human beings vs divine creatures

    Today, the most discussed and debated topic of the common man and the environmentalist,alike is that of the terrible state of the earth that we are living on and destroying each moment. One very interesing trait of humans is to create a situation and then write,read,speak about it for years to come or atleast till the next juicy bit is created...whether it is directly created situations like war,nuclear power or indirecctly created ones like the environmental hazards,pollution etc  

    As a biologist,i am often exposed to these endless debates on" how and why a particular situation was created" and later "how and in what way can we salvage it"...after all we are humans,the most rational of all beings,isn't it???????????? Well, I beg to differ...we humans are most irrational of all...we are worse than animals...they follow more civic and civil rules during their lives than we can probably ever do...in fact we can learn from them...the jungle book is a perfect example of this and highlights the 'beyond the common observation and thinking skills" of the author as far as the animal world is concerned. If we really care to look beyond our snooty nose and high headed demeanor,every creature,however small or big,ugly or beautiful,significant or insignificant is special and if I may say so ,simply divine!

   These living creatures called animals are divine for innumerable reasons...they exhibit a rare kind of adaptability and tolerance for their fellow beings and also follow the rules of social living in a very disciplined manner,perhaps better than us humans...they also exude a very  innocent charm about them which makes them ever so endearing...I remember visiting the mysore zoo some years back and this particular incident is etched in my memory forever...there was this big chimpanzee that was lazing around but at the same time observing the onlookers intently,it refused to respond to any of the remarks or gestures of the onlookers.We stood there for a good 15 minutes during which time several individuals and groups passed by,suddenly out of the blue it stood up and started beating its chest furiously and later sped away,the onlookers obviously burst out laughing but I was not amused"Come on give him a break',was what I wanted to say and probably that is exactly what the poor animal was trying to tell everyone -"kindly leave me alone,just let me be,I am not on exhibition

   Those who watch the "Discovery channel" or "Animal planet" would vouch for the fact that these animals are so very endearing and peace loving. Moreover, they almost have a therapeutic affect on the human psyche..ask any of the dog lovers or owners and they will definitely agree to this.Another remarkable thing about these divine creatures,which I constantly tell my students is that they kill only for their survival i.e either for food or protection,they simply have no other motive unlike their human counterparts,who kill for a varity of reasons ranging from 'fashion' to 'ornamental value' to 'greed of money' to 'satisfying their egoistic needs' to 'pursuing their scientific urge'...the list is endless and perhaps more in number than the existing variety of animals on this earth.

  Having said that ,does it not seem ironical that we discuss and debate and constantly talk about teaching our future generations the meanings of the terms 'endangered species' and 'extinct species'? It looks like the human species is living with the fear of becoming instinct itself and increasing in population at such an alarming rate that are pushing these divine creatures further and further into the danger zones thereby violating the rules and rights of co-existance laid out by nature.It is definitely  the time for action and not for mindless talk!

  It is not that  we humans are not aware or not bothered about  all this,there is definitely an increasing awareness for attempting to resolve these issues,it is just that ony a handful of them are contributing in terms of taking some concrete steps to resolve some of these issues and salvage the situation to some extent. The ratio of 'concerned and caring humans' to that of 'self-centered and self-concerned humans' is alarmingly low. Isn't it therefore time to wake up and take actions rather than talking alone oterwise our future generations would only be left with paintings and pictures of these divine creatures  just as we have of the gods and goddessess.