We are trying to overcome this pandemic, loss of lives, stress, economic depression, poverty. I get that. I understand human pain and suffering. The world is lost and broken. But what is disheartening is that even amidst all this chaos, there are humans, our brothers and sisters, who go out of their way to invite more calamities to this God-forsaken planet. Everyone must have heard of the pregnant elephant killed mercilessly in Palakkad, Kerala. Why is it that people, in spite of suffering so much for the past few months, take it upon themselves to make others suffer even more. Is this what being a human means? That you grow and thrive on the pain of others, of mute animals andpersecuted humans. What is wrong with people? Photographs of the unborn elephant calf are doing rounds on the internet today showcasing the cruelty and apathy of discourteous brutes who thought ofmaking ‘fun’ of the poor female elephant.
Now that I decipher this event, it’s not just animal cruelty, is it? Humans are not naturally wired for evil; they thrust themselves into it. Not even understanding and constantly undermining the consequences of their actions, people have a habit of doing things ‘their’ way. And, God-forbid, if someone tries to point out, they are called radicals, terrorists, and usually labelled using the messed up dictionary of unjust phrases. After assigning these (im)proper labels, they are categorised according to their crime and put away, incarcerated or done with, whatever satisfies curiosity. These foul people, I must say, are not difficult to understand. Their actions provide clear evidence of their insecurities. To prosper on someone’s pain, crush a better educated individual, belittle someone of gifted morals, or agonize a pregnant elephant are actions carried out by those who have soiled hearts and corrupt ethics to begin with. To make up for the void that will never fill, an abyss that will forever remain devoid of love or respect or reason, they murder. What a pathetic way to prepare for the reckoning!
The world is burning. Humans are suffering. This pandemic is clearing civilizations like locusts clearing crops. I understand human pain and suffering. But what about those who suffer in silence? Those who have been suffering since humans began proliferating and killing millions of their kind in one go. Those who wanted food but were given fire instead. How will the superior humans face these inferior lives, those they brutally killed for fun or excitement? What will their words read at the end of time? Are words enough? Don’t they need an additional language or a proficient lawyer? How will they justify their crime?
Other privileged people will talk. They will express their solidarity or concern only when they want to or, more appropriately, when the world is watching. Nobody will go out of their way to support, help, and work for the voiceless, deprived, forgotten yet resolute. What shall remain are stories like these. Of a poor pregnant elephant or a black man or an oppressed community being clobbered to death.
