Why cant we learn to live like Kallu?

The canine sense of fairness is indisputable. They know their territorial rights and guard them well. There can be no intruder- biped or quadruped-in the area they claim to have legitimate proprietorship. It is astounding that just with their bark (probably they know barking dogs don’t bite), they hound all those who dare to step into their territory. They don’t need any weapons since they have the lung power to let out their arsenal.

Kallu has taken proprietorship of the space in front of the ground floor while we live above on the first. He is rich black and at night you cannot distinguish him from the black of the night. You can only hear his presence. If you are an audile person (the word is used as a psychological term to denote a person who possesses a faculty for auditory imagery that is more distinct than his visual or other imagery) you will recognize how well his barks are nuanced to express a variety of his moods- of ferocity, of a deep sense of hurt, of his friendship and loyalty for the hands that feed him and of his grumpiness when left behind all alone in his mighty little kingdom. If your ears are well tuned to his bark, you can easily guess if an intruder or a cat or one of his own species  has entered your precincts or if a monkey has sauntered atop your parked car or if a friend whom he has seen and accepted as his master’s friend is at your doorstep.

Unfortunately Kallu has no royal pedigree to boast. Where he came from, who were his parents, where have gone his siblings- are million dollar questions that are beyond anyone’s knowledge. Suffice it to say, Kallu has a smooth silky skin and handsome looks as though he hails from an aristocratic lineage. Just put a red ribbon around his neck – that is enough to confirm his pedigree.  Whenever I see the bright, black, aristocratic Kallu coming from nowhere, I am reminded of the famous song by the Tamil poet Bharatiyar, “ Engiruntho Vandan”  

He came from somewhere, he came from somewhere

He obeys orders, he protects my family

I see my affection growing

The goodness I receive from him

Cannot be spoken without an end.

Kallu does not belong to us. He has accepted us as his neighbour. When I get down the stairs, he is there to greet me .He stretches his front paws as though he is doing a ‘Shahtanga  Namaskar’ ( a symbol of complete submission) and then walks with me till the end of the gate to see me off. His pride and regality are infectious. I am filled with pride that someone walks with me as my commando though his jurisdiction stops at the gate.

Kallu is typical of many of his species including the many lesser species who are not blessed with Kallu’s good looks. But all of them are one in their unstinted love and devotion to their master or mistress so long as you don’t trespass into the territory they have demarcated for themselves. So it is with Kallu-any infringement on his territory- as trivial as picking up a speck of dust- is enough to provoke him. Otherwise, you go your way, you do what you want- even if you hug a pup that has come home,  it is of no concern for Kallu. Everyone is his friend so long as that friend keeps to his territory.

After receiving his daily salute and namaskar and I walked towards the metro station, I realized how foolish we humans are fighting with each other because we want everyone  to follow what we claim to be our way of life. Human beings have grouped themselves into hermetic confines of different nationalism and want everyone to follow what they profess and practice. The uniformity that human beings want to impose on fellow humans conflicts with the existent diversity that makes the world. Imposition is penal in intent as it is closely twined with majoritarianism that is hoisted by authoritarianism. The violence emanating from IS and other Jihadi groups is the most terrorizing and de-humanising form of imposition. Territorial challenges in the Gaza border, Doklam,  Kashmir, Korea and in a host of other borders between nations arise out of human inability to give others their space to live, breathe, eat, worship and attend to their own needs. Why can’t we follow the canine species- to each to his territory and follow what each believes in? Why can’t we remain happy in what we believe to be good rather than expect everyone to be a copycat version of ourselves. Let us remain happy where we are and let us leave others to find their own kind of happiness wherever they are.

Unfortunately today, India known for its tolerance and acceptance of diversity, has acquired a pejorative title “banistan’ for we are constantly at the game of banning  one thing or the other in the name of imposing uniformity in taste, culture, habit, custom, wont, practice, dress, and last but the most important, religious faith and associated rituals. We have forgotten the simple truth “Variety is the spice of life.”  While Marcel Proust wrote “The regularity of a habit is generally in proportion to its absurdity", his successor cum disciple, Samuel Beckett had this succinct one liner:”Habit is a great deadener”. All that is left of life today is ennui and boredom resulting from repetition of actions that we believe should not be tampered with. How boring it is to eat the same food day in and day out! How dull and dreary to read books of one kind? How deadening it is to do the same tasks every day? In Homer’s words, later echoed by Shakespeare,”How tedious is life as a twice-told tale?”

Recent pronouncements in UP about banning Christmas celebrations by Hindus is not only disturbing; it is destroying the human spirit that seeks variety and colour that add zing to  our mundane existence. If Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ,sporting Indian attire enjoy  lighting a lamp at Diwali celebrations, why does  India look inwards and refuse to celebrate Christmas with gaiety? Does practice of Hinduism prohibit Hindus from celebrating the birth of Christ who is revered as the Son of God by Christians? Religion does not have a territory other than the world we live in. It signifies a practice of faith in a god of one’s choice. It can be Ram or Rahim, Shiva or Jehova, Madhav or Allah. “There is only one God. Endless are his aspects and endless are his names”. So long as one has his strong roots in the religion he is born into, he has no right to deny his neigbour the right to follow the faith of his choice. It is true vice versa. If our world is to survive as the people’s planet, it is important to accept to live and let live. Otherwise it is the beginning of the end of the world.

In imitation of professor Higgins who asked ‘why can’t the English learn to speak English?’ let us ask ourselves ‘why cant we learn to live like Kallu?’