Beware of Dr. Seuss

While the "children's books" by American writer Theodor Seuss Geisel (I mean "Dr. Seuss") may have been internationally acclaimed and profitable, few people are aware that they have a chance of over 70% of affecting children's minds, and are therefore a negative influence on them in various aspects. Here are several reasons I feel why today's children should never read any of his works:

1. Language: The books are too American, and that can therefore be bad for one's English (especially if the reader is British, Indian or Australian). Also, the way the characters speak, think, and the numerous creatures and terms “invented” by Seuss in the books are likely to affect children's grammar, with most of them believing such creatures may exist. For example, there is a story named The Glunk that got Thunk. There is no such word called “Glunk”, and the past tense for “think” is not “thunk”, but “thought”. According to the WordWeb dictionary, a thunk is “A dull hollow sound”. But this book title can inspire young children to unofficially invent neologisms that can destroy their reputation over time if it becomes a part of their daily life.
2. The story Green Eggs and Ham deals with “Sam I Am” offering an unnamed man the titular food to eat, which the man rejects throughout the story but eventually gives into Sam's pestering. Who knows why he was avoiding the food? Maybe he was allergic to them or was a vegetarian. But what would you do if someone offered you a cigar or drug which you refuse, and they keep pestering you just like “Sam I Am” till you finally give in and accept?
3. The Cat in the Hat is about a tall anthropomorphic creature who invades a children’s house when their mother is out and causes all kind of trouble in the house (though he does not mean evil), because the children did not keep their door locked or initially tell the cat to “Get Out”. They did not even seem to support their talking fish pet, who ordered the cat out. So would you leave your door not tightly locked when nobody’s home or allow any stranger, against who you are powerless? Or would you start to show no trust to your close ones who know better than you? The Cat also says in the story, “I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny. But we can have lots of good fun that is funny!” What grammar is that?
4. Fox in Socks: The titular character is an expert at tongue twisters and continuously tries to persuade a baffled Mr. Knox some of the hardest tongue twisters in town, despite Knox’s lack of interest. When Knox has finally had enough, he punishes the Fox for life by pushing him into a giant bottle filled with “Tweetle Beetles” who are fighting each other with paddles. (No-one knows if the Fox ever escaped) Would you continuously try to bother someone with something they do not like, and eventually end up punished like the Fox? This story is a lot similar to Green Eggs and Ham by featuring a comically annoying character pestering a stubborn man with something they are not interested in.
5. I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew: The protagonist spends the whole book trying to reach a paradisiac place named “Solla Sollew”, where people “never have troubles, at least very few”, while enduring all types of mishaps that lengthen his long Odyssey to as far as more than two weeks. After finally reaching the gateway of Solla Sollew, he is unable to enter the city due to some small mishap, and denying a trip to another paradise (“Boola Boo Ball, on the banks of the beautiful river Woo-Wall, where they never have troubles, no troubles at all!”), he instead returns to his trouble-filled home – the Valley of Vung – because he came all the way for nothing, but decides to give trouble to all his troubles. While his will to end his troubles may seem motivating, would you ever travel miles alone by walk to reach your paradise, if not then reject an offer to go to one such place without difficulties? Also, when the protagonist decides to face his troubles by fighting them, isn’t that violent? But Gandhi’s non-violence movement helped free his country.
6. Yertle the Turtle: This story is about Yertle, the power-hungry king of a pond of turtles who wants to literally reach the greatest heights possible and literally look down at the whole world, with no-one higher than him; not even common birds. He "achieves" this goal by standing on a stack of turtles. If ever he is not satisfied with all he sees and decides to expand further, he adds more turtles to his stack, increasing the burden and pain on the base turtle Mack, who keeps asking Yertle for a respite, only to be rudely refused. When Yertle sees the moon, he tries to rise above it; before he can give the command, Mack, unable to endure anymore, releases a simple burp, causing the entire stack to dissolve and send Yertle from the high skies back down to his pond, leaving him "King of the Mud". While Seuss noted parallels between Yertle and Hitler, this story, despite its title character’s eventual fate, may inspire future generations to get too greedy or megalomaniac, to go to absurd lengths to achieve their goals at any cost. Some may say “Reach for the sky” or “Don’t go for second best”, while others may say “A greedy man can never be satisfied, even if he is given the world”, but it is safe not to literally reach for the sky. It is still rationally possible for man to get to the moon, though.
7. Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose: The eponymous character is true to the book's title; his kind nature allows him to be severely exploited, to the point that he is ostracised from his herd. It all began with him allowing a bug to temporarily stay on his horn; little did he know that it would soon become permanent with more creatures soon joining the bug to “stay” on the horn; Thidwick never explicitly told them that they could live on his horn, but he could not expel them either. When Thidwick reaches the point where a moose sheds its horns, he finally stands up to the “guests”, makes a bold comment at them and releases his horn before he returns to his herd. The animals are killed by hunters and stuffed for display, still remaining on the same horn. The story, even while it talks about the disasters created by hospitality and kindness, may remind future generations that it’s not rude to shun strangers wanting to exploit them for absurd reasons.
8. The Big Brag: The story revolves around two creatures - a bear and a rabbit - who brag to each other about being the "best of the beasts" because of their unique abilities: the rabbit's far-reaching hearing abilities, and the bear's far-reaching smelling abilities. However, they are both dressed down by a worm who has far-reaching seeing abilities, and calls them "the two biggest fools that have ever been seen". The moral of the story? Don't indulge in brazen self-aggrandisement or bragging. But given the prominence of bragging in the story and the popularity of Seuss, it's not unlikely that life will imitate art.

