Cows, dogs, even monkeys and goats are a natural part of India’s cities and present everywhere – even in the metropolis like Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.  This might be surprising and unusual for tourists who visit the subcontinent for the first time. But it takes only a short while unless one gets used to it. Even in the most crowdest parts of the city animals are present and simply part of the daily life.

What is really amazing is to observe how unagitated the animals live and move in the crowdy streets and how human beings and animals co-exist and are used to manage their surroundings together.

In the Western world people love dogs, too, but it is a different kind of relationship. Not that natural, maybe… Just thinking about New Year’s fireworks when dog owners fear the noise and stressful moments their best friends have to live at midnight. Dogs and cows in India stay completely relaxed in the middle of the crowdy and noisy cities full of life, every day. They simply do not suffer from the mass of people, cars, spontaneous movements, cries and other animals around.
I have never observed that Indian people felt disturbed by them. Or got unpatient because an animal crossed a street and a car driver had to wait …

Ahmedabad, the city of the famous birdfeeders,  is just another prove that this co-existence has a long tradition. The birdfeeders indeed in each pol known as chabutro, tall poles that the people of Ahmedabad put up for birds to replace the trees cut down when they built the city, and crevices they built into the walls for birds to use as houses, show a heartwarming concern for non-human life.

The Indian human- animal co-existence is one of the most natural I have ever seen. But have a look yourself.  🙂