ANIMAL IN STINKS

The animal in us stinks.  Think of Nithari, of Mohinder Singh Pander and his servant Surendra Koli.  Think of picking up the newspaper every morning, or switching on the TV news in the evening, to be bombarded with gut wrenching images of decomposed bodies, skulls and bones.  Think of wailing and angry parents, corrupt policemen and insensitive politicians.  Is it human or animal behaviour?

The law of the jungle is – might is right.  The law of the ocean is that the big fish eats the small fish.  That is one side of animal behaviour.  What of the other side?  A tiger or leopard will not kill until it is hungry.  After it is satiated it leaves the rest of the carcass to smaller predators, like hyenas and jackals.  No matter how venomous a snake, it bites only if stepped upon or attacked.  On the other hand the dove, the symbol of peace, is all aggression if its nestlings are attacked by a sparrow hawk.  These are the laws of nature.  They do not have a moral or penal code; but nature has endowed animals, birds and fish with basic instincts that they adhere to.

This irony struck me with great force a few days before Christmas.  I was watching a comedy show on TV presented by Raju Srivastava of Great Indian Laughter Challenge fame.  He was joking about how we pass derogatory remarks about dogs, or how we call people dogs if we want to denigrate them.  I too laughed.  Two days later I cried, when I recalled those dialogues.  Our pet dog, Rocky, died suddenly.  I was stunned.  One month later I am not yet reconciled to his death.  We remember the good things after death.  Rocky, a boxer, never growled, barked or bit any human being.  But he loved chasing animals and catching rats.  After catching them he would lick them, as though he was saying, “Hey look, I didn’t mean to hurt you”.  When a young crow fell out of its nest Rocky did not attack it.  He kept licking it to revive it.  His mate Pebbles was smaller than him, but she invariably bullied him and he let her have her way.  Rocky was a gentleman boxer.  He was an animal.  But the likes of Mohinder Singh Pander are beasts, that are not just a burden, but a slur on humanity.

Those who saw the 1970’s blockbuster “Sholay” will remember the dialogue about parents telling their children to go to sleep lest Gabbar Singh came.  Now parents don’t allow their children to play outside unaccompanied, lest there be a Mohinder Singh lurking in the shadows.

God made humans in his own likeness and image.  He endowed humans with the knowledge of good and evil – a moral sense.  God is love.  Love grants freedom, a freedom that must be exercised in a responsible manner.  We call it free will.  Each human being is responsible for his or her own thoughts and actions.  We have the spark of the divine in us.  We also have a carnal fire burning.  It can erupt like a volcano.

Volcanoes don’t erupt overnight.  The pressure keeps building over a period of time.  There are also ample warnings of trouble brewing, which we need to heed if we want to circumvent or prevent explosive situations.  Mohinder Singh has reportedly studied in Christian institutions.  Did they have no impact on him?  Singh is a family man, with a wife and children.  He reportedly has a flourishing business, and is not really in need of anything.  So what made Singh what he is now revealed to be – a sadistic rapist, butcher, cannibal, and the personification of all evil?  More importantly, could such a monster be lurking in us, or in our children?  Can we see the signs before the volcano erupts?

A senior seminary professor once said to me that most Catholic priests are celibate, not by choice, but because of lack of circumstances, or fear of consequences.  We may, or may not, agree with his observation, but we should pay heed to the three key words – choice, circumstances, consequences.

CHOICE:  We have freedom of choice.  It is influenced by both internal dispositions and external factors.  There are many who are quick to blame the media for over exposure of sex and violence.  But I ask, “Where was the media when Cain killed Abel?” It could hardly be attributed to external influences.  It was an internal disposition, a state of mind.  Every one of us has the freedom to choose between good and evil.  So let us not play the blame game, or pass the buck to others.  This means that we have a grave responsibility, to live a morally upright and virtuous life, and inculcate such values in our children; and those entrusted to our care as educators, pastors or leaders.

CIRCUMSTANCES:  As the saying goes, “Those who play with fire can get burnt.”  We need to avoid fanning the flames of passion that lurk deep within us.  If we read pornographic material, or watch blue films, our imaginations will run wild.  We will then look for opportunities to indulge our fantasies, passions and blood lust.  Prevention is better than cure.  We need to avoid all such circumstances, and set an example to our children.

CONSEQUENCES:  Where love and sanity fail, fear acts as a powerful deterrent.  We need to understand that any evil act invites divine displeasure.  It causes injury and pain to others.  And ultimately we will have to face the consequences of our evil deeds, sooner or later.  Hitler, Saddam or Bush; the day of reckoning always dawns. There is also the criminal justice system, the long arm of the law.

If lust, passion, greed, pride (whatever you want to call it) are the roots of all evil, we need to root them out.  We need to learn respect for the “other “.  The “other” in fact is part of my own self, a member of the same body, the human family.  We need to be humble in our approach to others, and be sensitive to their feelings.  We should strive to live a life of simplicity.  As the saying goes, “A little is enough to satisfy necessity.  Nothing is enough to satisfy sensuality”.  Sedentary lifestyles and couch potatoes are fertile grounds for volcanic eruptions.  Youth, especially, need physical exercise, to take part in sports and breathe in the great outdoors.  We must encourage co-education, so that from an early age we recognise the “other” as a human being with intelligence, talent and feelings.

St. Francis of Assisi, seeing a criminal being led to the gallows said, “There goes Francis, but for the grace of God.”  We need to acknowledge our dependence on God, and his presence in our lives.  We discover this in our prayer life.  Without that the animal in us will continue to stink.