In short, Beware of Dr. Seuss!

Guru Sishyan - A Political Satire

The main storyline of the S.P. Muthuraman-directed Guru Sishyan (1988) is quite simple: two convicts released from prison - Raja alias "Guru" (Rajinikanth) and Babu alias "Sishya" (Prabhu) - are determined to clear the name of their fellow convict Manohar (Pandiyan) because he was falsely incriminated for murdering a taxi driver by a villainous quartet: playboy Muthuraaj (Radha Ravi), his greedy brother Rajamanickam (Ravichandran), Rajamanickam's partner Jayaram ("Cho" Ramasamy) and dirty cop Nallasivam (Vinu Chakravarthy). The others important characters are Nallasivam's daughter Geetha (Gautami), Rajamanickam's daughter Chithra (Seetha), Manohar's father Kandhasamy (Senthamarai), Nallasivam's wife N. Kalyani (Manorama), Babu's father IG Sriram (LIC Narasimhan), the ill-fated taxi driver (Nagaraja Chozhan), Kandhasamy's wife Padma (Padmasri), and Pandiyan's sister Sumathi (Sudha).

Guru Sishyan is a remake of the Dharmendra/Jeetendra-starrer Insaf Ki Pukar (1987), but differs in a number of ways: the original was a typical 80s Bollywood serious action movie, dealing with issues like rape, murder, miscarriage of justice, police corruption and revenge. While the remake follows all of this faithfully, it is more humorous in nature, but more importantly, makes a number of political references, mostly satirical! The opening number "Naatkaalikku Sandai Podum Naamellam Paithiyam Thaanda" (We who fight for a chair are mad) unabashedly references the time when there was infighting for power within the ruling AIADMK after it was split into two factions following the death of founder MGR: one faction led by his wife V. N. Janaki, the other by his most frequent screen heroine Jayalalithaa. Maybe the lyricist foresaw the fight for a different type of chair?

