Dec 23, 2024
Dec 23, 2024
Though the lines I have quoted have universal appeal, it is cent percent applicable to my fellow beings in the State. I don’t think that there are any other States in India which show such downright cruelty to animals. My own close neighbour, a doctor by profession has killed my seven cats in three different attempts just for the reason that they defecated in his vast compound. I could only retaliate or avenge my pets’ massacres by writing a poem and publishing it with the title “Massacre of Cats.” Let me quote from it:Write, my son,
write.
Birds and animals play
their assonant keys.
Man alone strikes
discordant notes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your species
can’t live alone.
Cattle, sheep,
goats, donkeys,
dogs, cats,
swine, fowl,
I created
for your company;
neither can they
exist without you.
You speak to them
in strange tongue,
and they reply
in divine speech;
unintelligible,
you scourge and
even kill them.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Your species
is the latest
of my creations;
evolved after
millions of years
of progressive march.
Progression
or regression?
Was my plan
wise or folly?
Doesn’t it distress
and boomerang?
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
I risked a test
in man’s brain.
Filled some cells
with seeds
of knowledge.
Alas! Vainglorious
he thinks
the master
of all wisdom;
tries to conquer
the universe:
landed on the moon,
sent satellite
to the Mars;
he takes it
greatest feat!
The Moon and Mars
just two drops
in the ocean of
celestial objects.
Poor creature
knows not
his handicap;
limitations of
his reason.
He defies me,
assumes my position,
haughtily claims
as the noblest
of my creations!
He gives me shape,
and boasts,
embodiment of God!
I breathed in him
celestial values:
happiness, beauty,
peace, love, mercy;
but he fosters
hate and violence;
kills his kith and kin;
shows no mercy
to animals and plants.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Christmas is your
greatest festival;
greeting each other
peace and happiness;
blackest day for
cattle, fowl and fish;
billions butchered
for your pleasure;
you dine and dance,
sing hymns of peace!
Preach gospel of love!
Your happy celebrations:
birthday, marriage,
ordination, jubilee,
feasts and festivals,
doomsday for animals.
Their cries resound
like death knell
and thus you try
dissonance at
my harmony
The construction mania in my State uproots innumerable trees which serve as shelter to the pedestrians and passengers waiting for the buses. The selfless service the trees render to human beings and other beings including birds and flies is inexpressible. There was a huge mango tree on the side of road near to the main gate of the college I studied. Thousands of students and passengers waited under its cool shade for the buses. But unfortunately the municipal authorities uprooted it for constructing concrete waiting shed which emanated unbearable heat. I have composed a poem on it and published in my collection Winged Reason. The title of the poem is “I am Just a Mango Tree.” It is conversational in form mainly between God and the tree. Let me quote a few lines from it:Where will
cats defecate?
Where will
all animals defecate?
Is this planet
man’s sole property?
My materialist neighbours
go to church everyday;
read the Bible everyday;
but never read the part
to love other beings
as fellow beings.
Instead they believe,
other beings are
creations for their
service and taste.
God, instill in them
thy creation’s purpose;
the need to love
other creations--
animals, plants
and the planet itself.
Kindly teach them
to learning to live
with the system.
Let me wind up my paper concluding that modern man’s crazy race after material comforts and luxuries have destroyed forests, wet fields, ponds, lakes and rivers which stored water for the sustenance of human beings and others beings and as a result this God’s own land is facing severe drought in summer which lasts to even eight months. Lack of sufficient rain causes shortage of drinking water in addition to power crisis. Thus this God’s own country is turning into Devils’ own hell now.God, what do I hear? Is it true?
‘True, my daughter, I am helpless.’
Can’t they spare me and
build it somewhere else?
Don’t I do them good as to all?
Don’t I have feelings and pains
though I endure in silence?
Haven’t I the right to live?
God, why is your Man so selfish and cruel?
Did you create him
to disturb this earth’s balance?
This planet would be a paradise
if You kindly withdraw him.
07-Apr-2013
More by : Prof. Dr. Dominic KV
First of all thanks to Prof. Dominic for sharing his concern for the environment. Not only Kerela or the neighboring states are threatened with degradation but our entire globe is under threat. we face so many disasters in this century. The reason is self-centered nature of the humans. It is the duty of every citizen to be aware of our problems and safeguard the land given to us by Lord God. |
I truly commend Prof. Dr. Dominic KV for writing this article and the poem, in this 2 or 3 page article he vividly underlines the social and environmental challenges that Kerala is facing today. Just like number of other Indian states are confronting the same problems to a lesser or a greater degree. The social divide between the rich and poor is just one of the greatest challenges of our times, and speaking of India just like the issue of corruption, the general public is helpless because even though an average citizen wants to be the tool to bring about the change with this issue of income disparity. We are ultimately left at the mercy of these corrupt politicians who are the source of the problem. India will have to study "social security net" models of countries like Canada to uplift its people out of extreme poverty and even relative poverty. A system that can ensure a decent medical coverages, housing and sanitation for the poor, welfare for the mentally and the physically disabled, homeless shelters and number of other topics that can bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and grow the middle class. The issue of environment protection is another huge challenge India is facing in the areas of physical land pollution and environmental degradation and I am not even bringing up the reasoning behind the global warming that is just another topic of its own. It is truly sickening how these MPs and other municipal level politicians and different gov't agencies or ministries have jointly exploited the environment. Local politicians and mafias have joined hands to illegally exploit minor minerals such as sand from the river beds at such great unsustainable lengths it is truly panicking for environmental activists. Just the other day I was reading the article titled "the great sand loot" in which the author mentions how these factions are loading sand trucks like 10 times of what they are licensed for. The planet earth as we see it today. Its great beauty and even greater capacity to sustain 7 billion + human beings has taken billions of years to form and evolve and the human race has caused extensive damage to it in the last several decades. Indians just like citizens of many other nations are "First class citizens Victims of third class governance" but there is a ray of hope in sight we just have to be more vigilant and precise in how we use the tool of electoral process, thanks to prominent activists such as Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal slowly but surely change is brewing through greater public voice in day to day governance. I'd also like to mention Jeffrey Sachs name who is one of the greatest economists of the 21st century he has inspired my thinking in the fight against poverty by his magnificent book called The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. He has taken India's case for the fight against poverty as he has used examples of number of other countries such as Bangladesh, Bolivia and China. He mentions India in the 9th chapter and titles it India's Market Reforms: The Triumph of Hope over fear. I also deeply value the years of my life lived in the United States and Canada where I have had the great privilege to learn and experience first hand the functioning and successes of these two countries economic models. Hope may prevail against fear. Hope may prevail against fear. May god be with us every step of the way in our attempts for a better tomorrow. thanks. Luv Patel |
I agree well with Prof.Dominic. Kerala;s material progress is capital bought from the deserts. When the gulf deserts dry, so will Kerala's material progress. Paddy fields will then come to life and life will return to the now deserted region of kerala where men toil in the nomadic deserts of the gulf . Unfortunately the so called qualified pundits of Indian economy see kerala's material gain as a progress when it is an illusion beyond compare. This will also happen only when the men who left Keral must come back and work the land, since the locals are steeped with insecurity of considering agriculture as beneath menial. O let my country AWake - Do we who sit in the Northern hemisphere go back along with our children raised here to uplift the lands . Let us be proud of calling farmers first than writers or poets, only then will Kerala lift itself from the dungeoning depths of poverty of worth and security. Thank You |