses your homeland? I am patriotic in my own way and do not support blind allegations and judgements of any sort.

I came across the post by Michaela Cross, which recounts her traumatic experiences while staying in India. As a woman, it pained me to read her agonizing experiences. It pained me to be reminded that all women – Indian or foreign are seen as sexual objects. It also pained me to read such thoughts about my country and my people.

The blog is misleading. I will never say that she was bluffing about her painful experiences or about the effect it had on her. I will not deny that sexual abuse doesn’t happen here nor that it happens only to certain people. But it is misleading because the article portrays India to be the worst country with highest sexual assault, which, of course, directly points towards Indian men. This isn’t true.

There are vile monsters in every nook and corner of the world. Some places swarm with the likes of these and some places they are more or less decent. But that doesn’t mean sexual assault do not happen everywhere. Obviously, all people are not alike. So is the case with men. There are decent men who respect women, and there are also despicable devils who leer and abuses women.

After the disturbing explosion of that article in the blogosphere, it came as a huge relief when i read Candace’s post. I was happy to know there are people who do not accuse the whole country for the crimes of some and who understands the fact that not everyone is the same.

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Image source: wikipedia

Everyone Deserves an Award

…Truly!

I am pleased to say that I have been nominated for this award by Shivani Panchmatia. It is my second award so far (but a bunch of them! 🙂 ). I am happy to know that my posts are engaging.
” Thank you for reading my posts and nominating my blog Shivani :). ”
Shivani is a very passionate and talented blogger. I recommend her blog if you have not checked it out yet. I am sure you will find her blog as much interesting as I do.

My ABC’s:

A- Animated movies: Love them.
B- Bitter gourd: One of my fav vegetable.
C- Challenging: I find writing about myself pretty challenging. Phew!
D- Doodling: Like to, even though I suck at drawing.
E- Epic fantasy: Books & movies.
F- Food: Mom’s food.
G- Grey: My second fav color.
H- Himachal Pradesh: One of the places I would like to visit.
I- Ice-creams: One of my favs is Magnum. Slurp!
J- Jeans: My most comfy attire.
K- Kids: Love kids!
L- Lace: love dresses in lace.
M- Macaws: One of my fav bird.
N- Notepads: I like notepads a lot :D. I keep buying all sorts of them.

O- Onam: My fav festival.
P- Polite: I dislike people who are rude.
Q- Queue: Hates someone disrupting queues.
R- Reading: A daily half an hour dose at least.
S- Sensitive: Oversensitive about some things.
T- Taxidermy: Dislike it!
U- U.A.E: My birthplace.

V- Vineetha: One of my Childhood+Best Friend & Classmate.
W- Writing: Love to write – paper or blog.
X- Xylophone: The first word I learned starting with letter X.
Y- Yogurt: I like sweetened or unsweetened yogurt.
Z- Zoo – I loved visiting zoos as a child, but now I don’t because I realize it is plainly animal imprisonment.

In alphabetical order, my nominations go to :

allmytravelscombined.wordpress
foodpeopleloveandstuff.wordpress
hillsofherchastity.wordpress
manningtreearchive.com
maryamlatif.wordpress
moviejoltz.com
lifeisavacation.wordpress
sparkleandlove.com
toddlohenry.wordpress
transcendingbordersblog.wordpress
No pressure accepting this award, but should you choose to accept and publish this award jot down few facts of yourself in alphabetical order.

ABC Award rule: Write a fact about yourself for each of the English alphabets.

My Friend

Every morning I see dogs happily trotting beside their owners. Many responsible dog owners spend so much of their precious time to walk their pet, and it’s quite wonderful to see that.

This always reminds me of my first visit to Bangalore. I was so amazed to find different varieties of animals on the road, but I was truly shocked to find dogs of good breeds on the streets. I still have a vivid memory of two very huge German Shepherds roaming around the area where I was staying. They had neither any leash nor any caretaker with them. Had they been abandoned? It’s very unlikely that those two were let off their leash to take a casual walk down the street.

This was years back.

Now, after settling down in Bangalore, I was terribly upset to find out that so many pets are shut out of their homes. Innumerable dogs are getting abandoned on the streets.

People who thought they were a bit humane left their pets tied to some street posts for days together. If that can be called humane, although its surely better than assaulting them. I cannot imagine how many pets are being left to die.

Why does it happen?

It happens when pets become a burden. It happens when people move out of the city or the country. It happens when they want to go on vacation. It happens when they have failed to train their pets and then fail to manage them. It happens when pets become old. It happens when pets get sick. It happens when people do not want to spend resources on them. In short, it happens because humans are selfish.

Humans are, after all social ‘ANIMALS’. We are expected to behave like savage animals.

In certain instances, when fates don’t favour, the pets had to be left back. Instances where the owner had passed away, or the owner or the family is sick, or the family goes into deep debt and had to move away, or the owner is helpless to take decisions, and it is done by others. The reasons are many but comprehensible. What about people who are crueller than savages?

Getting a pup is easy. There are thousands of dogs in shelter homes and pet shops, and of course, the countless dog owners selling their pet’s offspring. But planning for adoption is something that has to be done carefully and responsibly. And planning must be done.

Alright, this is not a high-funded global project, but if a little planning does avoid misery for these simple creatures, then we ought to do it.

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Picture source:

Dogvacay.com

Canadapetgrooming.com

Love Me Please (Part II)

The last post was a bit prickly but frankly i feel good about it. was a bit prickly, but frankly, I feel good about it. What drove me to write it was a small incident.

That awful day, I was travelling back home after the crazy office hours. Along the way, I saw a totally apathetic-looking dog walker tugging at the leash of an adult dog. I’ll name the dog walker “Dummy” (Because I dislike him and also because he was a stand-in for the real owner).

Walking a few steps forward, Mr Dummy stopped abruptly fiddling with the leash. The sweet dog, full of love, padded near to him and started to nuzzle his hand. I was across the road passing by in public vehicle; I couldn’t make out if the doggy just nuzzled or tried to lick his hand. Believe me, the sounds I heard after that was horrible.

The great Kungfu Dog

Mr Dummy had hit the poor thing on his head. It was so loud I could hear it on the other side of the road. I can never forget that sight, the sound of that strike or the doggy’s cry. I wished that the dog had returned the favor.

All happened within a few seconds. Regretfully, I was so shocked I couldn’t think of anything then. I got furious later, but then I thought what if he is not the actual owner. What is the point in being mad at him?

He might be just an idiotic dog walker who hates dogs. Thanks to the even more idiotic owners who send their poor little pets with such douche bags.

This is not the first time dog walkers would have ill-treated the pets, and sadly, this will not be the last. Most often, we think about employing a dog walker after we buy the pup. This has to change.

If we cannot provide companionship to our pets, then it is extremely important to find another person who can love them. We may not be lucky to find such affectionate humans that quick, so this should be thought of much earlier…particularly when planning to adopt a pet.

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Picture source : dogspelledforward.com