Do animals talk? Most certainly they do, it is just that they talk with their actions rather than mouths. But shockingly, I got a written message in no unclear terms by the most majestic of all feline creatures, the Royal Bengal Tiger. Instead of spotting him, I found a gut thrashing, frustrated letter tethering unto a branch in the forests of Bandipur. I am attaching a copy as evidence.
“Dear selfish, greedy and debased human species, I am overly glad that I am not one of you. I am audacious and will do no beating around the bush. God thought he was creating you in his wondrous likeness, little did he know that he was creating Frankenstein who would rampage His entire creation itself. In his brilliance he gave you intelligence but contradictory to his vision, we the mute and lesser creatures are suffering it as acts of your demented brains.
Aren’t you ashamed of your hypocrisy in the least? Have you ever considered putting yourself in your victims’ shoes? No you wouldn’t have because you have turned into such soulless ego maniacs where the world revolves only around you. Little do you realize, that with your self-obsessive behaviour, you have robbed away any opportunity of a beautiful, healthy and balanced world from your own off springs. How would it feel if somebody just stopped by at your house and started shooting and hammering down your walls? Let me tell you, with all your wealth, intelligence and insurance policies you would still be as frightened, as anxious and as troubled as any of us are, here in the open. And what would your reaction be if it became known that all this gunning and plundering was done for some virile amusement of the perpetrators or worse a few millions wired from one bank account to another.
This is what you have done to us, to our homes and our playgrounds. You have incessantly snatched away what little we needed, leaving us bereft of any security, any joy and our own progeny. And all for your voracious, insatiable avarice. How do you even sleep at night after such heinous crimes? And don’t you bask in your foolish ignorance that these crimes were against some dumb animals that were created for your amusement and gluttony in the first place. No. Just to remind you of your class 5th and 6thlessons, we were created in perfect harmony with you so that this world thrives beautifully as much for you as for us in immaculate balance of man-animal relationship. But you have disrupted the sync to no end and taken pride. This inane arrogance of yours flabbergasts me totally.
Yet, this was not enough for you. After felling our jungles and leaving us homeless, you very conveniently made your own star resorts in the middle of it, to escape from your pathetic rigmarole into our wilderness. Tell me something, if somebody destructs your home and builds his own there without any right or reason to do so, how would you feel and react. We felt the same agony but still reacted better than you. We showed extreme patience and let you barge deeper and deeper into our territory. But you, who are drowned in the deepest waters of narcissism and self glory, refuse to see beyond your interests and excitement. You replaced our humble rugged terrain into tar roads zipping and zooming like a race track. Your cities are crying of potholes and patched roads, which need the tar and road rollers so much more than our depraved abodes but your sadistic blindness does not let you see that or retarded intelligence does not comprehend the necessity of the tasks.
Despite this repugnant nuisance, I had a glimmer of hope in your heart and mind but it has long vanished now. You vandals, who don’t stop at red lights or zebra crossings for pedestrians in your cities, what on earth was I thinking that you wouldn’t blare your horns for a herd of deer crossing in a reserved forest. Why do you treat us with such apathy, callousness and absolute disrespect? And if so, why do you come fawning behind to catch a glimpse of us. We don’t want your vile love, care or attention. For God’s sake just leave us alone.
But let me tell you one thing, your idiocy and ignorance is such a laughing stock in our entire community. True, we weren’t created as geniuses but gee! we aren’t as dumb as you are or as you assume us to be. Imagine, some robbers come to your house, shatter it and take away everything you hold dear. What sentiments do you hold for them? Rage, rancour and bitterness. This is exactly what we hold for you. You destroy our homes yet turn up gallantly as uninvited guests and expect what, that we pose for you with our cubs in tow? We are not your obsequious slaves. Yes, I am so thrilled at the idea that you have wasted plenty of money, time and effort just to catch my vaguest glimpse. But I will not show up. None of us will. We are into deep hiding and we will not come out till you leave. Not because we are scared but because we are frustrated to our cores and we want to see that frustration on you when time and again your safaris return fruitless.
First, you set up traps to kill us then you run campaigns to conserve us. Why this mockery of our lives? No matter what you do, sooner or later we are going to be wiped away from this planet with the tumultuous breakdown of the ecosystem, for which you are single-handedly and unabashedly responsible. And don’t be naive enough to think that you will still be able to live without consequences. Grave and grim future awaits your species and kin. So revel in your shameless and mindless orgy while it lasts because a terrible curse of natural disaster is spawning to seize your world in the years to come.
I am not spewing hatred just giving you a reality check. You have done us enough wrong but we will wait for the Law of Karma to take its course of justice. Till then I wish you Happy Safari.
Exasperatedly yours,
Royal Bengal Tiger”
