A Natural Death 1

                                                                                          
                               Chick Flick

Tuffy had friends coming over for lunch. He rushed to the neighbouring chicken store. Roy normally went to buy but as he was out of station Tuffy had to go. He went on his activa.

A pleasant 9am Sunday. He reached the store and requested for a 1.75kg live chicken. He had always heard about a feather removing machine which Roy stated but had never seen one. To his surprise the butcher took out a hen from the coop, tied its wings and placed it on the weighing machine.

“Saab do kilo hai, chalega kya,” the butcher asked.

“Chalega,” he replied.

To his surprise the butcher threw the chicken into the feather removing machine.

It was still alive.

Tuffy was taken aback. He could hear the screams of the dying chicken from inside the machine. He didn’t utter a word and left the store horrified, he didn’t purchase the chicken. The butcher failed to see him leave. He approached PETA through Tantra as she was an active member of the organization. One of the volunteers from PETA and another from the Animal Rights Group posing as customers visited the store to witness the same treatment again.

A show cause notice was issued and the store shut down in a week’s time. Tantra then explained Tuffy how these hens are bred. They are handicapped in such a way that these cannot walk and force fed and they hence blow up. That’s what broilers are. Tuffy didn’t move for a minute.

Tantra reminded Tuffy of the days he had competitions to see who ate the maximum number of chicken legs. Tuffy was sure if he would text any of his friends to “GO VEGAN” they would lash out at him laughing and again remind him of those days.

Tuffy was in a dilemma. He wanted all of his friends to stop eating animals and protest against the cruelty. With help from Tantra and Roy, Tuffy opened up an online website and started sharing videos citing animal cruelty and shared them on social networking sites. It did leave an impact on some. He didn’t like walking out and giving gyaan to people when he himself was at fault once upon a time. He started off with his friends. Some totally went vegan but some didn’t budge. But he did leave a mark.

He purchased a chick and kept it as a pet. He captured the natural growth of the bird and showed it amongst his friends. The bird lived its complete life span and died a natural death. He uploaded the videos and garnered respect amongst his friends.

A live bird had given him that attention which he couldn’t manage to garner during the chicken eating competition.

If a man shouldn’t die a dog’s death then let the chicken die a natural death and not by sacrificing its life to increase your fats.

Mistaken Identity

                           A Concept by Ameya Dusane

We called him Lin. It was Lin who insisted that we call him Lin. Lin, based on his favorite book character. Lin had called me over today. I have known Lin since he was six. Whenever Lin had called me it was some matter of importance. Lin looked distressed. He said, “I have not been able to sleep for the past week. All I do is, just lie down and stare at the ceiling. And whenever I try to sleep Cold Fish’s memory haunts me. The day I returned from Cold-Fish’s funeral I dreamt about Cold Fish. He was staring at me from the mirror. I couldn’t sleep that night.”

That was the last time I had spoken with Lin.  But then things started to worsen for Lin. He was no longer attending college.  He had cut off himself from his family and friends. It had been over a month since he had locked himself in his room. I was worried as I didn’t know how long it would last. What made it harder was Lin too was staying away from his family.

However, things changed for Lin. He started to attend college with more enthusiasm .But I knew there was something wrong. I had asked Lin what had changed, was he over Cold-Fish’s death but he managed to avoid the topic every time I bought it up. I was worried that Lin might be consuming drugs but it was unlikely as he didn’t have that kind of money. So then what made Lin change?  I was curious to find out.

Lin hadn’t called me to his place for a month. People, who knew me and Lin, would know that, if we both were to find, we would be at Lin’s place. So I decided to give him a surprise visit. I knew Cold Fish’s chapter was not going to end so easily. Especially for Lin.  My entire unanswered questions were answered.

I found that Lin too had started to follow the path of Cold Fish. Lin had started to drink his own blood. There was blood everywhere as I entered the room. Meanwhile Lin had passed out.  After returning to life I asked Lin the same question he had asked Cold Fish as to why he hurt himself? Unlike Cold Fish, Lin had answered “It gives me sense of power and control.  Also when I cut myself the pain makes me feel alive. And once you experience pain like this, there is no problem which looks big. Blood has become my drug,” Lin said.

I had my own fears after finding out that Lin was following footsteps of Cold Fish. And Lin too would end  life the way Cold Fish did. I didn’t want Lin to waste his life. So after speaking to a psychiatrist and explaining all the symptoms of Cold Fish and Lin. The psychiatrist informed that Lin was suffering from disease called Clinical Vampirism or Renfield's Syndrome. It’s a rare psychiatric disorder in which the sufferer feels a compulsion to consume blood. Its consumption can stimulate a sense of power and control. As Lin had said, “It gives me a sense of power and control”. Although the disorder has never been categorized in the DSM-IV  which is very much treatable.  Renfield’s Syndrome is classified as schizophrenia or paraphilia. The only silver lining was Renfield’s Syndrome was treatable.

It was after lot of convincing Lin agreed to see a psychiatrist. And today was my last session with my psychiatrist.

Who am I?

I am Cold-Fish also known as Lin.

I forgot my own identity.

So in this world of Who is Who, you better have your own identity. Once u lose yours, you are lost, and there you are, back in the queue to rediscover who you are and gain a place in the world of Who is Who?

Happy Birthday

 It was finally her birthday. New clothes are what every girl would want but she wasn’t interested in anything of that sort. She turned 26. Tantra cherished this moment. Successful, happy and faraway from the cliché boundaries of feminine penchants. Birthdays for her wasn’t a day to donate to the neighbouring charity.

She anyway did that every month. It wasn’t spending time with her friends and wear a cake all over her face. It wasn’t giving them a booze party as well. It wasn’t waiting for the gifts she would receive from them. It wasn’t a day to logon to Facebook and count the wishes she received and reply to all of that.

For her a birthday is spending time with her parents and thank them for bringing her into this world. She just spends the entire time with them at home on this day. For her if it wasn’t for them she wouldn’t have got those friends. Tantra never purchased new clothes on her birthday. She sat home and cooked all by herself on the day.

Tantra stood in her balcony and just stared out. A slide show of her 26 years as Tantra breezed past her eyes. She smiled and kept smiling even broadly. Her friends never agreed with the logic she had with regards to not celebrating her birthday. She managed to keep all of them at bay.

The reason why Tantra doesn’t but new clothes for her birthday is just because she knows there are a million kids walking nanga on the streets this very moment. She doesn’t go out to eat on her birthday  just because she is aware of the fact that a kid out there hasn’t had a morsel for over a week. The kid might have filled its tummy with just tap water.

And finally millions of kids don’t even know who their parents are; forget about the day they were born. Tantra can atleast point out and show that these are her parents. On the wall. Her parents photos. A garland clinging on each of the frames.