Sunday, September 29, 2013

Keep fighting, we must...

The world often times is a depressing place. Just go about your day to day life and many many negative stories will hit you before an inspiring tale makes its way up to you, if at all. On some days you just want to give up the fight and chug through the motions. But maybe we must remember this...

मन करे सो प्राण दे, जो मन करे सो प्राण ले, वही तो एक सर्वशक्तिमान है
कृष्ण की पुकार है, ये भागवत का सार है कि युद्ध ही तो वीर का प्रमाण है
कौरवों की भीड़ हो या पांडवों का नीड़ हो जो लड़ सका है वो ही तो महान है

"Only He can call you. And if there is honor it is in being in the battle ground. Not victory. Not glory. The fight." - Piyush Mishra

So here is my compilation of some fighters and their fights. Some of these people and organizations I have met and experienced, some others I only observe from a distance. I have added a brief summary on each of them and maybe you will take the time to explore them in detail. There are many more, but I just picked the six that have inspired me the most. They all may have an animal theme to them but in the end I think the fight is for whatever makes us human. 

Animal Care Society
This is a no kill shelter that is based in Louisville, USA. This was the first place I volunteered at, way back in 2006. They pick dogs and cats from the city pound where abandoned animals are eventually euthanized, rehabilitate them and put them up for adoptions. The place was run on donations and by a lot of dedicated people, most of whom where unpaid volunteers. The dedication, expertise and professionalism exceeded anything I have seen in the corporate world. You had to pay a fee for every animal you adopted and what always amazed me was how hard it was for anyone to adopt from them. The stringent interview process ensured that a rehabilitated animal went to a forever loving home. Every animal there had a story to tell, a story that made you lose faith in people. But the folks at ACS fight on and in their own way redeem humanity. 

Save The Animals Foundation 
This is yet another no kill shelter based in Cincinnati, USA. D & me have been volunteering at STAF for the last few months. This place is 100% run by volunteers and houses abandoned dogs & cats that are looking for a second chance. This is yet another place that is run really well with the animals being the one and only focus. The fact that everyone is a volunteer is no excuse for any compromise that hurts the animals. There are folks at STAF that have been volunteering there almost for a decade and they are passionate & fierce advocates for the animals...and I think, for humans too. 

Voice of Stray Dogs
This is an organization based in Bangalore,India and is run by Rakesh Shukla.  I first heard of them when we were trying to adopt our Great Dane, Bruno. I have never met Rakesh or worked for VoSD, but the times I have interacted with them through social media or on the phone, I have been super impressed by Rakesh's crusade. VoSD, runs a trauma service for Bangalore's strays among other things. I stole the quote at the top of this post from Rakesh's FB page and from everything I have seen so far, it is apt for him. He reminds me of the impact one person can make, by just fighting the fight that needs to be fought. 

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
I had never heard of this group until I watched the series "Whale Wars". This is a global, non-profit activist group that strives to preserve marine life. Headed by the dynamic "Admiral" Paul Watson this organization has evolved its own unique strategy to take on unscrupulous fishing fleets & governments. Their biggest focus is taking on the Japanese "research" fleet that kills 1000+ whales in the Antarctic every year in the name of science and this they do with their own flotilla of ships that come in between the whales and the harpoons. They also play a key role in highlighting the dolphin slaughter at Taiji and other threats to marine life globally. I fully recommend watching the Nat Geo series "Whale Wars". In a different world Paul Watson would be a hero, in our world he is on the Interpol list. And yet this man doesn't back down and will fight for the whales to the end. He is really fighting for us.

Tiger Watch
This is an NGO based in Ranthambore, India. The organization was founded by Fateh Singh Rathore and is now headed by Dharmendra Khandal. TW has played a big role in ensuring that tigers still remain in Ranthambore National Park. They are heavily involved in anti poaching efforts, educating the locals and the forest department and in being the voice of the forest above all else. D & me we lucky in being able to spend a week with TW on a conservation course and our lives have been different since then. If nothing else we have a deeper understanding of the problems around conservation and I personally found a real life hero who will always inspire me. He is a spider biologist and an academician at heart, and yet he will take on the poaching mafia because they need to be taken on. He will make a stand. We should all be standing with him.  

Sanctuary Asia
This is not an organization but a wildlife magazine based in India founded by Bittu Sahgal. I first picked up a copy in college and have been mesmerized since then. There are tales of beauty, greed, courage, cruelty and hope and for the longest time this was the only wildlife focused magazine in India that educated people on India's beautiful forests and the challenges of preserving them for posterity. We had the privilege of listening to one of Bittu's talks in Bangalore.  Despite all the despair and mindless destruction that he witnesses as he crafts his stories this is a man that will fight the fight till he is finished. 

Fight on, folks! 


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