The abandoned patio..

The place you witness in the picture I've put here is my terrace. There were days when I spent more than 4 hours at a stretch on my terrace. Since the whole locality is considered to be the hub of cultural heritage and dominated primarily by residential structures, you can't find even a single obstruction at least for the next 4 or 5 kilometers, which would be quite clear if you have a glance at Chennai from my terrace. I can't assure you of the visibility of the whole of Chennai city from here because mine isn't the tallest apartment in the region. Also, you can enjoy the cool winds blowing across your body when you pay a visit to my terrace after 6 P.M. Most of my friends prefer spending time on the terrace than within my place, which, I guess, is because of the fact that the kittens have made a complete mess of the whole place. Even I opt for my terrace if given a choice to select my living place. :P These are quite smaller significances that cling on to the terrace. It means a lot to those small birds, which have become frequent visitors to our terrace since my mom love them as much as she loves me and feeds them with boiled rice made from what is known as the Rs.2 rice bags provided by the Government. I don't know how these birds convince themselves to take their beaks on their feed for it smells like something that smells really bad. I don't know what the worst smell I've ever experienced in my life is. But, I am quite sure the smell of this feed for birds made out of the rice provided at a very low price by the Tamil Nadu Government would occupy a place on the list of top 10 extremely bad smelling food items in the world! I have a strong feeling that says these birds don't have the sense of smell. It has been raining pretty heavily for the past few days and the roads are almost lost and may be found when the rain water stagnant on the surface drains off in few days and the Government sends its team comprising of Archeological experts to dig out the road which it laid for use by the people of the state. Our terrace had greater exposure to the heavy downpour and this restricted birds and squirrels from coming out of their warm and cozy nests built of twigs and other things which we threw calling them 'WASTES'. With the surface being wet for these creatures to even step on, I don't know where they are getting their feeds from for the past few gray and wet days. I've never seen my terrace so empty in the past and I was shocked to find not even a single living creature moving briskly across the terrace, which was a very common sight few days back. The terrace which was once flooding with squirrels and birds like crows, pigeons, woodpeckers and black dodo is now wearing an empty look, which is really worrying. I wish to see things come back to normal sooner and the blue sky as early as possible so that I can make sure these creatures still remember our terrace that was once hosting food carnivals for all these tiny living creatures on every single day. I am expecting the best for all these tiny friends of mine before long! :-)

Grief-stricken kitten..

I know what comes to your mind immediately after viewing the picture I've put up here. This is the first time I am talking about my kittens on my blog. This is also the first time I am talking about my personal experiences in bringing up four young ones belonging to the cute cat family which found a place to dwell in my house. These kittens are cute, They are cute, They are adorable. And they are completely mischievous. My parents were totally against the idea of keeping these four kittens in the house which looked smaller than my palm immediately after their birth. They even told me they can find a good shelter for them somewhere outside on the road. The very word 'Road' crushes all the safety that could possibly be provided to these kittens till they grow large enough to at least run away from common threats like stray dogs, bigger cats and the vehicles driven by ruthless drivers.


I couldn't imagine these small and innocent creatures suffering the agony of which would be forced on them if they are exposed to the world outside my house. Hence, I decided to keep them safe within my room so that none of my family members would be bothered by these kittens. Initially, they faced serious threats from bigger cats and one huge cat almost brought the life of brawny, the golden-brown kitten in the above picture, to an end when he was just 2 months old. About a month back, the kitten that is white with patches of light golden-brown which can be found sitting briskly while the other three are dozing off fast, suffered a severe stomach disorder. From the way he moved around the place, I realized there was something terribly wrong with his stomach. Also, his mew was not as loud as the other three. One day, I found that his stomach had started bulging and that was when I knew he was critical. I searched the net for some remedies but found nothing. The next day, he lost control of the saliva production in his mouth and I found lathers around his mouth. I knew it was too late. But, I couldn't find a way to help him. He was just 3 months old when these symptoms were detected. His body temperature started increasing and that was when I came to know he was suffering from a severe bacterial infection. It was too late now. He started counting his hours. For one last time, I wanted to hold the kitten I loved to play with in my hand. His eyes reflected how tired he was. I looked into his eyes and felt he was asking me to help him get the problem out of his stomach. I was pathetic. I couldn't look at him after that since he started struggling awfully. He stopped moving around. He sat at a place for more than 8 hours continuously without food and water. It was 3.30 A.M when I left him in my room and went out to the hall. I was back to the room at 6.30 A.M just to find three kittens sitting beside an immobile kitten with its jaw wide open. He finally escaped the pain he had been suffering for few days then. I wasn't prepared for the job but I knew I had no choice. I dug the grave for him at the backyard and buried him with a heavy heart, with the hope that he will reappear in the form of a plant very soon.


