Letters to the Editor: The disappearing songs

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The disappearing songs

There are melodies the morning no longer brings. Songs that once poured from the skies now echo only in memory. Wings that danced across sunlit skies now lie folded forever. Trees still sway, oceans still roar—but some birds are gone, and others, gasping, are on their way out. The voices that still sing do so on borrowed time.

In Assam, monsoon mornings were once veiled by the soft coo of the Spotted Dove (Kopou), often perched on the tin roofs of Assam-type houses. Birds enter our lives early, through stories like Lakshminath Bezbaroa’s Burhi Aai’r Xadhu, where a Quail pleads,

“Hur hur bota sorai,

Mur dhan nakhabi,

Tuk dim guta korai”

And in ‘Siloni’r Jiyekor Xadhu’, a kite adopts a girl as her own child—a story where love takes wing. Not long ago, skies trembled under the wings of the Passenger Pigeon—millions of them swirling in dark clouds of life. But greed proved faster than flight. By 1914, the last one, Martha, died alone in a zoo. The Great Auk, a curious, flightless bird of the North, vanished after the last pair was killed in 1844, their egg crushed. Others like the Laysan Rail and Grim Kingfisher disappeared quietly, like shadows swallowed by night.

Still, hope sings.

New Zealand’s mossy Kakapo—once nearly extinct—now slowly returns, each bird tracked, named, and fiercely protected. The Philippine Eagle, or Haribon, still soars above shrinking forests. The California Condor, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, and Forest Owlet survive—not by chance, but through human care.

In India, vultures once cleaned the land of decay. Then a veterinary drug drove them to the edge of extinction. But conservation efforts have sparked recovery. In Assam, we still host rare wonders—the regal Black-necked Stork (Telia Xareng), the vivid Bronze-winged Jacana (Dolpounga), and the high-flying Bar-headed Goose (Dhritiraz). These birds are our pride—but their numbers dwindle. The story of birds is not just about feathers and flight, but about the harmony they bring—the robin’s lullaby, the sudden silence as wings pass overhead.

Let the sky be more than a memory of what we lost—

Let it be a story of what we chose to save.

Abihotry Bhardwaz

Gauhati University      

Stray dogs

Unprovoked stray dog attacks on hapless women and children are increasing by the day. It goes without saying that excessive urban planning has helped street dogs proliferate. Uncleared, overflowing,  garbage, and abandonment of old dogs have resulted in a manifold increase in street dogs. On an average, India accounts for 35 percent of the global deaths due to rabies.  Mass neutralization is an effective way of dog control. Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules have important guidelines regarding process of mass spaying of female dogs and sterilization of males. Dogs, after being neutralized, are to be returned from where they were picked up. This has ruffled a few feathers who want the dogs to be removed altogether from their area.

Nonetheless, neutralization is neither a panacea nor an exhaustive method for stemming the street dog population because financial paucity and gaps in the programme can turn everything topsy-turvy. Stray dogs should not be fed near homes because they may begin guarding the area. Some areas away from human dwellings may be marked to feed these dogs so that they do not form clusters around homes.   It reflects poorly on our authorities that only 10 percent of about 50 million dogs have been sterilized and immunized in India. A combination of scientific, practical and humane approaches are important.

Dr Ganapathi Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com)

Cabinet’s approval and patients’ awareness

The news of Assam cabinet’s recent historic approval of regulatory measures against alleged practices of a section of private nursing homes/hospitals including withholding bodies over pending bills has come as a great mental relief to the economically weaker section from facing the traumatic situation arising out of not being able to take over the body of the deceased for failure to clear the pending bills, but it also has reminded the management to maintain transparency in treatment cost and procedure to avoid verbal abuse and physical violence inside the hospitals. It has nowadays become a normal norm to assault on doctor when a patient dies as people are becoming increasingly intolerant to pick a quarrel with doctors over petty matters. The 12 July editorial: 'Charter of Patients' Rights' has reiterated that there is clear line of distinction between other business and healthcare business which must be subjected to ethical practices and quality standards for the well-being, safety and respect to the patients. The timely intervention of the Assam cabinet has provided an opportunity for raising awareness on the rights of patients while bringing a few rotten fishes, charging excessive fees, prescribing unnecessary and costlier medicines and advising unnecessary investigations, under control, which was a long-felt need for which the state CM must be widely appreciated. We must remember that doctors are not tainted for combat; they are tainted to save lives. What doctors needed is sharing disease information and management options with patients and their families, that underpins the trust the public has in them. The role of private hospitals in bringing the gap in healthcare services cannot be overstated in the state. Can we disagree with the fact that the priority of majority of doctors is the well-being of their patients.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.