Kamal Ghorui
Not just currency notes, public spaces at large need more homage to wildlife, less to man
It’s bad times for Churchill. Even as people everywhere are grumbling about the Iran war, they are remembering he plotted the 1953 coup d’état, the ‘original sin’, which poisoned the country’s relationship with the West. And in his homeland, Bank of England will be chucking him off the next series of banknotes (along with other historical persons). He will be replaced by native wildlife. That’s a cool idea. The Brit discussion of wild possibilities would, however, leave desis unimpressed. Foxes, badgers, hedgehogs, and red deer…from our point of view, that’s a very meh list. No tigers, elephants, rhinos, leopards, lions. Heck, RSPCA, their most venerable animal welfare charity, is campaigning for pigeons and rats, tagged as under-appreciated wild animals. Soooo darling. And so out of league with our peacocks, crocodiles, flamingos, cobras.
Indian rupees have featured rhinos, tigers, and elephants. But really, why should this conversation only be about currency? Homo sapiens grab most of the honours across our public spaces. Both ethically and aesthetically, this speciesism sucks. Imagine our town squares, less populated with gentleman statues, and more with whale shark, barasingha, hornbill, and gharial sculptures. Bonus: such choices would sidestep political brawls, over which neta’s mug matters the mostest.
Valmik Thapar’s Land of the Tiger is chaptered across icy mountains, sacred waters, oceans and islands, harsh deserts, and wet forests – underlining the diverse habitats that make India extraordinarily rich in flora and fauna. He also emphasises that this wealth of wildlife has survived here, because of people’s special relationship with other living creatures, who share their land. Of course, this inheritance is endangered today. Daily, we are devising new ways to turn wild habitats into roads, malls, highrises, dams, airports. What we need to start doing is rewilding, fix some of what we have destroyed. That’s animals’ right, and that’s what’s good for our well-being too. And btw, the sterling will only be saying bye to Churchill, not to Charles. Shucks.
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