I wasn't prepared for another such incident and very soon, Blacky, the black kitten, started suffering the same symptoms as his brother did before he went to the heavens. I wanted to act quick and sensible and took the three kittens to a vet clinic. The doctor diagnosed the real cause of what the kitten suffered from. It was a kitten fever which would cost the kitten's life if left unnoticed. He injected the white kitten with black and brown spots and Blacky since they were running on a moderate temperature. Brawny seemed to be extremely normal, and a bit overactive, and hence the doc decided to vaccinate him. The total cost of all the injections was $20. I never cared about the money. I want the kittens to be alive as long as they are with me. And also after they go out of the house into the wide world. Now, the three kittens are in great shape and they have grown big! But, they are so affectionate towards me which prevents them from going out of my room during night times. All they need to have a peaceful night sleep are Air-conditioner that should run for about 20 minutes, a warm and cozy blanket to make themselves secure in it. After all, they are living creatures smaller than human beings. Their lives are in no way inferior to our lives. They are as important as human beings are to me. :-)

As far as this kitten is concerned, I would remember him as long as my I meet him again in the heavens. :-)

Animals still rule the world!!

If you have the patience to go through the entire post, you can call yourself an animal lover. Do you really think we give these creatures which are deprived of the ability to express their emotions as we do the needed and the real value? I consider animals as good as humans. After all, a man is a sociable animal. Respecting animals so much as you respect human beings is highly essential. I can cite so many incidents I came across so far where animals were tormented to keep man's business going. When I was in 11th standard, I found few boys smaller than me running after a rat on the road. I expected them not to hurt that defenseless creature. But, I felt really disheartened watching what happened after that. Those three boys pounded the rat using a stone that would have weighed at least 10kgs. The rat managed to escape the assault and started running for its life again with enormous scratches and bruises on its back. Our boys, in no position to give up their brave attempt on a powerful rat, chased it down and used the same guerrilla attack. This time, fate failed to give the rat a second chance. All that was there in the end was a rat that was brutally killed after few final painful seconds. Everything happened before I could stop pedaling and get down from the bicycle. Now what is the use in taking those 3 nasty brats to task? I was as pathetic as that rat was before it died very badly.

This is just one of several incidents that take place everyday but fail to get our attention. Once I happened to find a bullock cart just opposite to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. For the amount of load the cart carried, even a pair of bullocks wouldn't be sufficient to drag the cart comfortably or at least with the least pain on their backs. This man was forcing the bull so hard to pull the cart that appeared like a pile of sandbags and to add to this, the animal was made to go uphill along the road that should actually be called a subway. I was wondering what amount of effort the bull would have put in keeping the load stable behind it while coming down the slope.

A lot of such incidents happened on my way to college in all these 4 years. Grand South Trunk is so grand only in its name. My journey to college covered 27km of the road that can rightly be called as the road to hell for most of those unlucky stray dogs that managed to find their places along the roadside of GST. Since that is the primary road that connects Chennai to the places in Southern Part of Tamil Nadu directly, heavy vehicle traffic is always at its peak even at night times. The poor dogs with no shelter try to reach the other side of the road but unfortunately, the heavy wheels of the road imps in the form of trucks and lorries driven by ruthless drivers who give away nothing for the lives of these poor creatures, make most of them as flat as the road is. What I got to see on the road were dried skins of dogs that became preys to the wheels. Whenever I see this visual, something in me tells 'That was the skin which was covering a live creature which was once fondled by its mother when it was a pup'. Thus, drivers on GST don't use two things-brakes and their brains.

People, we forget the fact that humans have been on this earth only for the past few thousand years. Animals are here for more than millions of years. It's their world and we are here using it as a rent-free place to dwell. Therefore, it’s very important to respect the lives of animals and give them priority over human beings who are most of the times shelled by intentions. Your dog wags its tail on seeing you for no reason. But, a man won't talk to you unless a reason drives him. That is the difference between these two animals. So, next time if anyone calls you a dog, feel proud that you are put at a level above human beings.

If there is one man who deserves real respect, that would be Mr.Sundaram who paved the way for the establishment of the society of Blue cross, Madras.

He was the man who couldn't just go away after he saw two pups struggling for their lives along the roadside. He gave them shelter. He founded the Blue Cross society of Madras. Saving an animal life equals helping 100 orphans. Stop the atrocities caused to animals. Don't just walk away like a selfish human next time you see an animal suffering. Don't let an animal suffer because of you. Let us try to be humans which is how we are known. Now, humans are supposed to visit the site given below at least once:

http://www.bluecross.org.in/

It takes not more than Rs.1000/- from you to become a member of the Blue Cross Society. Your money will help the society feed some of the animals in bad living conditions. This is more divine than donating thousand bottles of blood to save human lives.

Animals are known for their loyalty. Man is considered as a liability.

This is still a world that belongs to them. Don't try to grab it away from them.