Of crocodile hunters, elephants and dog chasers

By now, the news of Steve Irwin's (a la Crocodile hunter) untimely death have been reported and analyzed by every known news channel on earth. I admit I've not seen much of him except for a few minutes of curiosity spent on his show while flipping though channels. But what I saw ofSteve would make me pause for a minute with my jaw wide open, shake my head incredulously and mutter to myself "These crazy Aussies!". What Stevie boy could do with crocodiles, snakes and other ferocious animals was just too much for me to take. Here is a wonderful article on what he meant to small boys all over the world who dream of a world of marvellous adventures.

Personally, I've never been a big fan of animals. Infact, I've always been downright animal-unfriendly. This, despite me being a vegetarian. And animals somehow seem to sense this quality in me. Growing up, there were numerous instances of being chased by dogs while on foot, bicycle or scooter. My problem has always been their unpredictability. You never know if a dog is gonna lick you, bite you, or worse, pee on you. I've seen my brother playing with cats and getting scratched and bloodied all over. Its another thing that he threw them around. And animals, especially cats, don't let that sort of thing go unnoticed. I'm also probably the only kid who has grown up in Chennai without riding horses on the Marina beach.

My summers spent in my village brought me closer to animals in a way. There were all those cows and calves in our cowshed. We would feed our favorite ones, pet them and pamper them. But boys being boys, we could be cruel as well. My cousins and I would let small calves run around and then try to catch them like Spanish bullfighters. The fact that they did not have horns made this task a little frustrating.

One of the things that I constantly get needled about is my fear of elephants. Yes, I know! They are the most benign of creatures, everyone has told me. While I was a kid, I heard the story about how the great Tamil poet and freedom fighter Subramanya Bharathi got trampled by an elephant and died. This somehow has left a lasting impact on me at an impressionable age. Ever since I heard that story, I've sworn off elephants, even the well-trained ones you see in temples and doing rounds on the streets in Chennai. When an elephant comes to the street, all the kids will be cheering it on and running towards it to offer sweets, and in turn, get blessed by its trunk. I would be the only kid on the block moving from the ground floor of my house to the terrace in record time. And I would refuse to come down till the elephant has disappeared into the distance and the crowd had dispersed. Later, I learnt that Bharathi infact did not die from the elephant attack. His health just deteriorated soon after. Nevertheless, even now, when I come across elephants in South Indian temples, I avoid them at all costs. People sometimes mistake it for a sign of maturity and lack of superstition. Its not. Its just plain fear!

Dogs are another of my pet peeves. Having never been around pet dogs, I don't know how to react to them. This problem has been exacerbated by the fact that my fiancee is a sworn dog lover. Any time she sees someone walking a dog, even the ugliest one, she would stop chit chat, pet the dog and leave with a happy smile and some dog saliva on her face. And now she's training me to pet dogs. So if I'm with her during a dog encounter, I gingerly step near the dog touch the fur and appear to be ecstatic. I know the dog can smell my uneasiness and its probably rolling around laughing on the inside knowing my plight. After marriage, there are talks of adopting a dog. I'll probably have to pretend that I have dog allergies or something like that.

Be that as it may, Steve Irwin has been a great example of what an animal-lover could do to popularize environmental conservation even without formal training. Its amazing to watch how easy and comfortable he is around all kinds of creatures. And despite all my shortcomings in the art of animal-handling, I hope to be able to go on a horse ride or be touched (only on the head ofcourse!) by an elephant one day. Or maybe I might adopt a dog, play with it, take it for walks and clean its poop when noone's looking.