Like many 80s Rajinikanth movies, Guru Sishyan has revenge for an attacked/murdered family member as one of its central themes; yes, Manohar turns out to be Raja's brother, and therefore Sumathi, who was raped-murdered by Muthuraaj, is his sister. And their father was held prisoner by Rajamanickam because he knew the location to a treasure cave, told to him by the late criminal Solomon (K. Natraj). Kandhasamy was framed for murdering Babu's parents by Rajamanickam, so both Raja and Babu want revenge against him for fracturing their families. However, their intention is not to achieve revenge through murder and violence (unlike typical 80s Tamil action movies), but justice: by seeing the quartet arrested. The movie blends multiple genres: while primarily an action comedy, it has tinges of romance (Raja with Geetha, Babu with Chithra), drama, and the last act involving the cave makes it an adventure of the Indiana Jones and DuckTales kind.

Nallasivam, just like the inspector played by Kader Khan in Hindi, is exactly the opposite of his name. While Khan's inspector was ironically named "Imaandaar" (honest), Nallasivam is anything but "Nalla" (good); he only complies with the heroes because he is in threat of being exposed as a dirty cop. So maybe he better be called "Ketta Sivam", and we do hear that name onscreen. But why Jayaram always calls him Nallasavam is anyone's guess. In the quartet, only Rajamanickam looks like a devious and feared villain; the others are clownish and laughable like the Team Rocket trio from the Pokémon anime. On 28 January 1988, a scuffle happened in the Tamil Nadu assembly, where politicians beat each other with mikes, chairs, etc. Raja's dialogue "Mike aala pesaradhu andha kaalam, mike aala adikkaradhu indha kaalam" (Talking through the mike is old, beating with the mike is new) perfectly surmises this.

Cho was, and still is, best known for his works containing political references. The scenes where Jayaram makes strange hand gestures - two fingers forming a V, followed by a hand with all fingers pressed together and the palm facing front, then a wide-open hand with the fingers wide apart - while thinking deeply, are references to the logos of political parties: the two leaves of the AIADMK, the hand of the Congress, and the rising sun of the DMK. He says in one scene after seeing a bypasser, "Naalike katchi aarambicha thalaivi aaiduvaanga, apuram chief minister aanaalum aalaam, namakku yaen vambu?" (If she starts a party tomorrow, she'll become the leader, then she may become the chief minister! Why do we need problem?) which might be a reference to Jayalalithaa. Near the end of the movie, when he parts with Rajamanickam and attempts to join Muthuraaj and Nallasivam's side, he says, "Naan Venumna Katchi Maararen" (If you want, I'll change parties) which too sounds so obviously political.

Though shooting for Guru Sishyan was completed in less than a month, the final product hardly looks half-baked or rushed, and Rajinikanth's various English malapropisms only add to its excellency. The movie was released during Tamil New Year in 1988, when TN was still in political disarray after MGR's death in December 1987, but that hardly affected its box office performance, even though the movie indirectly attacks the AIADMK. In fact, Insaf Ki Pukar's Telugu remake Guru Sishyulu (1990), also directed by Muthuraman, more faithfully follows Guru Sishyan, even the songs from Tamil are retained in Telugu: "Naatkaalikku Sandai..." becomes "Kurchi Kosam", "Kandupudichen" becomes "Dhorikavoi", "Jingidi Jingidi Unakku" becomes "Jingidi Jingidi Beauty", and "Vaa Vaa Vanji Ilamaane" becomes "Edo Nippu Antukundi". However, "Uthama Puthiri Naanu" was replaced by "Mathuga Chithuga", an original composition.

Let’s go green to get our globe clean

This Sunday (19 Nov) the Green team at  Rani Meyyammai Towers, MRC Nagar (Green RMT) had a dry waste collection drive/dengue awareness initiative. Green RMT,  headed by resident Mrs. Arul Priya, has been hard at work these past few years in creating awareness among this community about waste segregation and creating a plastic free community. The other members of this Aircel-supported initiative are Chitra Parthasarathy, Sumathi Muralidharan, Priya Murugan, Priya Sebastian, Indumathi Mohankumar, Padma Sriram, and Anuradha Karthik, who this writer interviewed.

