In an engaging session at the Goa Environmental Festival, Venkat Charloo (of Coastal Impact) was educating school students about marine diversity. He mentioned the tendency of human beings to feed fish (and other animals too) the food that human beings eat. This forced feed harms (and even kills) the creature.
So often, so many of us force feed not just animals but also human beings. I have seen a child that was allergic to nuts being forced to eat a chocolate with nuts in it. The child was refusing the sweet but the adult persisted saying that it is was surprising to see a child refuse chocolates.
In our country, there is a popular tradition to dump more food in the plate of the guest even if he does not want it. Besides food, we force our beliefs, prejudices and rituals on others. The intensity of such force feeding is worse when the other person is perceived as being weaker to the one doing the forced feeding.
In school, we learnt a line that said, ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.’ Interestingly, this line is derived from an earlier proverb: ‘What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’. Obviously the sauce is to be used on a cooked goose or gander that is dead.
Force feeding kills. Force feeding suppresses. Force feeding denies the right to receive the right thing. Different beings have different needs and different capacities. When we force feed we presume that what is good for me is good for the other. But it is pertinent to note that it need not be. We must refrain from careless force feeding!
The forced feed can kill and bleed
Diversity needs appropriate deed!
~ Pravin K Sabnis
So often, so many of us force feed not just animals but also human beings. I have seen a child that was allergic to nuts being forced to eat a chocolate with nuts in it. The child was refusing the sweet but the adult persisted saying that it is was surprising to see a child refuse chocolates.
In our country, there is a popular tradition to dump more food in the plate of the guest even if he does not want it. Besides food, we force our beliefs, prejudices and rituals on others. The intensity of such force feeding is worse when the other person is perceived as being weaker to the one doing the forced feeding.
In school, we learnt a line that said, ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.’ Interestingly, this line is derived from an earlier proverb: ‘What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’. Obviously the sauce is to be used on a cooked goose or gander that is dead.
Force feeding kills. Force feeding suppresses. Force feeding denies the right to receive the right thing. Different beings have different needs and different capacities. When we force feed we presume that what is good for me is good for the other. But it is pertinent to note that it need not be. We must refrain from careless force feeding!
The forced feed can kill and bleed
Diversity needs appropriate deed!
~ Pravin K Sabnis
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