My visa has been couriered to me over two weeks back and I cannot track it ever since. I have informed https://t.co/QA5Csxj9h8 over a week back and requested assistance. Still they are unable to trace my visa. Terrible state of customer support @vfsglobalcare.
Some notes on street dog issue - sharing this as I have been in (close) touch with many volunteer groups and I see both sides of the debate (in a fairly neutral way).
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1. There is no doubt that stray dogs need to be sterilized /neutered. Govt machinery has failed at it (it is the local municipality's responsibility)
2. Most of the sterilization work is done by volunteers (you can call them stray dog lovers), but the entire point is that they also get a lot of threats from locals - though the fact of the matter is that the locals should participate in this and help volunteers so that the streets would be much more peaceful 5 years from now.
3. The govt has defined rules for feeding stray dogs - but hasn't done anything beyond the PDFs.
“The feeding spots shall be far from children play areas, entry and exit points, staircases, and should be in an area which is the least frequented by children and senior citizens. RWAs or AOAs should designate feeding times depending on the movement of children and senior citizens.” - as per the latest ruling by the court.
In most cases, the local municipality has failed to work with volunteers and RWAs to create these feeding spots.
4. Saying that 'let's kill/ban all of stray dogs in jail' is completely wrong and FYI, illegal.
Fundamentally, you are as much in their territory as they are in yours :) infact, i'd anyday vouch for crooked politicians to be sent to the jail than stray dogs, but anyways..
5. It's easy to hate stray dogs. Difficult to understand that none of this is their fault.
You can call them a menace - and they become
one (for you).
You make friends with them - and they become
one.
Next time, try to spend a few moments with them - you will realize that all they want is a bit of food and love/respect. They aren't as complicated as we think them to be.
Yes, the packs-running-at-me are a problem - but with better planning, one can fix all of this via sterilization movement and fixing feeding spots.
6. Last, but not the least - media should also look at how such stray dogs are killed /raped (yes, this happens and we do nothing against those humans).
Just last week, a drunken man in a nearby locality attacked a dog and fractured his leg - who is answerable for this? What is the dog going to eat now?
Think.
-----------------------------
TODOs:
- Develop empathy.
- Donate to the ones who are trying to help solve this puzzle - right from volunteers to dog shelters to well-meaning NGOs who are trying to get them adopted. Your help will accelerate the process (I have the verified list for Bangalore - if enough people are interested, will setup a microsite for pan India).
Last but not the least, here is a quote from Mark Twain that serves as a reminder for hoomans.
“If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man.”
Feel free to hate me (for not hating the stray dogs) :)
Tl;dr: The long-term solution lies in accelerating the sterilization process and ensuring that feeding spots/process is well defined and executed.
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A thread. 🧵
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" Maybe what’s left
for us is some tree on a hillside we can look at
day after day…
and the perverse affection of a habit
that liked us so much it never let go."
You are the narrator of poetries to me, the translator. Thank you.
@GhoshAmitav I needed to go back to something familiar, a story I once knew, but long forgottenn; I knew the tides on the surface, not the narrow creeks Fokir knew.
Last date May 25, 2022.
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As an assignment, I asked the students taking my Evo Bio course to make a meme on some course-related topic. The students enjoyed it so much that some made multiple memes just for fun. I am sharing a few of these. Most of them are downright hilarious😆