Anuradha told this writer that the initiative would include segregation of waste, sending bio-degradable waste to the compost pit (where it is composted and the manure is sent back and distributed among the residents of MRC Nagar to use as manure for their plants) and give the dry waste like newspapers, plastics, metals, containers, e-Waste for sale. The proceeds are then distributed among the housekeeping staff to motivate them. The aim is to create a very safe environment for future generations, by reduce, re-use and re-cycle.

Today they have set up a booth where the residents donate their old newspapers, dry wastes,etc and  bins where they segregated the waste into plastic containers, glass, e-Waste,  milk packets, etc.

GREEN SHOP Initiative: A separate bin was kept for reusable bags and later it will be donated to the colony's shopping centre (Malar Departmental Store) which they can use to deliver to the houses there. In case people don't bring their reusable bags to the shop, they can always pick up a bag from the bag pool, use it and then return them.

GREEN TEMPLE Initiative: People were requested to bring flowers and other archanai items in baskets or cloth bags to the colony's Gnanasundara Vinayagar temple. Used and dried flowers will be put into a composting pit.
Another drive was simultaneously happening, wherein used books, text books, stationery items were collected to donate to underprivileged children through Aid India. This drive was headed by Padmini.
There was a lecture at the multi-purpose hall by Dr. Kumareshan of Apollo Hospital on the dangers of Dengue fever, and what we should do to prevent it. He told the audience (consisting of residents and house helpers, maids etc)  to avoid water stagnation. He also stated that people can avoid mosquito bites by applying coconut oil on their skin, and using mosquito machines, etc. Dr. Kumareshan noted that, at the onset of fever, one must control it through paracetamol. According to him, the only way to eliminate dengue virus from the body is by flushing it out of their system.He emphasised that hydration is of utmost importance, at least 3 to 4 litres per day. He urged people to get their blood tests done to check on platelets count, noting that  if one's platelet count was low, they might need IV fluids. He recommended people to use nilavembu kashayam and papaya leaf extracts to improve their immunity as well as platelet count.

The little kids of RMT prepared lemonade and distributed it among the audience. It was quite welcoming and refreshing for all especially for the hard working Green team of RMT
The event ended with vote of thanks from committee member Mrs. Aruna Vishnu.

L'art du tatouage; or, the art of tattooing

Tattoo making is a popular art form. Around the 19th century, the Ramnami community got Ram engraved all over their bodies as an act of rebellion. They challenged the orthodoxy of upper caste people who denied entry to Ramnami community in temples. Even Pre-Christian Germanic, Celtic and other central and northern European tribes were often heavily tattooed. The practice of tattooing can be found in 2nd millennium BC as mummies bearing tattoos have been discovered. In South India, the art of tattoo making is termed as pachakutharathu, while in parts of North India it is popularly known as godna.

Today, tattoos have been popularised once again. Many celebs can be seen as flaunting their tattoos these days across the world. As a result, this has increased the number of youths going under the needle to get engraved designs same as their favourite celebrities. A tattoo can also symbolise love and affection of a person towards the other. At present, the tattoo industry is at steep rise in India. But with this flourishing industry many alarming issues have been raised.

In many countries famous brands such as Intenze, Kuro Sumi etc. have recalled their products from European countries. A report issued by the Chief Health Officer, New South Wales has listed six recalled products containing phenylenediamines (including Colourking and Dragon Tattoo Ink), which are thus illegal in NSW unless authorised by exception. Products with particular batch numbers have been recalled or banned in these countries. But the same products are available in India and the main supplier here is Tattoo Gizmo. It is very likely that the adulterated products supply in India is very high, as the government of New South Wales has advised consumers to avoid getting tattoos particularly in Asian countries.

