Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Animals and rides…
... or "lifts" as they call it here.
Another week, another narrative…
This week, I don’t have any big personal stories of “good deeds” to share but I do have a small action that my husband did one morning that made us feel nice. I also have info. about an animal shelter in Bangalore and their reach out for help.
....
Access roads from my home to the main road are dismal (I think I have said more than enough about this). Ever since we moved into the flats we now live in, my husband has been dropping me off to the main road about a km or two away (as public transport is hard to come by near the house). I take an auto to work from there and we follow the same regimen in the evening – he comes and picks me up from the main road. Lots of work for him, and I am grateful. I will soon get my driver’s license (I hope) and I will start to drive. Then I’ll have different adventures to write about :)
Here’s an experience…on the morn of Aug 24th,2006. As usual, my husband dropped me off and was on his way home riding his car through the dirt roads, leading to our flats. He had a nice experience he shared with me that morning…In his own words…
“On my way back home, after I dropped you, I saw couple of school going kids on the dirt road asking for lift. The boy is the older one and the girl younger one. The boy folded his palm and lifted his thumb and extended his hand. He was so small, one would miss that he is asking for a lift. I stopped the car to give a lift. With great difficulty, the boy opened the door and got in. The girl followed next. Both sat in the front seat. I asked him where they have to go and asked whether they understand English. He said "Puttenahalli". I understood they speak only Kannada. I told them I will drop them at the end of Brigade Millenium. At the end of Brigade I stopped the car and opened the door like a valet. They got out. The girl happily said "tah-tah". The boy is first grade and the girl probably Pre-KG!”
We teach our kids not to talk to strangers and not to take rides. It could be dangerous.
But this was a spontaneous act done with a pure heart and mind. Often times, I see men on scooters/bike, give rides to someone who “thumps a lift”. It’s a safe world, here in our neck of the woods – of course in broad daylight.
Giving a ride once in a blue moon is great, but who will address the large issues of safety of such small kids? Walking a distance of some 3-4 km each day to go to their nearest government school, through dirt roads and very narrow main streets. Treacherous roads – muddy, flooded during the rains – roads on which traffic is very heavy – buses, lorries carrying stones, marble, steel, sand and cement to build the huge luxury flats we live in. Who cares about their safety? Who is concerned about their lives? There is an awful lot to do in our own backyards. It will be good to reflect a little and do a lot.
Switching topics…
I’m “afraid” of animals. It’s this dreadfulness and extreme phobia I have. I need to get over this somehow, very soon. Cause my daughter is a great animal lover. We’ve deprived her of a pet for ages now it seems. Every birthday, she thought she would get a dog or a cat. We noticed she has been this way from when she was about 6 months old or so. The extreme joy she expressed when she saw a puppy in the pet shop, in the park or at a friends house, how excited and fearless she was while petting a bear cub and a baby raccoon at the wild animal petting zoo in Bandon (Central coastal Oregon), how comfortably she rode an elephant in India when she was 15 months old… it was very strange to me and very normal to her.
[ASIDE: One time we got her a bird (which I never once touched). I even rushed out of the house one day when the bird (parakeet) was out of the cage and was flying all over the house shouting “the bird is flying” as if birds are to do something else! We ‘borrowed” a dog and cat at one point from a friend and I was most uncomfortable around them.]
I just have this phobia but I really feel sorry/pity and extreme sadness for the plight of animals here in Bangalore city. Bullock carts and horse carriages (tongas) still roam the roads and the master/driver still gives an occasional whip to the animal to make him go faster or carry heavier loads. I guess it’s much less in-human than before, they are changing too.
This past weekend, my daughter went to a dog breeder’s house in Bangalore (Banshankari area). Her dad took her along with her two cousins. The person they visited is a Vet and breeds many dogs including Labradors and Pugs. They came back very disappointed – by the state of the house and the way the dogs were kept. He had innumerous thorough breed dogs in a very very small space (about 1200 sq. foot plot with a small house in it). The place was crowded, unclean and smelly they said. Getting a puppy from that place was ruled out I think. It was disappointing to my daughter who is now dreaming of having a dog for a pet. She’s been reading 2 fat books she’s had for years. It’s all about dogs, all kinds of dogs. She’s had these books for a few years now and reads them daily as if it were the Bible or Gita.
