Our own Doctor Dolittle in Mysuru

Why this life? This life could have been better. I am not getting the reciprocation of the love that I show. No such cribbing and crying about life. Accept life as is! Be in the present, no need to live in the past or worry about the future. No, these are not from the leaf of any modern-age spiritual and /or management guru’s life or teachings nor is it from Eckhart Tolle’s ‘The Power of Now’ book. This is what man’s best friend– the four limbed one- teach you! And that’s not all, there are more life- lessons that you can pick up from them, provided you have an ear to listen, intent to understand and a good heart to reach out says the one and only Inter Species Animal Communicator in Mysore- Lakshmi Rau. 

Animal communicator, telepath, pet psychic, pet communicator or Animal Whisperer as they are called are many and spread in urban India says Lakshmi. A small community, with 35-40 people of which Lakshmi is a part, converse with each other regularly, help each other in solving canine, feline and other animal issues. There are also those who teach how to become Animal Communicators and these are well- qualified internationally recognised certificate holders. Lakshmi took online classes from some of them. She needs to go a long way, she says modestly, to become a qualified teacher “I am still raw.”

Lakshmi with Judah

Lakshmi is two years into this, her calling came when she was grieving for Judah, the German Shepherd, her son of seven years which suffered from congenital disease and had to be put to sleep (be given euthanasia). The suffering Judah said to her ‘Let me go mama’ seeing her stuck in grief for days on end, stressed out and feeling low. From then started her journey of communicating with the animals, she can converse with any animal ‘from a mosquito to an elephant’!

It’s when you are in grief that things take a turn for the better say the wise. This turned out to be true in Lakshmi’s case. Within a month of losing Judah she came to know of the regular animal communication workshops, sessions and teachings which ‘opened up a whole new world’. There has been no looking back since then. She has completed basic and advanced course. 

Lakshmi grew up in a household which reared dogs of different breeds. At one time, she says, there were as many as nine canines at home, thus her love for them. But she, her sister Aarti who grew up in the same environment and also Lakshmi’s mentors categorically say that love for the animal is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. There is that special gift that is bestowed on the Animal Communicators that allows them to telepathically talk to the animals, learn about their needs, feelings and emotions. ‘You have to have a calling from the Divine’ says Lakshmi. 

The animal/dog loving person, at best can pick up on the animal’s body language or behavior which is shown by baring their teeth, wagging their tail etc. Telepathic communication goes way beyond the reading of bodily cues. It is about having the unique ability to align with the energies of the animals, understand their innermost thoughts, find out what bothers them, how they feel, if something is working well or not for them, even take wisdom suggestions from them on how to improve your life says Lakshmi who opens up a two-way channel with the animals. 

Animals speak in the same language as that of the pet parent, with the same clarity of words like the humans. But you must take permission from the animals before you strike a conversation, they call the shots. There are times when street dogs have brushed her hellos with ‘I have no time for you, I have better things to do’!  

Lakshmi is incredibly convincing when she speaks of the many conversations that she has had with the four-limbed ones as also the limbless. She talks with the ailing animals, help find lost pets, find out the last wishes of those which are on the verge of passing over. 

Dogs can tell you when they will leave their body. They are cool about it, they do not aspire to live longer than what’s preordained as they know that their birth is for a purpose and are happy to pass over when the purpose has been fulfilled. They do not grudge us anything and the best part is that they do not aspire to be humans in their next life either! (Is there a lesson for us here?).

Lakshmi helps owners communicate with the spirit of their pets who have passed over, thus providing the owners the emotional support, closure, comfort and reassurance. When the animals are on the other side of the rainbow bridge and show clouds and green meadows and they are smiling, we know that they have passed over, says Lakshmi. 

Dogs test their families’ willingness to take care of them by pretending to fall sick, she says. They have preferences for food and what’s more they are not spiteful at all- they do not like to bite, it’s only a retaliation mechanism and they apologize for causing pain! Dogs also mirror human’s health conditions; they fall sick when the owner does and recover when the owner does!  

Lakshmi makes it sound as if it is the very natural to communicate with the animals, just like we connect with each other.  She communicates when pet parents request her for dealing with the animals emotional or management issues such as exercise, diet, training etc. She says that the owners should ask specific questions to get specific answers. Vague queries do not yield good results. 

Dog trainers reach out to her, she recollects a specific incidence where a dog said that it needed more freedom and that the trainer should take it out to the open grounds while imparting skills- “I am tied all the time at home, how will I be motivated to learn anything?” it said and true to its words, it did the trainer proud after he obliged. 

Dogs and cats are easier to communicate with, says Lakshmi. She has conversed with the elephants and deer in the forest, parrots, and small bugs as also a butterfly in her backyard.

Lakshmi to the butterfly – “You have such a short life; how do you feel? You barely live for a few weeks”.  Butterfly speaking metaphorically said – “do you know how many kilometers I have flown, how much nectar I have drunk, how many flowers I would have pollinated? I have lived my life to the full”. If this is not guru mantra than what is?! 

The prerequisite to be an effective telepath is to be a hollow bone. The mind play, thoughts and feelings block one’s intuition and colors the authenticity of the dialogue. We are all made of energies, to communicate with the animals you need to align to their energies Lakshmi says. To do this, you should take a dump of your thoughts every morning, on a constant basis, become a hollow brick and be grounded with nature. This helps in fine tuning skills needed to receive message from animals and understand them better and see what they need, feel their distress, give them the love and care that they aspire for and deserve- that is all they want.   

Does this make her more humane, emphatic and overly sensitive I ask. But Lakshmi answers in the negative. On the contrary, she has become less emotional, she looks at herself as only a conductor of information which helps pet parents solve problems with their animals. This is one of the many lessons that she has learnt from the animals, they do not hold the humans responsible for anything! Another lesson for us?!

Do people believe you, this silent conversation that you hold with the animal I ask her? She is nonchalant and says that it’s left to them to be sceptic but what she has been experiencing is real. That her telepathic sessions have yielded results and people come to her with animal-issues is proof enough. Her high is when she is told that her “reading has been good.” “I am happy with what I do” she says. It is a boon given more for me that “I can converse with them”. She also counsels on what kind of dogs one can bring home and how to maintain them on a low-cost diet, no need to give unhealthy pedigree food.  

Lakshmi is known to only a few, she is not looking for popularity or fame or to use her talent to gain monetary benefits. Her intention is clear "to be a voice to the voiceless". Give the animals the best quality life, reciprocate their unconditional love, understand that they have feelings and have a mind of their own and have so much to convey to the humans she says. ‘There is a purpose for their existence, respect and honour it’. 

Interacting with Lakshmi, I thought to myself that the very word animal conjures up images of a beast, brute, something savage, devil, demon and many more adjectives that match Ranbir Kapoor in the film Animal. We also say s/he is a political animal, party animal -all with negative connotations. The dictionary meaning is one of living organism/s, another life form. Both do not do justice to what the animals are, so should we substitute the word with something more sensitive, loving and meaningful, I wonder. 

That aside, Lakshmi’s future plan is one of opening a shelter where different species can live in harmony with each other- we have our own Dr Dolittle in the making!