It's for their world too

October 03, 2022

It’s for their world too: We, homo sapiens are the highest type of species to occupy this earth. But we should never forget that this green earth is also the home of 30 million other species with whom we share this blue planet. Killing animals for food is universal rule set by the almighty god many million years back, this also keeps the number of animals in order. But killing animals or let the animals die for someone’s selfish cause is not acceptable by mother nature. It’s cruelty ! Also if they have to be extinct for my cause then my days are numbered as well!

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Ash dykes are ...

Despite utmost efforts of our patrollers to steer them away, on rare occasions poor animals get trapped in the marshy mud lands of our ash dykes. Most of the times they come out of their own but sometimes we have to help them out because due to excessive exertions & struggles to free themselves out, they become so much fatigued that they no longer be able to move. If gone unnoticed, the poor animal dies of heat and dehydration during summer and due to hypothermia during cold winter nights of here.

Couple of weeks back in one of our ash dykes a cow got trapped in the marshy land of ash dyke. Our patrollers tried their best but because the poor animal was far away from the bank, we could not fetch her closer. We even drafted a mobile crane to lift her out of the mess but the crane could not reach her position. Even we kept the dyke without discharge for a whole night but in the morning the poor creature died of stress & hypothermia at that spot. We all felt very sad seeing the poor animal dying helpless.

In another occasion I was on a site visit and our civil man first informed me that a big cow was found trapped inside one ash dyke. Our good Samaritan patrollers were already at the site trying their best to pull it out with a rope when I was passing the spot.

It was a pretty cold winter day in the middle of the dyke. The sun was on the inclined path. In any other normal day I would have stopped for a while to relish the great journey of the soft golden disc of the setting sun but the situation is different now. In an hour the dusk will set in and all these men will go away. We hardly have an hour maximum to take the poor creature out of this mess but seeing the size of it, the manpower available is pretty less. We have to be very fast.

I called an agency working nearby to bring his tractor and a rope while one of our patroller promptly asked the control room not to start the nearby ash disposal line. The poor animal was in the mess for quite sometime. The cold and pain was visible on its face. The hot slurry discharge nearby would have given her comfort but that will be the end of her survival. I don’t know whether a cow can cry but on a closer look I found water droplets were visible near the eyes. A patroller was patting the cow on her head which was the only part of it’s body above the mud now.

The intelligent contractor man not only sent the tractor & rope but also sent 8 labor who were returning home on the attached trolly. The contractor man too came along on his motor cycle.

Then a struggle between men and mud with the poor animal tied in ropes in-between, unfurled in front of my eyes. Tension, shouting, cheers, hopes, frustrations, pause, rethinking, change in strategy and vigor all enacted in that one hour of intense moment. The scene can only be comparable with a battlefield or the emergency ward of a hospital. A place where everybody is different , doing different things but all are working for a common cause – to save life.

Everybody thinks & acts different yet all work together. Nobody needs to be persuaded or cajoled for contribution because everybody wants to contribute, not for the sake of contribution but for a common objective – to save the poor creature out of this ghetto.

Cell phones are ringing in-between but nobody bothers to attend the call immediately! It’s a perfect example of a highly charged and inspired team work! Perhaps the goal is such precious that the team work comes automatic or when the goal becomes clear the action becomes automatic! I don’t know which one is more apt.

But right now standing here I guess both the theory is working in favor the poor animal.

Soon a huge uproar followed while a few fall down on the mud and the big cow was finally pulled out of the death trap! Immediately it was not able to stand on it’s feet. Few guys checked her legs and then helped her to stand on it’s feet. As the cow slowly stood up on it’s feet another huge uproar followed.

I knew that the objective has been achieved, it’s time now to move from here. The civil man came to me and politely asked me if I could spare some slips for their snacks as all were very tired then. I told the man to send me the snacks bill which I will pay.