Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 5, Number 1. May 2022. ISSN: 2581-7094
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The
pent-up angst and compassion for the animals and the wildlife – in a
topsy-turvy anthropocentric world prefabricated by the greedy Homo sapiens – simmering
in the minds and hearts of many a right-thinking people has, as if by some deus
ex machina, found its way in the form of the overwhelming response to the
Theme of Animal Poetics. This genuine passion and compassion of the poets and
writers rendezvousing on the banks of the Teesta would not go in vain, for
noble and sublime ideas are powerful and procreative. Sooner or later, they are
bound to have their effect. My salutations to all of the contributors, and to
the Teesta Review team captained by Jaydeep Sarangi and Zinia Mitra but for
whose call I wouldn’t have conceived and curated this special feature.
It’s
heartening that a good number of leading writers, environmentalists and animal
lovers have contributed to the Theme and duly enriched it. My gratefulness to
each and every one of them. To make the soulful feature appeal even to the eye,
I have taken care to lace each writing with germane images.
Seeing
the widespread cruelty against the animals, of whom willy-nilly we are a part,
many of us feel like a whipped dog. A dog is a faithful and endearing creature,
though it may not be our pet, and is a street urchin. It’s an unpaid watchman
guarding our locality. Yet we throw stones on it, the poor shelter-less one. Downpour
or blazing heat, they have to fend for themselves, scouring for a morsel of
food and mouthful of water. If any of the canines happens to hurt any of us,
provoked or unprovoked (and these incidents are rare but always blown out of
proportion), we raise a hue and cry and demand that they be neutered or
relocated to a strange place or decimated en masse. The same complaint
is raised against the pigs and hogs, denying their instinct of self-defence.
What
about a man killing a man? In fact, these homicides have become a daily routine.
But, do we give a call for the genocide of the residential or social group the
killer belongs to?
While
meat-eating can’t be faulted or wished away – for it’s part of human nature
rooted in the animal instinct to kill the animals for his food – let it be done
in a painless manner, and avoiding poaching and hunts for pleasure. After all,
life is life, and pain is pain whether it is for man or animal.
Be
it a rat, a frog, a mosquito, a cobra, a crow, a koel, or a peacock – they have
their own individuality, beauty and purpose. They have their role to play in
the web of creation of which we too are s part but that part should not
jettison away or exclude the non-humans. Otherwise, it would be suicidal for us
in the long run, and it would be too late and difficult to make a course
correction.
For
each species of the animal kingdom to survive respectably, we should not resort
to minimising or destroying the natural resources like mountains, forests and
water bodies. We should take conscious measures to ensure that our
concretisation sprees shouldn’t cast an adverse impact on the movement and
survival of the wildlife, for a symbiotic ethos only would give us real
happiness.
A
silver lining is, nowadays, we are seeing that many of the newspapers and magazines
are devoting a fair amount of space to the environmental issues. Let’s hope
that the process gains a greater momentum.
Also,
let each of us – besides writing about ecological balance and animal welfare – try
our best to contribute our physical, financial and moral support to the
organisations and individuals concerned. Charity should begin at home. So, even
as I was vetting this Feature, I had donated my mites for the cause.
Now,
cruise through the rich variety of contents and share them with the interested
– for the overall good of eco-harmony.
(Guest
Editor)
Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry