Samidh Bhattacharyya

मुंबईतल्या भटक्या आणि पाळीव पण सोडून दिलेल्या प्राण्यांना हक्काचे घर मिळावे यासाठी Adopt A friend forever अशा पद्धतीची चळवळ सुरु झाली आहे. हा उपक्रम Teatro Bar & Grill, YODA आणि GoPaws यांच्या संयुक्त विद्यमाने राबवला जातोय. या उपक्रमांतर्गत एका मुक्या प्राण्याला त्यांचं हक्काचं घर मिळावं यासाठी प्राण्यांना दत्तक घेण्याची ही चळवळ सुरु झाली आहे. मुंबईत आज अशाच एका अनोख्या उपक्रमाचं आयोजन करण्यात आलं होतं. ज्यात सौ. शर्मिला ठाकरे या सहभागी झाल्या होत्या. शर्मिला वहिनी ज्या स्वतः एक प्राणीप्रेमी आहेत आणि मुक्या प्राण्यांसाठी त्या कायम आवाज उठवत असतात, त्यांच्यासाठी उपक्रम राबवत असतात. या उपक्रमाला सौ. शर्मिला ठाकरे यांनी उपस्थित राहून प्राण्यांच्या दुरवस्थेचा प्रश्न देखील ऐरणीवर आणला. प्रसार माध्यमांशी संवाद साधताना “महानगरपालिकेचा मोकाट कुत्र्यांसाठी असलेला निधी नेमका जातो कुठे?” असा थेट सवाल त्यांनी उपस्थित केला. #MNSAdhikrut

Mumbai: A heartwarming moment from a train journey is winning hearts online after a street dog was seen resting peacefully inside an AC coach during intense summer heat. Instead of reacting negatively, passengers around the dog were seen smiling and allowing the animal to stay comfortably inside. The touching scene has sparked praise on social media, with many people appreciating the kindness and compassion shown by fellow passengers during the extreme weather conditions. At a time when temperatures are soaring across many parts of the country, the small act of humanity has left a big impact online. #StreetDog #Humanity #TrainJourney #ViralMoment #Punetimesmirror

Strongly urging legal minds to highlight what action residents, community, and pet owners can take against anyone in their midst who indulges in animal cruelty. Sharing a judgement is one thing, sharing concrete steps to help enforce it and prevent it’s abuse would be helpful too. A step by step guide for citizens please 🙏 This gets fought at the local level. Not just in corridors of power. Also strongly urging the ethical media, what’s left of it, to shine a light on anyone committing animal cruelty. People should know that harming animals is against the law, and comes with consequences.

Please meet our rescues from the streets of Goa. Stoopee and Lucy humbly requesting you to rescue as many of our street dogs as your home and heart will allow. Also requesting the govt to incentivise people to take dogs off the streets and into their homes. This has been implemented successfully in many countries, along with mass humane sterilisation drives which are the only real long term solution.

Normally, I do not comment on Supreme Court judgements and only those who have a case can speak. But if a judgement is given against voiceless animals, then one has to raise their voice. The court order is not practical, it is inhuman. Who will decide whether a stray dog is dangerous and it should be administered the death injection? I feel, the court order will open up the gates of atrocities on voiceless stray dogs. Animal activist Menaka Gandhi's suggestion is right. If the State wants to lower the number of stray dogs, there should be a massive sterilization and vaccination drive for such homeless animals. I would rather prefer the apex court to direct all state governments to start this on a war footing. rajatsharma.in/?p=12573

Every day, countless Indie dogs face hunger, heat, accidents, cruelty, and loneliness on the streets. Yet even after all the suffering, they still wag their tails, trust humans, and continue to love unconditionally. Please don’t ignore them just because they are street dogs. Our Indies are resilient, intelligent, affectionate, low-maintenance, and perfectly adapted to Indian weather conditions. When you adopt an Indie, you save a soul that truly needs you. You make space for another rescue. You become someone’s entire world. Adopt an Indie. Give love a home. #AdoptDontShop #dogs

An updated nighttime moment from Ichikawa Zoo… and Punch has everyone emotional again tonight. 🥺🌙🐒 Late in the evening, Punch was seen sitting quietly alone on monkey mountain holding OranMama tightly while the cold wind moved through the rocks around him. 🧸 And then came the moment nobody expected. Punch slowly leaned forward… gently kissed the plush toy… and pulled it even closer into his tiny arms like he was looking for comfort before sleeping. No chaos. No movement. Just little Punch quietly sitting in the dark with the one thing that always seems to make him feel safe. 🧡

In Turkey, an elderly man who makes a living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat who asks him to brush his fur.

Este hombre se llama Mohamed Bzeek, vive en California y esa niña que tiene en brazos murió pocos días después de que le hicieran la foto, también en sus brazos. No era su hija. Era uno de los diez niños que han muerto bajo su cuidado. Porque Bzeek es padre de acogida y solo acoge a niños en estado terminal, para que no mueran solos. Nació en Trípoli en 1954, antes de irse de Libia corría maratones. En 1978 entró en Estados Unidos con un visado de estudiante y allí se quedó. Vive en Azusa, una de esas localidades del extrarradio de Los Ángeles por donde circulan camiones y donde las casas tienen una pinta genérica, agrupadas sin llamar la atención. En 1989 conoció a Dawn Rowe, que ya era madre de acogida desde principios de los ochenta, se casaron y empezaron a acoger juntos. En 1995 tomaron la decisión de dedicarse exclusivamente a niños con enfermedades terminales, los que nadie quería. Me pregunto cómo fue ese momento exacto en que dos personas se sientan en una cocina y deciden que van a abrir su casa a los niños que se mueren, y en cómo esa decisión se toma, sin actas, sin nada que la registre, y sin embargo organiza el resto de una vida. La primera niña que murió en su casa tenía un año, espina bífida, parte de la columna le crecía fuera de la piel. Murió el 4 de julio de 1991, mientras Mohamed se duchaba y Dawn preparaba la cena, él recuerda haber salido del baño y haber encontrado médicos en su salón. Lloró tres días. Desde entonces ha acogido a unos ochenta niños, diez han muerto en sus brazos. El condado de Los Ángeles, cuatro millones de habitantes, lo llama cuando no hay nadie más. Lo llaman el padre de último recurso. Muchos llegan sin nombre, nacen en hospitales y los abandonan, las familias no los nombran y en el papel pone "Baby boy", "Baby girl". Mohamed los nombra, les pone un nombre antes de que mueran. Un nombre es gratis, cuatro sílabas, pero ese gesto, cuando se pone el nombre, decide si un niño que vivirá tres semanas existirá como persona o como registro administrativo. Su hijo biológico, Adam, nació con osteogénesis imperfecta y enanismo, se ha roto casi todos los huesos del cuerpo. Dawn murió en 2015 de una enfermedad pulmonar y desde entonces Mohamed sigue solo, solo puede ocuparse de un niño a la vez. Cuando un periodista del Los Angeles Times entró en su casa en 2017 cuidaba de una niña de seis años con microcefalia, ciega, sorda, pies zambos, caderas dislocadas, no movía brazos ni piernas, tenía convulsiones. La había recibido con siete semanas de vida y le habían dicho que viviría unos meses. La sostenía durante las convulsiones y le hablaba aunque no oyera. Sé que no puede oír, sé que no puede ver, pero le hablo, tiene sentimientos, es un ser humano. En 2016, a Bzeek le diagnosticaron cáncer de colon, le pidió tiempo al médico, no puedo operarme todavía, tengo a un niño en casa que es terminal y tengo a mi hijo, que es discapacitado, no hay nadie más para ellos. En el hospital, ingresado, solo, dijo que por primera vez entendió lo que sentían los niños que cuidaba. Si yo a esta edad estoy asustado, cómo estarán ellos. Se operó y siguió. Bzeek es musulmán practicante. Su historia se hizo internacional en febrero de 2017, justo cuando Trump firmó la orden ejecutiva que vetaba la entrada en Estados Unidos a ciudadanos de siete países de mayoría musulmana, Libia era uno de ellos. Ese mismo mes, en Azusa, el único padre de acogida de toda la ciudad de Los Ángeles dispuesto a llevarse a casa a los niños terminales era un libio musulmán. Aunque mi corazón se rompa, dijo una vez, la muerte es parte de la vida, estoy con ellos hasta el final, los conforto, los quiero, quiero que sientan que tienen una familia, que tienen a alguien. Que no están solos.

This clip is so fitting to summarise what Sachin Tendulkar means for us

His name is Bant Singh. He is a farmer and folk singer from Jhabhar village in Mansa district, Punjab. He had been singing since he was ten years old. In 2000 his daughter was studying in Class 9 when three men gang raped her. The panchayat told him to settle it quietly. He was offered ten lakh rupees and three acres of land to drop the case. He refused. He filed a police complaint. He went to court. In 2004 all three men were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The village did not forgive him. On January 5 2006 he was cycling home through wheat fields after campaigning for a labour rally. Seven men ambushed him with iron rods and axes. He lost both arms and his left leg. He was moved from Mansa to Patiala to PGI Chandigarh where doctors operated for hours to save his life. When he regained consciousness he asked for his harmonium. He said they cut my arms thinking they would silence me. They were wrong. All seven attackers were eventually convicted. He kept performing at rallies. He kept singing. He still sings today. Follow for real stories about people India must never forget.