I received a mail at work this past week from someone in our building at work (another company). It was information about CUPA. They were asking for some much needed in-kind donations.
CUPA is an animal welfare NGO. It’s a registered trust for the welfare of animals. They are located at Hebbal, Bangalore, before the flyover, in the UAS Veterinary College campus. The mail came from one of CUPAs founders. The organization was started in 1994. They run a shelter for all animals and require newspapers and old clothes to line the cages of the ICU patients, puppies and kittens.
The appeal said “Please conduct a drive to collect newspapers and old clothes from your team members, who would like to contribute. They can leave the stuff with the Security guard near the entrance counter, on the 2nd floor. Admin will arrange for everything to be moved to the 3rd floor at the end of each day. Please help, because we are really desperately are in need of these things… winter is just around the corner….”
I have taken out some old clothers at home and want to visit them this weekend to hand the stuff and let my daughter have an opportunity to see the place and start to volunteer perhaps.
IF you or anyone you know lives in Bangalore, and would like to contribute to the CUPA drive, they can contact the organization. Details of activities, donations, how to become a member etc are on their web site: http://www.cupabangalore.org/
Good deeds are happening all around us, daily. It’s heartening news.
My husband is a Maven. If you’ve read book “Tipping Point” you’ll know the type of character I’m alluding to. And I think I’m a “Connector” in the context of the same book :) (what do you say?) My husband told me about this show and I’m letting you know :)
[ASIDE: The book “The Tipping Point – how little things can make a big difference” by Malcolm Gladwell (a #1 National Best seller) is a very interesting read. I wrote to you about this sometime before too when I was reading it]
There is a TV show about a 11 year-old from Africa (French origin) who is very comfortable with most dangerous animals and vice versa. This show will air in India on Thursdays at 7 PM on Discovery channel.
http://www.ctvtravel.ca/shows/?mode=1&id=284
Some of you would love to see this. Tune in if you are in India and are able to.
-Sri
A quote in The Times of India, Bangalore Edition – Tue, Aug 29th 2006:
“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make progress towards it” – Mahatma Gandhi
Another week, another narrative…
This week, I don’t have any big personal stories of “good deeds” to share but I do have a small action that my husband did one morning that made us feel nice. I also have info. about an animal shelter in Bangalore and their reach out for help.
....
Access roads from my home to the main road are dismal (I think I have said more than enough about this). Ever since we moved into the flats we now live in, my husband has been dropping me off to the main road about a km or two away (as public transport is hard to come by near the house). I take an auto to work from there and we follow the same regimen in the evening – he comes and picks me up from the main road. Lots of work for him, and I am grateful. I will soon get my driver’s license (I hope) and I will start to drive. Then I’ll have different adventures to write about :)
Here’s an experience…on the morn of Aug 24th,2006. As usual, my husband dropped me off and was on his way home riding his car through the dirt roads, leading to our flats. He had a nice experience he shared with me that morning…In his own words…
“On my way back home, after I dropped you, I saw couple of school going kids on the dirt road asking for lift. The boy is the older one and the girl younger one. The boy folded his palm and lifted his thumb and extended his hand. He was so small, one would miss that he is asking for a lift. I stopped the car to give a lift. With great difficulty, the boy opened the door and got in. The girl followed next. Both sat in the front seat. I asked him where they have to go and asked whether they understand English. He said "Puttenahalli". I understood they speak only Kannada. I told them I will drop them at the end of Brigade Millenium. At the end of Brigade I stopped the car and opened the door like a valet. They got out. The girl happily said "tah-tah". The boy is first grade and the girl probably Pre-KG!”
We teach our kids not to talk to strangers and not to take rides. It could be dangerous.
But this was a spontaneous act done with a pure heart and mind. Often times, I see men on scooters/bike, give rides to someone who “thumps a lift”. It’s a safe world, here in our neck of the woods – of course in broad daylight.
Giving a ride once in a blue moon is great, but who will address the large issues of safety of such small kids? Walking a distance of some 3-4 km each day to go to their nearest government school, through dirt roads and very narrow main streets. Treacherous roads – muddy, flooded during the rains – roads on which traffic is very heavy – buses, lorries carrying stones, marble, steel, sand and cement to build the huge luxury flats we live in. Who cares about their safety? Who is concerned about their lives? There is an awful lot to do in our own backyards. It will be good to reflect a little and do a lot.
