Often we have many experiences throughout our lives. But its
very rare when it touches that deep chord in ones heart… rather in my case, a
strong blow to the heated up experience. It will stay with me forever. This
happened during my daily commute to my workplace.
The slow inching Bangalore traffic at the speed of 150 m/s
came to a halt at yet another signal. I was sitting at the window and decided
to look around, also looking to pass the time before my patience wades away.
The bus had halted right in front of a butcher shop. I
usually shun away from the stench and gore associated with it. However, I was
looking at the birds in their cages. Some were sitting idly in the corner, one
just got up and sat to another corner, one went over and had some sort of a squabble
with its cell mate, another one was pecking away at the bucket placed in the
corner. I was fascinated for some reason. I was looking at this one bird which
was looking outside the cage, when it suddenly started shrieking terribly
followed by all the other birds in the cage.
This man was walking towards the cage, unmindful of their
cries. The sheer struggle and plead of every bird in the cage to escape his
clutches of death was so painful to bear. You don’t need to be a Dr Dolittle to
know what those cries mean. Despite having had no freedom and being cooped
within a cage all its life, it fought as viciously as it could, pleaded as
desperately as possible to be spared its life.
It broke my heart…
And to imagine that some random human being would consume
the dead body of an animal that went through so much pain just moments before
it was killed (not to mention its lifelong struggle to be fed and grown to
health, only to be slaughtered).
I implore all the non vegetarians to have this experience.
Please go to the nearest butcher shop, and watch the butcher pick out the bird
from the cage, listen and take in every cry, every tremor and shriek from the
birds.. Watch him take out his knife and kill the bird and skin it for you. And
then proceed to consume your priced chicken.
: - (
For those who can stay through the whole process, and still
proceed to eat the chicken, I honestly marvel at your strength (Read as ‘insensitivity’).
There are a lot of reasons to go veg which have been
expounded very well: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/article/why-go-veg-learn-about-becoming-a-vegetarian/
However this is my opinion which struck my mind deeply.