“Cancer-causing tattoo ink on sale in Britain”, a blog written by Andrew Penman featured in the UK-based Mirror, states that despite being banned throughout Europe, cancer-causing tattoo inks were still selling in Britain, particularly ink with carcinogenic particles. Penman stated that celebrities like David Beckham, Harry Styles, Cara Delevingne, Justin Bieber and Cheryl Cole sport tattoos made with the same dangerous ink, and are therefore a bad influence on their fans. He adds, “The EU has set a maximum legal PAH concentration in tattoo inks at 0.5mg per kg”, and he bought ink which contained PAH concentration of over 20mg per kg, almost 40 times the permitted level.

Many small tattoo shops are using cheap ink which can be highly toxic for the body. A tattoo artist, in condition of anonymity, said that many studios refill branded bottles of ink with local products as branded ink is very costly. He has been working for over five years in the tattoo industry. One oz of a particular colour can cost from INR 600 to 3000. The same tattoo artist further informed us that none of the studios can be said to be maintaining proper hygiene in India, whereas salons with tattoo studio facilities are worse when it comes to hygiene.

Chennai-based Dr. V. Nambi states that even if studios maintain 100% hygiene, there are still chances of infection. No studio in Chennai makes its customers sign an indemnity form, even though it is an essential part of the process; it informs the customer about possible infections and medical conditions in which a person should not get a tattoo. They do not verbally inform the customers about those medical conditions in which they should not get tattoos. Tattoo studios in Chennai are not using indemnity forms, “CONSENT TO TATTOO PROCEDURE” which help customers make an informed decision. There are no regulatory bodies on the tattoo studios to ensure that all rules and regulations are followed.

There is no level of awareness among people. To confirm this, we interviewed some students from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) with tattoos. The notable students, who we have interviewed through video, are: Tanay, Anoona, Justin and Suyash. They said that they were never asked to fill any sort of indemnity form. The owner of Yantra Tattoos said, “The indemnity form scares our customers which we cannot afford.” Many kinds of malpractices are prevalent in the tattoo industry. At most times, the tattoo artists do not bother to remove hair which is essential. We ourselves witnessed an artist engraving a name on a man’s chest without removing the hair.

A dermatologist, who did not wish to be identified, said that tattoo making is a form of surgery where one has to remove hair before engraving a tattoo. He further elaborates that tattoo is definitely a popular form to express one’s feelings, but at times it becomes nuisance for those aged around 17-20 years, as they do not think or ponder before getting a tattoo/engraving name of their lovers. Most of the time they pay 10 times more to get it removed through laser treatment. But laser is not a solution as the marks still remain throughout life. He explained, “The method of tattooing is like a small surgery where the body part needs to be cleaned properly by removing hair and using antiseptics.” The dermatologist added, “these young ones do not realise the value of a tattoo or the culture where our society lives in. they are hardly sixteen or seventeen when they get a tattoo and then hardly a year or two later end up visiting clinic to get them removed. Not only the cost of getting a tattoo removed is ten times higher than getting one it also traumatizes their psychology and puts their families into jeopardy”. The tattoo artists are blamed and forced to redo the tattoo without pay as told by one of the artist. “Sometimes they are in such a hurry to show off their tattoos to their friends that they click pictures and upload it on Facebook and twitter keeping the given instructions at bay.” He further added, “The art of tattoo making is not a rocket science, if done with proper equipments and precautions”.

Numerous scholars and experts have given varying opinions on tattoos and their level of necessity: Margo DeMello said in Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community in 2000, “The tattoo attracts and also repels precisely because it is different.” Joanne McCubrey said in the article "Walking Art: Tattoos," at the Mountain Democrat Weekend magazine in February 1990, "There is no "underground" community, no dark den of drunken sailors initiating themselves into manhood via cheap, ill-conceived exercises in bodily perforation; it’s just a group of people who delight in using their bodies as billboards."

American novelist Herman Melville quoted in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale (1851), "And this tattooing had been the work of a departed prophet and seer of his island, who, by those hieroglyphic marks, had written out on his body a complete theory of the heavens and the earth, and a mystical treatise on the art of attaining truth; so that Queequeg in his own proper person was a riddle to unfold; a wondrous work in one volume; but whose mysteries not even himself could read, though his own live heart beat against them; and these mysteries were therefore destined in the end to moulder away with the living parchment whereon they were inscribed, and so be unsolved to the last."