Switching topics…
I’m “afraid” of animals. It’s this dreadfulness and extreme phobia I have. I need to get over this somehow, very soon. Cause my daughter is a great animal lover. We’ve deprived her of a pet for ages now it seems. Every birthday, she thought she would get a dog or a cat. We noticed she has been this way from when she was about 6 months old or so. The extreme joy she expressed when she saw a puppy in the pet shop, in the park or at a friends house, how excited and fearless she was while petting a bear cub and a baby raccoon at the wild animal petting zoo in Bandon (Central coastal Oregon), how comfortably she rode an elephant in India when she was 15 months old… it was very strange to me and very normal to her.
[ASIDE: One time we got her a bird (which I never once touched). I even rushed out of the house one day when the bird (parakeet) was out of the cage and was flying all over the house shouting “the bird is flying” as if birds are to do something else! We ‘borrowed” a dog and cat at one point from a friend and I was most uncomfortable around them.]
I just have this phobia but I really feel sorry/pity and extreme sadness for the plight of animals here in Bangalore city. Bullock carts and horse carriages (tongas) still roam the roads and the master/driver still gives an occasional whip to the animal to make him go faster or carry heavier loads. I guess it’s much less in-human than before, they are changing too.
This past weekend, my daughter went to a dog breeder’s house in Bangalore (Banshankari area). Her dad took her along with her two cousins. The person they visited is a Vet and breeds many dogs including Labradors and Pugs. They came back very disappointed – by the state of the house and the way the dogs were kept. He had innumerous thorough breed dogs in a very very small space (about 1200 sq. foot plot with a small house in it). The place was crowded, unclean and smelly they said. Getting a puppy from that place was ruled out I think. It was disappointing to my daughter who is now dreaming of having a dog for a pet. She’s been reading 2 fat books she’s had for years. It’s all about dogs, all kinds of dogs. She’s had these books for a few years now and reads them daily as if it were the Bible or Gita.
I received a mail at work this past week from someone in our building at work (another company). It was information about CUPA. They were asking for some much needed in-kind donations.
CUPA is an animal welfare NGO. It’s a registered trust for the welfare of animals. They are located at Hebbal, Bangalore, before the flyover, in the UAS Veterinary College campus. The mail came from one of CUPAs founders. The organization was started in 1994. They run a shelter for all animals and require newspapers and old clothes to line the cages of the ICU patients, puppies and kittens.
The appeal said “Please conduct a drive to collect newspapers and old clothes from your team members, who would like to contribute. They can leave the stuff with the Security guard near the entrance counter, on the 2nd floor. Admin will arrange for everything to be moved to the 3rd floor at the end of each day. Please help, because we are really desperately are in need of these things… winter is just around the corner….”
I have taken out some old clothers at home and want to visit them this weekend to hand the stuff and let my daughter have an opportunity to see the place and start to volunteer perhaps.
IF you or anyone you know lives in Bangalore, and would like to contribute to the CUPA drive, they can contact the organization. Details of activities, donations, how to become a member etc are on their web site: http://www.cupabangalore.org/
Good deeds are happening all around us, daily. It’s heartening news.
My husband is a Maven. If you’ve read book “Tipping Point” you’ll know the type of character I’m alluding to. And I think I’m a “Connector” in the context of the same book :) (what do you say?) My husband told me about this show and I’m letting you know :)
[ASIDE: The book “The Tipping Point – how little things can make a big difference” by Malcolm Gladwell (a #1 National Best seller) is a very interesting read. I wrote to you about this sometime before too when I was reading it]
There is a TV show about a 11 year-old from Africa (French origin) who is very comfortable with most dangerous animals and vice versa. This show will air in India on Thursdays at 7 PM on Discovery channel.
http://www.ctvtravel.ca/shows/?mode=1&id=284
Some of you would love to see this. Tune in if you are in India and are able to.
-Sri
A quote in The Times of India, Bangalore Edition – Tue, Aug 29th 2006:
“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make progress towards it” – Mahatma Gandhi
# posted by Sri Renganathan @ 3:06 AM 
