ASS and DONKEY

 ASS and DONKEY

As and when convenient we use the term Ass or Donkey as the case may be. In either case the animal is the same. Then why we call something Ass or Donkey? Ironically, we castigate someone as Ass or Donkey merely to show our displeasure about the person or his styles of functioning. To be called an Ass or Donkey is insulting to the person while the animal in this name roams about as the happiest one. If only the animal gets to know with whom we equate its name, it may too feel insulted; till then it stays insulated. All attempts to delineate the two names to distinguish the animal as ASS or DONKEY remain futile; yes, the dictionary states that the two are synonymous and that Ass is an old term. It doesn’t anyway mean that a Donkey is more modern an animal than the Ass. Only the name is old for the Ass and the name Donkey is less old. I too have observed that old timers used to liberally use the term ‘Ass’ than the other option. That way Ass seems to enjoy preference over its later name. In fact in the British parliament once a member was called an ‘Ass’ AND THE OBSERVER was forced to tender an apology. The person elegantly apologized telling” I said the honourable member is an Ass and I feel sorry for it”. Apparently, it is an apology; but is more a reiteration, if one carefully observes the phraseology.

Leaving aside such animals and utterances, we have enough to understand of the quality of the animal.

Asses roam in the hot Sun –no matter how harsh the summer is. While Horses and Asses are domesticated, their cousin ZEBRA is not easy to handle and so hard to domesticate. Relative size of the donkey stands the animal in advantage, lest  humans should have readily tagged it to a cart for ferrying men and material. Why I feel so? Donkey is an inexpensive animal demanding no food or rest from the master. You may be surprised to learn that –beyond certain volume of work/ time, horses may refuse to work and may even destabilize the cart and its contents including all passengers; once it turns reluctant it will refuse to work, unless the animal is used to work at those hours. A cart-tied Horse may simply raise its forelegs menacingly high, tilting the cart to a steep incline to discard all men and material inside like a pack of cards. Any attempt to punish the horse would cause even harsher responses including ‘biting’ the men around. Horse is both intelligent and harsh;  can read too much and can violently react. That is why humans Shield the animal’s lateral vision by a bridle and permit only the view of the immediate few feet ahead for the animal to see and run. Seeing certain specific landmarks, the animal knows the vicinity of its home and can simply drag the cart homeward with all the commuters. Horse owners know this too well and take the cart through some other path to safely off-load the commuters. As a young boy of of 10-12 years, I have learnt of these horse habits from a horse trainer cum master who had his horse-cart for livelihood.

Let us recall how RK. Narayan –the famous author has critically reviewed Donkey’s activity pattern. He says “Donkey identifies the abandoned old homes of poor people and stands parallel to the mud wall in the mid noon, sheepishly watching his own shadow with neck lowered to the floor. Even if two of them stand they stand parallel but facing opposite directions”. [An observation par excellence –I should endorse]. When, these donkeys leave the place or what do they eat are items requiring keener study. They may drag posters stuck to walls and devour them. They avoid turbid waters to drink and prefer clear water for drinking.

Among the domesticated animals Donkeys are let free and never fettered; at best the fore-legs are tied together to contain the animal from running. If disturbed, donkeys can run quite fast even as they bray in delight or despair. Despite freedom to move off they faithfully visit the master’s place by the morning to carry the day’s linen for washing heaped in bundles on their backs and wait at that spot where the master /mistress wash these clothes. They don’t rid themselves of these bundles, till the master does it. The donkey is a very loyal animal with no demand for wages, food or leave; but a very obedient creature. Yet, anger in people tempts them to call anyone a donkey, though the animal is not guilty of any misdeed. Thankless are the humans and shamelessly so.

Prof. K.Raman