@crispeconomiX Problem toh bujlam and agree korlam. practical, not hypothetical, solution ki?

I am a Non Resident Bengali. I was born and brought up in Delhi. Apart from yearly visits to Kolkata during summer vacations, I stayed continuously in Kolkata for 2 years only- during MBA. And that stay removed the rose tinted glasses. There are 3 things that jolted me- generic dilapidation, civic apathy and abject urban poverty. My friends from CU/JU wore "You can travel the entire city and eat if you have 100 in your pocket" as badge of honor. You see half the people would starved as they did not earn 100 a day. Apart from IIMC which places almost everyone outside WB , every B-School struggled to place anyone within the city that paid more than 3 LPA. There were just no jobs. The students at these B-Schools boasted of being from Xavier, Brabourne etc. and were 'koop mandook'. Most of the people I knew of then are not in Kolkata. Some realized early, some late. But they realized. No one wants to go back. And then you see some random Bong NRIs clownishly dancing with placards saying 'Don't vote BJP'. Really? You bloody left because leftists destroyed industries and TMC appeased the peaceful folks to the hilt. In my ancestral village, everyone from my father's gen either has a small shop or is a party worker. Their sons while away their time at nooks, smoke weed. I always thank my father who decided in '78 that it is time to leave Bengal. Visionary. Else I would be one of those guys. I don't know if the situation Bengal can be reversed. Most Bengalis are too poor and really want that 1000-2000 every month. Elites are co-opted. Sliver of middle class wants to go out. Even if BJP comes somehow, all gundas might shift en masse to BJP. Then what? We Bengalis need to bring changes from within. Too much of marinating in past glory and 'Amartya Sen maachher matha kheye boro hoyechhen, tuio khaa', has done us in. I don't know how. I don't see light at the end of the tunnel. Chaa er Cup ey Biplob ene baal kichui hobe naa. What did not work for ~50 years, will magically start working now? Are you daft?

An actor who has given millions to support animals is now being recognized on a global stage. Ricky Gervais has been awarded the Jane Goodall Award for his ongoing efforts to stand up for animals and call out cruelty worldwide. Using his platform, he’s brought attention to issues like animal testing, fur farming, and trophy hunting—while also supporting charities and funding real change. Inspired by Jane Goodall’s legacy, the award honors those deeply committed to protecting animals and the planet. Supporters say this moment shows the impact of using influence for good—and how one voice can help spark global awareness. Because real advocacy isn’t just words—it’s action.

She had nothing. No home, no name, no one to call her own. But when danger came, she became everything. In Odisha’s Mayurbhanj, a venomous snake slithered toward a group of schoolchildren. Before fear could spread, a stray dog stepped in. Bite after bite, the snake struck her face. The venom kept spreading. The pain must have been unbearable. Still, she didn’t step back. She fought until the threat was gone. Until every child was safe. And then… she fell. Kali gave her life protecting children who may never fully understand what she endured for them. A stray to the world. A hero forever. We don’t deserve animals, yet they continue to show us what true courage and selflessness look like. #RealHero #Humanity #Odisha

Live cockroaches inside the train in plain sight. Kamrup Express train #15960 3AC Dibrugarh to Howrah @RailMinIndia @AshwiniVaishnaw

A final-year law student, Rishi Kumar from Tamil Nadu National Law University, refuses to delete his blog criticising the Supreme Court… despite pressure from his own university. Why? Because the administration allegedly received calls from advocates, judges, and others claiming the post harms the institution’s “reputation.” The blog titled “The Supreme Court of India Has No Spine” questioned the court’s decision to ban an NCERT textbook chapter on judicial corruption. But here’s the real issue: A law student is being told to silence himself… for expressing a legal opinion. His response? Clear and powerful: “My opinions are mine… you do not own my voice or my conscience.” He even said he’s ready to face disciplinary action rather than back down. This isn’t just about one blog. This is about academic freedom vs institutional pressure. If law students… the future of the judiciary are discouraged from questioning the system, then who exactly is allowed to question it? Criticism of institutions ≠ disrespect. Silencing criticism = weakening democracy.

It’s unhealthy how many times I’ve watched this 😂

Man sits with a bag of treats waiting for dogs to show up.. retirement plans..🐕🐾👴😊❤️

Felt the tremors of an earthquake for the first time in my life… woah 😟 #Kolkata

@Gabbar8244 19