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By:

Minal Sancheti

2 May 2026 at 12:26:53 pm

Funeral for animals

Mumbai: On the occasion of National Animal Rights Day, a funeral was held for all the voiceless creatures that humans have killed for selfish reasons. The act was a campaign and was a brainchild of Animal Climate and Health in collaboration with Our Planet Theirs Too. The purpose was to spread awareness about animal cruelty. The campaign took place at Carter Road Amphitheatre and so a crowd of both young and old supported the cause. Speaking about animal cruelty, recently the internet was...

Funeral for animals

Mumbai: On the occasion of National Animal Rights Day, a funeral was held for all the voiceless creatures that humans have killed for selfish reasons. The act was a campaign and was a brainchild of Animal Climate and Health in collaboration with Our Planet Theirs Too. The purpose was to spread awareness about animal cruelty. The campaign took place at Carter Road Amphitheatre and so a crowd of both young and old supported the cause. Speaking about animal cruelty, recently the internet was flooded with a viral video of a group of men at Mira Road taking a piglet to a locality where goats were brought for religious sacrifice. Aparjita Ashish, the founder and director of Animal Climate and Health said, “It is an act of cruelty to kill animals for religious sacrifice but to protest against this they were harassing a baby pig. The poor pig was screaming for his life. So how’s that right? If you want to protest, protest peacefully.” Ashish also comments on the Apex Judiciary’s decision of euthanising terminally ill dogs, “If the dog has a serious illness like rabies and is in a lot of pain, with a doctor’s permission and in a peaceful manner, they should be euthanised. The apex court also spoke about the ABC or animal birth control which if done with correct procedures, can help bring down issues related to the stray dogs. Many times the process is wrong so the animals become subject to cruelty.” She even added that the strays should not be displaced as that will leave them confused. This is also an act of ill treatment. The occasion saw a large number of gatherers. According to the campaigners, being vegan is not just for protecting animals but also for the climate. Ashish explained, “If you see the name of our NGO, it is Animal Climate and Health. So we also talk about the impact of consuming animal products on the environment.” She gives an example of how methane gas is produced because of the dairy animals and how the food and resources to breed animals are so much that it affects the environment. The supporters who participated in the campaign said they also noticed many health benefits of going vegan. Anil Nagpal, a senior citizen and volunteer with the organisation said, “For many years I was going through ill health. I tried every treatment but nothing really helped much. But then someone convinced me to go vegan and since that time my health has improved drastically. After this many people in my circles who used to eat animal products have given up.” When asked what his protein sources are, he said, “I eat lentils and legumes. Vegetables also contain protein.” Ashish claimed that humans have an ego that makes them think they are above animals.

Parents, It’s Time to Wise Up

For two decades, India’s obsession with engineering and medicine has created not merely competition, but a generation burdened by fear, exhaustion, and borrowed dreams.

AI generated image
AI generated image

Roughly two decades ago, a new dream took hold across Maharashtra. Two words began to dominate the aspirations of countless households: “doctor” and “engineer.” Success came to be defined so narrowly that all other careers appeared secondary, even meaningless. From farmers in villages to middle-class professionals in cities, parents increasingly came to believe that their lives would feel fulfilled only if their children entered one of these two professions.


Driven by this aspiration, an enormous wave of JEE and NEET aspirants emerged across the state, especially in the Marathwada region. Burdened by the weight of these expectations, hundreds of thousands of children from rural areas flocked to cities such as Latur, Kota, and Hyderabad. Some parents mortgaged farmland while others sold jewellery to fulfil these aspirations. Some took out loans, while others, consumed by social pressure and prestige, tragically ended their own lives.


Faulty Assumptions

At the heart of this frenzy lay a dangerous social assumption: only those who cracked NEET or JEE were truly “smart.” Little thought was given to the dreams, talents, or individuality of other children. Few parents paused to ask what their children genuinely enjoyed, where their natural aptitude lay, or what kind of life they wished to build for themselves. The message was blunt and unforgiving: become a doctor or an engineer or risk being seen as a failure.


Uncomfortable Questions

Today, looking back, deeply uncomfortable questions arise. What became of those celebrated “toppers”? Where are the students who spent years rote-learning, attending coaching classes that cost lakhs of rupees, and chasing impossible scores? Why do we not see larger numbers of them leading the country’s great research institutions, producing groundbreaking scholarship, shaping public life, or driving innovation?


There are, of course, exceptions. But too often, what emerged was a generation exhausted by competition and conditioned to treat education as a transaction rather than a journey of discovery. Parents invested money; children invested their youth. Eventually, both expected returns.


Medicine ceased to be viewed solely as a service and increasingly became a business. Engineering drifted away from innovation and became synonymous with salary packages and placements. Children were not nurtured into complete human beings; they were trained to survive a relentless competitive race.


Even grimmer has been the psychological toll. Thousands of children saw their mental health collapse under the pressure of expectation and failure. Some slipped into depression. Others developed a permanent sense of inadequacy. Many, tragically, took their own lives.


This happened because society never taught them that life exists beyond the narrow confines of becoming a doctor or an engineer. There is dignity, meaning, and success in countless other fields like art, literature, journalism, agriculture, entrepreneurship, scientific research, sports, public administration, environmental conservation, technology, social work, and countless others. Yet instead of expanding children’s horizons, society has narrowed them.


Today, discussions about the JEE and NEET coaching industry revolve around paper leaks, financial irregularities, fabricated success stories, manipulative advertising, and the commercialization of parental anxiety. Yet the most important question remains unanswered: do parents truly understand their children?


Children are not slaves to their parents’ unfulfilled dreams. Their lives are not meant to become status symbols in society’s endless competition. Nor should their careers be reduced to salary figures and social prestige alone.


Every child is different. Each possesses unique strengths, interests, and ambitions. Yet society continues to force millions of children through the same narrow funnel of competition. The time has come for parents to pause and ask themselves an uncomfortable question: are we truly building our children up—or merely breaking them down?


For while not every child can become a doctor, every child can certainly become a good human being. Society must learn once again to value character over marks, curiosity over rank, and fulfilment over prestige.


Fifteen years from now, society may once again confront the same unsettling question: millions ran the race but how many truly found fulfilment? It is still not too late. Parents, at least now, it is time to wise up.


(The writer is a lawyer and president, Student Helping Hands. Views personal.)

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