A meek plot twist
There has been a lot of noise about Jallikattu and there is going to be a lot of noise about Kambala. Noise because the current ambience…
There has been a lot of noise about Jallikattu and there is going to be a lot of noise about Kambala. Noise because the current ambience isn’t suited for peaceful exchange of views. If a thought isn’t loud enough, it allegedly doesn’t exist. Also, it goes without saying that we live in a dangerous era where opinions matter more than facts. Speaking of which, i was asked what i thought about Supreme Court’s ban on Jallikattu and i could only muster that i don’t know much about the festival to cement a comment. So, i took time off to read whatever i could and this is what i feel about the ban: It’s a judicial overreach. I assert this keeping in mind the various times when the wise bench proved that mortal asses, not divine entities, warm it. They are humans susceptible to making decisions that hinge more on the future than the present to validate its appropriateness. For this unique facet often associated with legal minds, i think that Jallikattu could have done with stringent regulations instead of a blanket ban. Besides, what good has ever come out of a ban? Plastic is still around and so are alcohol and cigarettes and drugs and gutka. If there is a visible problem which involves clauses of morality, measures should be taken in accordance to human behaviour; choosing a higher moral ground will only lead to a situation where culture would be confused with religion and politics. Exactly what happened in Tamil Nadu and will happen in Karnataka too. As laity, how am i supposed to justify banning a festival on the pretext of animal suffering when i consume beef and use leather products? Particularly when i’m convinced that the four-legged ones suffer a lot to ensure my plate is yummy and my trousers don’t slide down? Oh yes, especially when i know there are alternatives available which can eliminate my dependency on the poor creatures? Such dilemmas ultimately invite hypocrisy for dinner and have kebabs for starters. Cattle has been around us for centuries and their existence only augments the muddy reality that humans are unmistakably cruel. The only upside being their population across the globe has grown steadily. To the point that they rank second — after humans, of course — on the most populous mammals list. Maybe, just maybe, they are tolerating us patiently waiting for us to go extinct. And once that happens, they will prove the Biblical prediction of “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth…” absolutely correct.