Or Why I love Ganesh ji’s mouse and hate the “scientists”Yesterday, we concluded the 10-days long celebrations and worship of Lord Ganesh for and immersed the idol in sacred river waters. In Mumbai alone, they were around 2,50,000 and all have been beckoned to come again next year with good haste.
The Hindu gods are mysterious in many ways – be it their shapes, size, form, preferences, food preferences, powers, likes & dislikes, their origins and not to forget their vehicles which transport them.
Vehicles could be an eagle, a bull, tiger, lion, swan, peacock an owl and even a tiny mouse.
.jpg)
Apart from the traditional mousetraps, cats and such methods, now there are chemical repellents in good demand to kill the mice or scare them away. New means of shooing the mice away are constantly invented. Whether Ganesh ji or no Ganesh ji, the war against rodents is a daily affair.
The mouse carries one of the most pot-bellied of all Hindu Gods, Ganesh, the younger son of Lord Shiva ( who incidentally rides a bull and his elder son rides a peacock).
Some says that Ganesh ji’s mouse denotes ‘desires’ or tamo guna and the need to control them. Some said it symbolizes stealing of food grains and also timidity, hypocrisy, destructiveness which all are nothing but impediments or Vighna. All these only Ganesh ji can remove , as Vighna Harta ‘ who rides on the mouse, exercising His full command.
With this type of mind conditioning, Indians are compassionate towards the mice, simply because of its association with Ganesh ji. It gets worshipped along with him, willingly or unwillingly. ( Hindus are most often fed up with the troubles that this rodent creates in their homes and fields, eating away grain, cutting clothes and books and any thing biteable to reduce it to tatters. They cut electrical and computer systems cables and bite sleeping children in small huts on farmlands. 
The deadly and scary disease of plague has more or less vanished but , across the globe ,the mice have been the much-cursed carriers for the deadly plague. At least Ahmedabad Municipality India Bihar which derives its name – Musahar – from Musa= Rat & ahar=food, ie. Rat-eaters!
In 2007, Mizoram state had so much of rodent problem that it accepted a suggestion from one wise man of 90 years age, named Rokhuma. It was a simple proposal: pay a reward of Rs.2 for depositing with Agriculture Deptt one tail of a rat killed. As many as 400,000 rats were killed under this project. Not to be left behind, a professor of Mizoram Uni had come out with the theory that bamboo flowering ( which boosts up rodent reproduction) takes place at roughly 48 years’ intervals and the last one was in 1958. He therefore was able to almost accurately predict the rodent population boom in 2007.
These are the stories of interest to the grown up people. As children, our memories of rats go back to bed time story of a rat with seven tails. He would be teased by other rats for having seven tails and would complaint to his mother each day he returned home. She would cut one tail and next day, he would be teased once again for his six tails. This way he lost all the tails and yet the teasing never stopped. The moral of the story was that do not be guided so much by what others speak about you.
Then came Tom & Jerry (one of the most violence-oriented comic show, yet my all-time favourite) , Mickey Mouse, Mouse man and such playful characters and made us giggle, no matter the fact that we were growing. There was a little rhyme with the wisdom in cat & mouse story also! For example: In a Cat & Mouse Chase, Mouse mostly wins because Cat runs for its food and Mouse for its Life. Moral of the story is that the ‘Fear of Loss is always better motivation than the Desire of Gain” …
Personal Computers brought about a mouse now on our tables, one of the most inanimate rodent, always obliging and obeying the clicks and commands.Soon we were in the college and those in medical and biology streams encountered dissections.
When rising on the corporate ladder, Spencer Johnson’s run-away hit- “Who Moved My Cheese” became our bible for quite some time.‘
Yet, we all, by and large retained our sensitivity, compassion and could often feel some of the pain, if any, that the dissected object was to feel.
Mainly because in our culture, there is a space for all living things,; plants, animals, birds, insects, natural elements and what not. The doctrine of peaceful coexistence is not just for political neighbours but the universe at large.
For example, see this mantras from Vedic literature in Sanskrit, dating back to thousands of years:The first one is an age-old mantra for personal, mental, spiritual & global peace and harmony.i.e. Shanti Mantra (Chanting for Peace)
Prithvi Shantiraapah : Shantiroshhadhayah Shanti : l
Vanaspataye Shantirvishve Devaah : Shantirbrahm Shanti :
Sarvam Shanti : Shantirev Shanti : Sa Ma Shantiredhi ll
It says:
May peace radiate there in the whole sky as well as in the vast ethereal space everywhere.
May peace reign all over this earth, in water and in all herbs, trees and creepers.
May peace flow over the whole universe.
May peace be in the Supreme Being Brahman.
And may everything always exist in peace and peace alone.
The other mantra is equally benevolent;
Sarveshaam poornam bhavatu
Sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu
Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve santu niraamayaah
Sarve bhadraani pashyantu
Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet
Meaning:
Auspiciousness be unto all; peace be unto all;
fullness be unto all; prosperity be unto all.
May all be happy! May all be free from disabilities!
May all look to the good of others!
