The Knack Of….

Do you ever see wild animals?

Welllll…..

I guess by now everyone knows that I am an animal lover, more specifically, a caninetrovert.

For certain very personal reasons I have not planned or undertaken any trips away from home for very long now.

Yes, If ever I do I will love to visit animal or bird sanctuaries among many other preferred sites. Till such time …. Discovery and You Tube shall suffice.

However, what makes this prompt interesting, even intriguing, not to say weird, is something entirely different as well as relevant.

Do you ever see wild animals? Yes, I do. Not in flesh and blood per se but in the faces of the worst possible animal God has ever created unintentionally, I presume – humans.

Yes you read right.

I have this habit of seeing animal faces and characteristics in humans and believe me they help me instinctually to deal with that particular person accordingly.

If a person has an uncanny resemblance with the fox, I will be careful dealing with him/her. Because foxes are supposed to be sly creatures. Aren’t they?

If someone reminds me of a polar bear I will be kind of relaxed coz polar bears are cute.

If someone has the qualities of a tiger I will be wary of that person. Because they can eat you up without your knowing.

Those who look like cows are considered docile. The saying in our part of the country goes – “he/she is such a cow!!!”

Feline grace is a symbol of contempt and sense of superiority. I stay away from smug and scornful people.

I love those who look like lazy Labradors. They are basically happy-go-lucky personalities with a glutton for good food.

I have seen usually men are attracted towards horsy women. They are generally of masculine built. Mostly sports person. What makes them so attractive, frankly, I do not know.

The one who reminds me of a sprightly deer is personification of innocence and freedom.

I love the elephantine gait. They are highly intelligent and can’t care less types. They exude ancient wisdom and respected unquestioningly.

This is just to give a few examples. Then there are rats, bulls, owls (yes, birds included), billy goats….

But humans are complex creatures and do not manifest a singular character alone . They may be a deadly combination of good and evil…ugly and beautiful.

So again I go by my intuition…..

I am by nature an observer. If you leave me with a room full of people you will find me sitting in a quiet corner watching them in action. That slight twitch near the eye. The one who is habituated to grab centre stage. The loud laugh. The cacophonic chatter. The one who only smiles knowingly and roams around with a drink in his hand. The one with a scoff. The other with a frown. The one with a florid look. The one with a sheepish grin. And then the loner who will surreptitiously move towards the terrace gazing at the sky unmoved by the fracas!

All of them have their.animal instincts genetically embedded in them. That sudden turn of face. That shaft of light playing on a seemingly saintly visage which sends a chill down your spine. And you know who to be careful of.

Imagination?

Not exactly. Try that out once and you will know….

A famous Bengali pulp fiction dealt with the same subject. Nagor Darpane ( The Mirror Of The City) wherein the protagonist had this uncanny habit of drawing similarity between man and animal. He was considered mad and put behind bars.

Listening to the story I had this sudden self-doubt. Am I mad too? Do I have a streak of lunacy in me?

Who hasn’t?

Those who will read this post can take me on face value or judge on their own.

I leave it to them…

But in support of my theory I can only say this unusual trait of finding the realm of intersection between the wild and the so called civilized have often saved me from misplacing my faith on the wrong ‘un.

Rest is for you to decide….

All pics from Pexel and Pixabay