In 2013, Dr. Andrew Timming, a professor at St Andrew’s University School of Management, conducted a series of interviews with employers about perceptions of body art. Most of the interviewees – who were managers of hotels, banks, city councils, prisons, or universities – said that tattoos carried a clear “stigma” for employers, with several expressing strong views on the subject. Timming told The Telegraph, “Respondents expressed concern that visibly tattooed workers may be perceived by customers to be ‘abhorrent’, ‘repugnant’, ‘unsavoury’ and ‘untidy’ […] It was surmised that customers might project a negative service experience based on stereotypes that tattooed people are thugs and druggies.”

Some people may assume that because people sport tattoos, their chances of being employed or accepted in official situations will be affected, due to the human trait of judging a book by its cover. However, consulting firm CEO John Challenger told Forbes in 2013 that most contemporary employers would agree that a person’s appearance is nowhere near as important as his or her professional skills. “Even in this tight job market, most companies aren’t going to view tattoos too harshly. Companies have a vested interest in hiring the most qualified candidate.” Bank of America spokeswoman Ferris Morrison said that the company has no restrictions when it comes to inked corporate employees, “because we value our differences and recognize that diversity and inclusion are good for our business and make our company stronger”.

Hogenakkal Falls: From Finesse to Filth

I visited the district of Hogenakkal in January 2015, and I was shocked to see how the Hogenakkal falls (India’s answer to the United States’ Niagara falls) was being treated by the locals. Though there were many sign boards requesting the clean maintenance of the Kaveri river, which meant no bathing there, no washing clothes, no discarding waste material and so on, the locals seemed not to care, and even in the presence of police officers, continued their activities. There were also a few unattended clothes in the river, meaning that those who washed their clothes there may have lost them.

I crossed a bridge there, but saw that the concrete base holding its ropes was heavily vandalised with graffiti. The climate of the place was good though­ -neither too cold nor too hot- and was very scenic. An officer from Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) said, ”We have been doing our jobs at Hogenakkal, but maintaining the condition of the falls is not our responsibility, but that of the local police and the district level authorities.”

The officer also added that discarding plastic cups in the open is illegal, but due to lack of seriousness among the people there, it persistently occurs. When asked if the language of the signboards was a barrier to the cleanliness campaign, he said, “Even Tamil sign boards exist, yet they are disregarded by the locals and tourists.”

There exists a basic rule there that plastic should not be sold in these areas. But still, vendors and salesmen continue selling fruits in plastic cups. Rather than plastic, they could be using paper cups. If people continue to throw these plastic cups around excessively over a long period of time, it will definitely create severe problems. It could eventually lead to the area becoming like that of Earth in the film Wall-E, i.e. a situation so polluted and trashed that would make it uninhabitable for anyone.

There was also a very successful measure introduced by the district’s former collector, who posted a sub-inspector beside the hanging bridge. He would confiscate all bottles or cups and break them on the spot, so they would not pollute the area surrounding the falls. This measure however has been discontinued after the collector was transferred.

Unregulated tourism is the main factor that threatens to degrade the environment at Hogenakkal falls. Though there is a forest check post at the entrance of the falls, 10 kilometres downhill, the area is full of plastics and liquor bottles. Cooking fish is also common, while hawkers and masseurs too spoil the surroundings. It is a disgrace that such a beautiful location has been littered so much.

According to the Forest Department, the hanging bridge was closed to prevent people from accessing the Cine Falls that was unsafe. It was also to prevent the people from littering the place. But for those who can afford coracle rides, access to the same areas is allowed. As the litter piles up destroying the beauty of the water falls, the monkeys that are part of the forest ecosystem are also forced to endure such misery.

