A few days ago, I inadvertently watched a movie called “Ta Ra Rum Pum” in a friend’s house. I don’t usually watch Hindi movies but this one kind of sneaked up on me in a moment of carelessness. As expected, there was the usual nonsense which I see no point in commenting over. But one thing really got my goat up, and well…shocked me really.
In brief, Saif Ali Khan who’s the “hero” of this flick used to be a rich guy who then fell into dire straits. His family consisted of two daughters, a wife, and a family dog who apparently grew up with them from the start. As part of his “cutting back” measures, our grand and noble stud shamelessly does something which is a punishable offense and also one of the vilest acts imaginable.
He abandons the dog on the streets.
Mind you, this is supposed to be the hero of the frigging movie! Not portrayed as some slimy vile bugger without a shred of decency. Indian audiences are supposed to be compassionate and cheer a person who leaves a loyal, loving, trustworthy and innocent member of a family on the streets to starve without love, affection, or the knowledge of what they did wrong.
And the screenplay writers! How could they even think that this is a quality which they want their hero to possess? Would they have made him abandon his children as well?
For those who don’t understand, here’s the skinny. When you get a dog, you take full responsibility for him or her. They are your child. If you can’t handle that responsibility, don’t bloody get a dog in the first place. Abandoning your kids is a crime. Doing the same to a dog is also a crime- not figuratively, but legally as well. You can’t just walk away from your responsibilities when the going gets tough.
For those using the argument that one’s own flesh and blood is more important than a dog, ask yourself whether you’ll do the same to an adopted child just because they’re not your flesh and blood. No you wouldn’t.
What really irritated me was that this insensitive man is portrayed as the “good” guy. To me, a person who does something like that borders on the psychopathic and should be locked away. They treat animals like objects who don’t have feelings. In return for a companion who loves them and doesn’t know a thing about how the big bad world really is, they give them pain, and despairing loss.
Remember when you were a child and you had a desperate fear of being abandoned by your parents? I’m sure there were a few moments like that. Every child has them. Now imagine your worst fears come true. Would you visit that upon even your worst enemy?
I’m still seething while I write this and I’m frustrated by my inability to get my feelings across through the pitiful medium of words. But I hope something of what I’m trying to say reaches those who read this.
I adopted my dog from a shelter. He was abandoned by his previous owners on the streets. He was totally an introvert scared of other dogs and sometimes humans for over a year. He would have anxiety attacks if we left him and went out. It took over a year for him to overcome all of this and be a happy dog again.
I do not take kindly to people who take on responsibility for other living beings and abandon them. In the worst situation, I would still try and find a home for my pet.
First, I agree that the movie was terrible, and abandonment of a voiceless animal by a hero is just glorifying callousness.
But isn’t there an inherent contradiction in protecting some animals like a dog and then going home and tucking into pork and beef and mutton? In the course of the average year, nearly 300 animals will die to feed each person.
It’s ok to kill, but not ok to abandon an animal?
In reply to Anon
Well, I did write about the cruelty of butchering animals for food.
But I think there’s a difference between killing an animal you have no obligations towards and abandoning one you’ve taken a responsibility to protect and keep safe.
Well, as a more powerful species, we do have an obligation to all creatures great and small…they don’t exactly have the freedom of expression, but you can guess that they wouldn’t want to be farmed, fattened and be killed.
But I’m biased since I’m a vegetarian. Figure I’ll prevent the deaths of 300 x 80 = 24,000 animals in my lifetime.
I don’t know who wrote the caption for the photo, but a dog is not “someone,” it is a not a human, but property, so the caption should read “How could you do this to something?” This being said, if a person gets into a financial bind, his or her first obligation is to children and other family members, not a pet. However, pet owners who can no longer afford to care for an animal should shoot or poison them rather than just leaving them to starve.
In reply to Patricia
I disagree – no living thing can be “your property.” An animal is not an object to be called “something.”
What makes humans so special and animals such “lower class” beings that they get second hand treatment? They feel the same as humans. They suffer pain in the same way. What’s the difference?
Could you tell me why you feel a pet is not a family member?
In reply to Patricia
Ah, I see.
So let them die writhing in agony (poison).
Or, if you want to go the (more convenient for you) quick route, shoot them and hope you get a kill shot — or again, they die in agony.
And this would be easier and — by your apparent standards — more humane than taking the animal to a shelter or pound becaaauuuse ??
Oh, the things I could say about your compassion, morals, intelligence, and state of mental healthare not flattering and truly, truly endless.
To the question in your title: I really can’t tell how I would behave in such a situation unless I really face it.
I’ve never had any pets. But I really like them. I really wanted to have a dog as kid. I would like to get one when I settle down in one place (hopefully in a couple of years). That being said, I see myself as callous sometimes. So I think I would abandon my dog (maybe not leave it on the street, but more like give it up for adoption). But I might think totally differently if I really had a dog. Then I would most probably say, I would never leave Tucker, my Australian shepherd. The reality might be entirely different if I suddenly became poor. I just don’t know.
In reply to Change
I get where you’re coming from. For me, the answer then should be the same as for a human child as well…
Well… I’m mortally afraid of dogs and cats. I have fishes and love birds, thts about it.
But I have plenty of friends who’re great animal lovers and cant imagine one of them abandoning their lil bros/sis.
Reminds me of that movie Raju Chacha in which Rishi Kapoor gets killed trying to save a dog. And some people said, he should have just left that dog and got another one. But that movie became my favourite just because of that one scene.
In reply to Nidaa
You can tell a lot about a person the way they treat those who are powerless.
Oh, shut the fuck up. You dont know half the shut most people – like myself – go through on a daily basis. See, I had a dog. Yes. I sure did. My family and I’ve never been wealthy, but we thought we could take care of our dog no matter the circumstance. We moved in with my mother’s friend – someone we thought we could trust – who, in the end, threw us out for no reason. We were homeless. Homeless with a dog in the middle of the night. We had no choice BUT to leave him on the sidewalk. This was 4 years ago and, TO THIS DAY, I pray for him. Cry about him some days, too.
People have to make tough decisions all the time, and for you to sit here and make it seem like those of us who DO make these decisions – something you’ve apparently never done before – are heartless bastards goes to show what type of person you are. An idiot.
In reply to Blah
The question is…would you abandon your human child as well?