Of animals and men

Five senses of animals against the supposedly six senses of Man — Does this make Man superior? What about a Man without common sense ? Is one sense missing from him? All these are different debates for some other time. 

This post is about the ‘supposedly’ superior Man, using animal comparisons to describe himself or his actions. While some of them make for easy deciphering or understanding, some others do not. Take the case of Chicken-hearted– a timid person or one who is cowardly. This can be visualised, a chicken can be easily shooed or booed away and so is this person. Similarly a Lion-hearted  person will be brave and daring like a lion, though it is not clear if timidity and bravery come from the heart or the mind. My understanding is that Heart is an organ which pumps blood inside the body, be it animal or man. Moving on, if one is Eagle-eyed,means he has sharp vision or is keenly observant while keeping watch. Looking at the bulging, fierce eyes of an eagle, this one is easy to decipher.

Now for some comparisons which are not easy to understand: Rat race is something most of us are involved in – competition with peers, playing up to seniors, suppressing juniors, losing work-life balance all for a position or money , which in the end amounts to pointless pursuit. Which rat behaves like this? Yes, they do seem to scurry around for no purpose but they are busy foraging for food or simply survival. Cat calls and Wolf whistles: Derisive shouts or shouts of disapprovals are catcalls, but which cat shouts thus? They purr softly and even when angry the purr becomes a more louder more fierce growl but a cat call? No.  In these days of # MeToo, wolf whistles are a strict No No.  Yes, wolf whistles are whistles of admiration or attraction. Which male wolf was seen whistling at a passing she-wolf? I thought wolves only howled. The # MeToo brigade is sure to lynch you if you envelop someone in a Bear-hug. Beyond children hugging their teddy bears, has anyone seen how bears hug in the wild or how rough the embrace is? It is a perception that bears enter into rough, tight embraces.

If air combat among aircraft is termed a Dog-fight, should not aircraft be named after dogs, like Doberman,Mastiff, Alsatian or St.Bernard rather than Mirage, MiG, F-16 or Sukhoi? Well people can be quite stubborn at times and changing names may not be easy. Talking about stubbornness, people who know they are wrong but still push forward obstinately without bothering about others are termed Bull-headed. There are others who are stupidly obstinate, believing what they are doing is right. These are the Pig-headed ones. My apologies to bulls and pigs. Bulls have been domesticated for ages, where have they shown stubbornness? As for pigs, scientific research shows that they are the fourth most intelligent animals  after chimpanzees, dolphins & elephants. So can a pig-headed person be stupid?

Crocodile tears – False or insincere expression of sorrow or concern. Do crocodiles cry? Well maybe they do, to moisten their eyes, especially if out of water for long  but am sure the insincerity and falsehoods are more the makings of Man. Do not attribute it to the poor crocodiles. Man made laws to ensure order and peace but disregarded the same too by creating unofficial courts which dispensed justice without following procedures. To top it all, he called them Kangaroo courts. When and where did this marsupial hold court? Down Under? Talking of down under, we have a slang, Asshole referring to a stupid person or one worthy of contempt. Why compare him with a loyal beast of burden- the Ass ? Just because animals cannot protest, Man gets away with anything.