WHEN HEART GOES ORGANIC
W hen you grow up in a village, you invariably grow up, alongside, some lovely animals and birds, too. So, throughout my childhood, I remember growing up alongside a couple of dogs, cats, chicken, cows, oxen, buffaloes and, even pigs. We had scores of fishes in our wells and ponds. These were there not as pets, but as part and parcel of our existence. Rather, it was our co-existence… That was how it was for every household around. The concept of keeping pets at home came much later… when the standard of living of families started improving… When money came home, the cows, oxen, dogs, cats, pigs and chicken, which once lived with us ‘just like that’ – yes, they were all out and made room for some 'classy' breed of dogs, cats, fishes, parrots, and turtles. Here, in Mumbai, obviously, one can only think of keeping some pets, if he loves to. Kids, here, will never know what it means to grow up alongside cows, buffaloes, oxen, chicken, dogs, cats, goats, fishes and ...