Today, the place has degraded a lot from what it was years ago, and rather than improving, continues to deteriorate. The cause is predominantly pollution and negligence. The maddening crowd, irresponsible administration and the “not-so-aware” villagers are least bothered about the place being endangered. The waterfall which once basked in its glory now is filled with plastic waste and stagnant dirt. One can see people performing last rituals (pinda) right beside the bathing place, while many others washing clothes just beside that. Floating shops in parisals are a major attraction but nobody bothers to collect the plastic waste thrown into the river because of these shops. Hogenakkal claims to have a “plastic free” environment, but the reality is quite different. This place is full of plastic and waste. The government collects about Rs. 30 from each vehicle for entrance and parking but seems to do little about the cleanliness and facilities here. If this continues, Hogenakkal's pride and glory may one day become history.

CONSERVATION OF TIGERS

It is a widely known fact that the Tiger (Panthera tigris) is India's national animal, due to its colours (orange and white skin, and its green forest habitat) that also appear in the national flag. In that case, it should also be the most populated animal in the country as well. Well, that is how it was for a very long time. Over the past century, these majestic creatures have been hunted down - from about 100,000 to a few thousand as of 2013. Despite all conservation efforts, the population continues to decline. Some extinct subspecies of  tigers are the Caspian, Javan and Bali tigers. There are only a few hundred living Sumatran tigers, which is listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN.

As we all know, the main causes for the tiger's population decline includes habitat destruction and poaching, as their body parts like their claws, teeth and skin sell well in the black market. Even worse, some sadistic people during the British Raj hunted and murdered tigers for years just as a sport, or because they considered them malicious. The creatures also reproduce extremely slowly and attempts to mate have often proven disastrous, with the tigers sometimes killing each other, increasing the chance of extinction. Sometimes the parent tigers "accidentally" kill their offsprings by gnawing them when they mean to lift them, or by rolling over them. It is sad that tigers, despite having good intelligence, fail to realise that they are endangered.

Not only do the tiger's skin colours represent the Republic of India, but even because the creature's strength, majestic and courageous character. An example comes in the film Life of Pi, where Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) was so closely attached to the tiger Richard Parker despite its ferocious characteristics, he preferred it over the less ferocious hyena that also appears in the film. In fact, he loved the tiger, which is what kept him alive for the 227 days he spent stranded on the boat at sea.

When people refuse to believe Pi's story with the tiger, he narrates a different story which involves him and humans instead of animals, in the form of a Buddhist sailor, his mother and a cruel cook. The cook symbolises the hyena by killing the sailor and Pi's mother (who represent the zebra and orangutan that accompanied Pi in the boat, before being killed by the hyena), and Pi symbolises the tiger by killing the cook (mirroring the tiger killing the hyena). Thus, Pi compares himself to a tiger.

So if tiger hunting is as illegal as possession of narcotics, it is better they be left alone or be protected as long as they are alive, for killing a tiger is like killing the pride of the nation.

ANIMATED STARS SANS DIALOGUES

If an animated character becomes very popular, usually he/she receives praise for the voice acting, with which even the voice actor becomes very popular. Take for example, Mark Hamill was amazing when he voiced the Joker in Batman the Animated Series, and its subsequent follow-ups like The New Batman Adventures and Justice League the Animated Series. In my view, Kevin Conroy (who voiced Batman in the same shows) is also the perfect voice for the Dark Knight, and both Conroy and Hamill have reprised their roles for the Batman: Arkham games. But what if a character becomes very popular, but has no on-screen dialogue? Wouldn't it therefore look like no-one "acted" as the character, because no dialogue means no voice-acting? Here's a list of some of my favourite animated characters, who are predominantly silent/without dialogues:

Scrat: My most favourite character in the Ice Age franchise, I could call this sabre-toothed squirrel a breakout character for his franchise, despite following his own stories in the films outside the main plot. An impressive fact about Scrat is his obsession with acorns, and no matter how dangerous the situation, he has never shown any signs of serious injury so far, and always manages to save his acorn (Well, only till the end of each film). He does not have any spoken dialogue, but his shrieks and screams are all the voice effects of Chris Wedge. Still as those cannot count as dialogues, I cannot count Scrat as having been voiced by anyone.


