Animals are integral to human life, serving as companions, providers of food sources, such as milk, meat, eggs, and materials like wool, leather, silk. They are essential parts of ecosystems, aiding in pollination and soil health and improving physical health, while also playing roles in agriculture, medicine, and culture, impacting everything from our diets to our well-being.

As domestic pets, dogs and cats provide unconditional love, reduce one’s stress and offer companionship and protection, while dogs perform humanitarian tasks like guiding the blind to cross streets. Keeping fish and cats as pets at home is another common habit. Even though snakes and rabbits are kept as pets, they are not very common.

Many animals are part and parcel of human lives, including elephants, horses, parrots and large apes. They are so important that in Hindu mythology, no less than Pasupati, an epithet of Lord Shiva, is hailed as the ‘lord of animals.’ In fact, animals are revered as manifestations of divinity and as integral part of the divine cosmic order, reflecting the sacredness of life as exemplified by the elephant-headed Ganesha or the monkey-faced Hanuman. They are also depicted as vehicles or ‘Vaahana’s of Gods and Goddesses, such as eagle for Lord Vishnu, lion for Goddess Durga or the mouse for Lord Ganesha.

Among animals, elephants are incredibly majestic animals, admired for their strength, beauty, and intelligence. They have the largest brains and with their undeniably impressive memories, they can remember specific locations like watering holes. They even know when their favorite fruits will ripen and accordingly modify their traveling schedules. During periods of drought, they dig holes in the ground to find water sources, thereby benefitting other thirsty animals. The defecation they leave behind as they travel is useful in spreading seeds and creating new vegetation. An endearing custom is that the birth of a newborn baby in a herd is celebrated as a special occasion and the infants are cared for, not only by their mothers, but by other females in the herd.

Despite their towering size, elephants are instinctively deeply averse to harming any living being. They show immense restraint, compassion and nobility, which, ironically, is so rare in human beings.

Elephants have been central characters in many stories and movies like “Haathi Mere Saathi”.

Impressed by the influence of elephants in our lives, Leonardo da Vinci once wrote: The elephant embodies righteousness, reason, and temperance.

When an elephant senses its life coming to an end, it quietly steps away from the herd, to die alone. Not from weakness, but to shield the young from grief, carrying the weight of sorrow by itself.

Famous elephants in Indian epics include Airavata, Lord Indra’s celestial mount, the Ashta Diggajas, or eight elephants who support the world. A famous tourist spot that carries the name of elephant is Elephanta Caves, a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to Lord Siva. UNESCO has designated them as a World Heritage Site.

The word elephant finds common use in various contexts. For example, the expression ‘White elephant’ originates from a legend in Thailand, where rare and sacred white elephants could not be used for work but cost a fortune to maintain. Thus, any costly possession that is hard to get rid of, or offers little value, such as big, expensive projects or unwanted gifts, are called as such. Likewise, an ‘elephant in the room’ refers to a major, obvious problem or controversial issue, that everyone present is aware of, but deliberately ignores or avoids discussing, because it is uncomfortable, embarrassing, or politically sensitive. Impossible to miss, but everyone pretends it is not there.

Horses, likewise, play a vital role in our lives, as they have several remarkable features such as speed and high intelligence. Loyal and trainable, they can form strong and trusting bonds with humans.

References to horses are often found in several contexts, including in mythology and movies. In Greek mythology, the flying horse Pegasus is a magnificent winged stallion born from the Gorgon Medusa’s blood when the hero Perseus beheads her, with Poseidon as his father Also, history tells us that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who had several horses, favoured ‘Krishna’, a white stallion for its superior breed and performance in battles. The description ‘Pancha Kalyani’ refers to a highly prized and auspicious horse in Indian tradition.

Among birds, parrots have many uses in daily lives. They are among the most intelligent birds, with a brain displaying advanced cognitive abilities, including problem-solving, tool use, understanding cause and effect, and even a grasp of numerical concepts like zero. They are renowned for their ability to imitate a wide range of sounds, including human speech. They have surprisingly long lifespans and can live for several decades, up to 70 or 80 years.

“Polly wants a cracker” is a stereotypical phrase representing a talking parrot asking for a treat, stemming from the common practice of calling parrots “Polly”. Phoenix refers primarily to a mythical bird symbolizing rebirth from ashes, originating in Greek/Egyptian lore, representing renewal, resilience, and excellence across cultures. They have inspired Phoenix Lander, a NASA spacecraft that landed on Mars in 2008, and Phoenix Cluster, which is a massive galaxy cluster containing a supermassive black hole.

In the entire animal kingdom, the species that comes closest to human beings are apes. Among the significant similarities are the tendency to socialise and the capacity to communicate through vocal means. In fact, titi and owl monkeys, tamarins, and gibbons have a social system that is characterised by pair-living, just like humans. And all of them stay with their mates all their lives. The depiction of chimpanzees and orangutans speaking just like human beings, in the movie, ‘Planet of the Apes’, however, was a bit of an exaggeration.

And, as we come to the end of this piece, here is a real-life incident to provide some amusement to the reader. My father and my maternal uncles were habituated to exchanging jokes, which some people unfamiliar with the degree of intimacy of their relationship, could easily have misunderstood as being somewhat uncomplimentary. My father, mother and I, accompanied by a friend, were one day going to the zoo in Hyderabad. As we were preparing to leave, one of my uncles dropped in for a chat. And father, with the wit that was customary between them, invited him also to join us saying, “after all, the animals should also have an opportunity to see people like you!”

(The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)