This
post has been written by Mr.Chandrashekhar, a graphic designer by profession
and one of the readers of this blog... sharing with us an experience that
taught him a zillion lessons! ;)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I
have been a part of the YES!+ for a few months having done my first course in
October-November 2012 and have previously attended weekly Satsangs in Gagangiri
Ashram, Malabar Hill. I was invited for a live guided meditation by Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar on 12-12-12 publicized as ‘12-12-12: A New Beginning’ by the much
admired YES!+ teacher, Shibani Sachdeva. Having attended the morning live
Meditation I was eager to attend the evening session as well.
The
events that unfolded on the way to my teacher’s house truly gave my life ‘A New
Beginning’ and I’m more than happy to say that this holds true for a few others
around me.
As I had plenty of time on my hand, I decided to walk it up to my teacher’s house which is at Colaba from my institute which is near VT at 4:30pm. The guided live meditation on this occasion which has cosmological significance was scheduled at 5:30pm. At around 4:40pm, I was crossing the Fashion street next to the Azad Maidan where I came across an unusual sight, one that other Mumbaikars may be familiar with.
Four
2ft x 2ft wooden cages, containing 60 birds in all were placed unattended on a
hath gadi (Hand cart) parked behind a tourist bus. Initially I did not pay much
heed to this sight as the only thing in my mind was the live meditation
starting in another 45 minutes. Had it not been for the cries of the birds, I
would have been there.
The
hideous sight reminded of the times when I didn't raise my voice for the poor
voiceless beings earlier. I too like you have seen animals especially poultry
being ill treated on several occasions. The only thing different this time was
I decided not to keep shut and move on.
While
my initial interrogation, the people handling the cages were reluctant to say
anything, but only after some threats did the drunken conductor spill the
beans. They were about to be subjected to a 12hour torturous journey to Goa,
and that too... to my horror was without food or water!!!!
I
immediately called Shibani Sachdeva, my teacher who I knew had good NGO
contacts. She told me to stay with the birds and get pictures as well as names
and numbers of the people involved in this operation and said she will send
someone over soon. But it was out of fear that the people so associated refused
to reveal their identity.
After
the lack of co-operation, I approached the person shown to me as the owner. The
owner told me that he usually sells his birds within Bombay but since Christmas
was coming he had received a bulk order from a "Goan rearing farm".
In
a few minutes I got a call from a lawyer who also represented PFA(People for
animals) who warned me to be on my toes as the whole activity of transporting
geese(both domestic and wild), turkeys and wild ducks was illegal and that
she'll reach the scene soon!
On
her arrival she confirmed that both the geese and the ducks were classified as
'wild animals' by the Indian law, and that their slaughter and consumption was
against the law.
We
successfully stalled the bus and barred all activities pertaining to the same.
We alerted the police immediately who were there in about 20 minutes.
Every
few minutes members from various NGO’s including a Jain NGO and other animal
welfare organizations poured in to lend their support. It was an overwhelming
experience to see how my determination to free these birds got so many nature
lovers together in one evening. I wish to thank Mahavir and Jain NGO's for
their overwhelming support!
My
teacher along with the lawyer helped me document the incident. Subsequently an
FIR was also lodged. The animal welfare activists finally arranged for
transportation at 11:00pm with the consent of the police to shift the birds to
the SPCA Animal Hospital at Parel who willingly extended their support along
with housing, until the case was resolved.
Their
future is dependent on a court hearing on the matter, however with the lack of
interest from the police their future remains uncertain.
Mr.Chandrashekhar big salute :)
ReplyDelete