I was only a few minutes into my customary, short afternoon siesta when a goat's presence at my neighbour's place brought me back to life. As I looked out of my bedroom window, a white goat came into view. I wondered as to whether my neighbour was planning to bring back livestock into his backyard, all over again.
Actually, his now empty barn had boasted of a combination of cows and buffaloes not very long ago - till a year and a half back, to be precise. As the kitting up work at my house gathered pace and after ascertaining the exact date of commencement of our stay at 'The Quarterdeck', the entire lot of livestock was shifted into the dairy that he owns, situated nearby. The nice gesture was to avoid any sort of inconvenience to us on account of the persistent animal smell that would have emanated, otherwise, as per a promise given to me by the patriarch during our acquaintance visit!
And hence, the surprise at sighting the animal though the fact that it was a solitary one should have rung a bell! Moments later, the dead animal's carcass was seen slung from one of the hanging hooks in the barn. And after a further lapse of time, we could hear the cleaver and the chopper in action as a couple of their farmhands systematically went about chop-chop-chopping the cadaver to smaller pieces towards rustling up a dining table delicacy.
Wonder whether it was the swiftness with which the animal was slaughtered that had a stunning effect - albeit momentarily - on me? Every sound of the cleaver seemed to inflict a wound deep within me and no, I ain't a prude deriding people who eat meat because I, too, relish non vegetarian dishes.
But I'm still confused about the brief melancholia that had enveloped me during that point of time.
Tailpiece.
Did I have a 'karmic' connection with the slaughtered goat?
Actually, his now empty barn had boasted of a combination of cows and buffaloes not very long ago - till a year and a half back, to be precise. As the kitting up work at my house gathered pace and after ascertaining the exact date of commencement of our stay at 'The Quarterdeck', the entire lot of livestock was shifted into the dairy that he owns, situated nearby. The nice gesture was to avoid any sort of inconvenience to us on account of the persistent animal smell that would have emanated, otherwise, as per a promise given to me by the patriarch during our acquaintance visit!
And hence, the surprise at sighting the animal though the fact that it was a solitary one should have rung a bell! Moments later, the dead animal's carcass was seen slung from one of the hanging hooks in the barn. And after a further lapse of time, we could hear the cleaver and the chopper in action as a couple of their farmhands systematically went about chop-chop-chopping the cadaver to smaller pieces towards rustling up a dining table delicacy.
Wonder whether it was the swiftness with which the animal was slaughtered that had a stunning effect - albeit momentarily - on me? Every sound of the cleaver seemed to inflict a wound deep within me and no, I ain't a prude deriding people who eat meat because I, too, relish non vegetarian dishes.
But I'm still confused about the brief melancholia that had enveloped me during that point of time.
Tailpiece.
Did I have a 'karmic' connection with the slaughtered goat?
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