Letters from Shanti Ashram, India

61. Dog Killing Stories & Differences with NS

Those dogs, they have the taste of blood and want it every day. Now even the ashram authorities had to agree that such dangerous and bloodthirsty dogs should go to dog heaven at the soonest.

My new suggestion that we should do the mean act in a humane way, by mixing potent poison in sweet balls of rice so in their lat moments a sweet taste could be on their tongue. But no one would listen to me. The Indian villages can be so barbaric! Several times more the big old head Raju Garu gave the death warrant and some workers and eager boy students headed off with big sticks. Do you think the intelligent dogs would still when a group rushes towards them yelling, “Get them! Kill! Capture!” all helter-skelter? The dogs run after them for hours, yelling war cries. Naturally not even one dog got in their grasp.

Now, a liquid poison happened to come into my hands and one night I tried to take the matter into my own hands in my own way. I mixed up nice sweet-balls and put drops of the knock-out smelling poison in the middle of each ball. This is liquid stuff that is used to spray wood I think, to combat insect attacks. Here they say that a drop is enough to do away with any life form.

I'm not so good at playing the murderer, even when such drastic situation demands it. The Indians are so loud and rustic, they mixed this medicine in milk rice once and ran after the dogs trying to give it to them but the clever and suspicious dogs didn’t go near it.

Anyway, I quietly put the poisoned balls around my house after locking up our dogs for the night. I had to admit that I was shaking pretty bad, doing this murderous act and imagining dead dogs lying around in the morning, all of my doing. Is this the same Divya, votary of ahimsa? But taking everything into account, it was the only way.

What happened was, the dogs came as usual in the middle of the night and from my window I saw them joyfully gobble up all the poison-balls. What happened? NOTHING! They only decided they wanted to stay here forever, eating sweet balls in plenty. They were hale and heart as usual and it took us a few days to discourage them from staying near my place 24 hours a day! False reports about the lethal poison.

Next, a tiny portion of rat poison powder came into my hands, after a lot of trouble. I also mixed this up one night again, with the shaking and sleepless night again. The smell, ugh! I though I would pass out with the heavy nauseating smell of the rat poison. I thought that something with such a smell would definitely take anything that consumes it, to the land of the formless. However, in the morning it was the same story - the dogs had eaten it all up and were hale and hearty and wanted more sweet balls. NOT MEANT TO BE!!

The true story is it seems, that rat poison is frequently used by disheartened people, mostly love-struck teenagers, who want to leave the world fast. You know the restrictions in Indian society. People tell me about the frequent suicides in the villages. Say they want to marry someone who is not their caste, social status or correct age, the elders refuse to give permission and force them to marry other correct people that they don’t like. So they gulp down the rat poison either before or after the wedding.

So the situation is, the ones who sell rat poison will never give it to anyone but the elderly, respected, official type of peeps. Not only that, they took away all power in the poison so, I'm told, even the rats only succumb after large does and several days! Now, I find it too hard to do away with innocent rats who are only living their life and not hurting anyone, no matter how irritating to me; but bloodthirsty Kaurava dogs are a different story.

Anyway, I could not obtain other more potent potions so I had to give up. Of course I tried, hearing about other stuff put on crops that killed bugs and were the new suicidal rage, but no one would sell it to me, thinking I might also leave the world with it!

Then I tried the ashram authorities and our official ashram supplier in a nearby town. In their utterly Indian way they just smiled and said, “Ah yes, of course we’ll send it to you!” and behind my back they’d say, “How can we give it to her, a young girl who may commit suicide? NEVER.” Can’t they just tell the truth to my face? No, no! This is India, remember! Even if you have absolutely no intention of doing something, you have to agree sweetly that surely you’ll do it (not will do it, but DEFINITELY, SURELY will do it). They NEVER sell poison to ladies of any age, and young boys also, no matter who!