Dumbo: The titular character of the 1941 Disney film, he is a baby circus elephant. Unlike the other circus elephants in the film, he does not talk and is mocked at because his ears are very large (just wait till you see how useful they become for him later in the film). His sound effects, such as the sneezes, hiccups and weeps have no significance, therefore we can conclude that no-one voiced Dumbo.

Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner: The former is the main antagonist of the cartoons featuring him and the Roadrunner, I can also call him the true star of all those cartoons as he has the most screen time, despite all of them being publicised as "Roadrunner" cartoons. Coyote never speaks a word or screams even when injured by boulders and trucks, and defies physics in every cartoon he appears, which makes him a favourite. I also like the nearly "immortal" and "invincible" Roadrunner, as he too defies physics and is never attacked by the Coyote and easily escapes all the traps meant to kill him. Like Coyote, Roadrunner too has no dialogues, and although Coyote is completely mute the whole time, Roadrunner iconically says "Beep! Beep!" (voiced by Mel Blanc) the whole time, which is also his most powerful weapon to defeat his rival.


Tom and Jerry: My most favourite pair of characters in animation, the majority of their cartoons feature them silent and lacking dialogues, which makes their cartoons universally understandable and accessible. Though Tom is often popularly shown to scream whenever he is attacked or injured in a slapstick manner, these do not count as dialogues and there have been only a few cartoons where he speaks even briefly. At the same time, Jerry has almost never even spoken (maybe you can exclude cartoons like The Lonesome Mouse and The Zoot Cat)

Pluto the Dog: Probably the only member of Disney's "sensational six" (others are Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck) who is not anthropomorphic and is treated as a pet. Despite this, he is still sentient and can understand human speech. Just like Tom and Jerry, the majority of cartoons featuring Pluto as the star have no dialogues by any of the characters involved, and so the cartoons rely on physical humour, making them understandable to the common man, regardless of the languages he knows. Today however, the internet sees Pluto as retarded, because Goofy is human-like and can talk, despite both of them being Disney dogs.

Pink Panther: The title character in the opening and closing credit sequences of every film in the Pink Panther film series, he became popular enough to become the star of his own self-titled theatrical cartoons. These cartoons successfully emulate silent era cartoons despite having colour and smooth animation, and though most of them follow the same concept - the Panther fighting with an egg-shaped white man, the music, setting and silence of the cartoons and the Panther's performance make both the Panther and his series a favourite of mine. Although "all" the Pink Panther theatrical cartoons feature the titular character silent, two exceptions can be noted in the form of Sink Pink and Pink Ice (both were released in 1965).


Nani the Fly: The main protagonist of the 2012 Tamil film Naan Ee, Nani was a young and energetic man who was ruthlessly murdered, and reincarnated as a housefly seeking to avenge his murder. The film is probably one of the most innovative and unusual reincarnation-themed films I've ever seen, without a dominant human protagonist. Actor Nani who plays the same-named hero in human form, does not dub the voice for his character's 3D animated fly incarnation which is mute, making it clear that the star of the film is not portrayed by anyone. The "fly" however acted amazingly well, and could be deemed as one of the best animal actors in India, along with the elephant that played Ramu in Haathi Mere Saathi (1971) and the snake that appeared in Neeya (1979).


Perry the Platypus: What appears to be the quadrupedal mindless and domesticated pet of Phineas and Ferb, can actually (but in secret) stand on two feet and lives a double life as a crime-fighting secret agent working for the "Organization Without a Cool Acronym"/The OWCA, going by the codename "Agent P." Though almost perfectly anthropomorphic, he is still as tall as a typical platypus and cannot talk. However, that does not stop Perry from being among my most favourite animated characters sans dialogues.