May none suffer from sorrow! In Bhagwad Geeta, Lord Krishna assures the poorest of the poor that “I accept a leaf, flower, fruit or water Or whatever is offered with devotion”
This is not very unique only to Hindus ( and it also shouldn’t be so ). Rural communities of Madagascar
But when it comes to modern science and so called scientists experimenting in laboratories new drugs and cosmetics and such other things- sometimes worth while yet often useless. They ill treat the animals they use, not showing any sensitivity or compassion towards them.
I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence. ~said Mahatma Gandhi"
Now see the other, ghastly side of these poor creatures through two stories ; one reported in 2004 and another just last month:
1. About six years ago, on 8-12-2004, the US news source The Onion carried this horrifying report from Geneva
www.peta.org/features/professional-laboratory-and-research-services.aspx?c=ptwit )
“Nearly 700 scientists representing 27 countries convened at the University of Zurich
"As a man of science, I deal with facts, and the fact is that mice are gross," said Dr. Douglas White, chair of the Oxford
According to a 500-word statement, scientists hate mice for "their beady little eyes," "their repulsive tails," and "the annoying little squeaking sounds they make." At the press conference, several scientists detailed their involvement in the centuries-long ruse of "conducting experiments" and "curing diseases."
"For years, I've used lab mice to research cell breakdown in living tissue—and I've been lucky enough to make some pretty important medical advancements along the way," said researcher Ellen Gresham of the Harvard Institute for Advanced Studies. "But even if there were no scientific benefit to the work I do, I'd still experiment on mice, just to watch them suffer." According to Gresham
This news item hardly needs any comment because it is filthily eloquent, as some scientists are.
See the recent story next, which is even more shocking:( source
http://www.peta.org/features/professional-laboratory-and-research-services.aspx?c=ptwit )
2.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is the largest animal rights organization in the world & focuses its attention on animals that suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time in various labs, businesses, etc.
PETA recently released the results of its shocking undercover investigation of North Carolina-based contract animal testing facility Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. and filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture As a result, PLRS is surrendering nearly 200 dogs and dozens of cats and shutting its doors for good. It is first time that a laboratory has been forced to surrender animals and close under pressure , while facing a formal USDA investigation.
For nine months, a PETA investigator worked undercover inside the filthy, deafeningly loud kennels of Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS). PLRS takes money from huge pharmaceutical companies to test insecticides and other chemicals used in companion animal products. Bayer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Schering-Plough (now Merck), Sergeant's, Wellmark, etc are some of the corporations that have paid PLRS to force-feed experimental compounds to dogs and cats and smear chemicals onto the animals' skin.
PETA's investigator found that toxicity tests were just part of what the animals endured. Laboratory workers appeared to despise the animals in their care—they yelled and cursed at cowering dogs and cats, calling them all possible four-letter, five-letter and many-lettered words; used pressure hoses to spray water—as well as bleach and other harsh chemicals—on them; and dragged dogs through the facility who were too frightened to walk.
Video evidence shows that terrified cats were pulled from cages by the scruff of the neck while workers screamed in their faces and that a cat was viciously slammed into the metal door of a cage. One worker grabbed a cat and pushed him against a chain-link fence. When the cat fearfully clutched at the fencing with his claws, the worker jerked him off the fencing, saying she hoped that the cat's nails had been ripped out.
Many dogs had raw, oozing sores from being forced to live constantly on wet concrete, often in pools of their own urine and waste. Workers didn't even move the dogs when they pressure-sprayed the runs, frightening the animals; soaking them with water, bleach, and soap; and exposing already painful sores to harsh, irritating chemicals.
PLRS didn't bother to keep a veterinarian on staff. Instead, it chose to bring its primary veterinarian in for only one hour most weeks. Animals endured bloody feces, worm infestations, oozing sores, abscessed teeth, and pus- and blood-filled infections without receiving adequate veterinary examinations and treatment. Sometimes, the conditions were ineffectively handled by workers who had no credentials or veterinary training.After a supervisor gave one dog an anesthetic that was past its expiration date (and likely administered too little of it), the supervisor pulled out one of the animal's teeth with a pair of pliers. The dog trembled and twitched in apparent pain, and the supervisor continued with the procedure despite the dog's obvious reaction.
Dogs were intentionally subjected to worm infestations for tests, but conditions were so sloppy that dogs who weren't supposed to be part of the study also became infested and were then left untreated.
In one test commissioned by a corporation whose products are sold in grocery and drug stores nationwide, a chemical was applied to the necks of 57 cats. The cats immediately suffered seizures, foamed at the mouth, lost vision, and bled from their noses. Despite this, the substance was put on the cats a second time the very same day.
To cut costs, PLRS killed nearly 100 cats, rabbits, and dogs. The company had decided that some of these animals' six daily cups of food were too expensive.
Federal oversight of horrendous facilities such as PLRS is virtually nonexistent. .... The inspector's 2010 visit to PLRS, which housed approximately 400 animals at the time, lasted two hours and 15 minutes.
PETA has filed complaints with federal and state agencies, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and local law-enforcement authorities.
Let us also feel something
( and speak out)
for these dogs, cats, rats and rabbits .
.JPG)
