ENJOYING WILDLIFE

Lesson in the wild

While a regal lion teaches Avni Mathur about self-confidence , an elephant holds out lessons in humility


MY earliest memory of wildlife is of the Bharatpur sanctuary, famous for its birds, specially the migratory ones. A toddler in my mothers arms, I was unable to spot a single bird, simply because I was too busy either fidgeting or dreaming about fairies in the jungle. My next trip was to Sariska. Like wannabe wildlife freaks, our group entered the jeep sporting the best cargos, hats and glares. For an hour, we went around the safari, displaying forced enthusiasm for every one of the zillion deer we saw. Later, when we complained that we were unable to spot a tiger, the resort owner convinced us that a tiger visited each night, if only we waited patiently enough. With dreamy eyes, we sat through the night amidst the mosquitoes and humid temperature. Dawn came, but no tiger! Few years later, Bhai came from Canada , and was keen to see the rhinos of Kaziranga. Bag and baggage, the entire family flew to the Northeast. We were scheduled to visit the forest in the morning and our mode of transport was the magnificent docile elephant.
Once deep inside the jungle, we spotted several rhinos. At one point, our family came unwittingly too close to a rhino, who was apparently a mother of two. Sensing danger, she charged at us, making the elephant restless. Neither a gunshot fired by the guard in the air, nor on the ground, hampered the rhinos speed. When we managed to backtrack out of her territory , she finally retreated . This made me realise that in order to protect the family one should go that extra mile even if it means fighting with the mightiest. The elephant also had a lesson to teach. He was hit by a stick by his master for every mistake made and each time the stick fell on the ground, he would pick it up and give it back to the master. It was a classic example of how we are rebuked by our seniors and end up losing great jobs or relations because of ego hassles. If the east showed me a mock charge by a rhino , the west showed me Ranthambore, the land of tigers. They were so professional in getting themselves snapped. Last but certainly not the least, were the king of the jungles, the lions of Gir, with a mane so picture perfect and a body that every athlete would die for. They commanded so much authority. This made me feel that if one was confident and feared no one, one would be regarded in the highest esteem.
Saving the best for the last, as we
returned from Gir, we saw a hospital for sick animals, with a lion circling within the fences. Seeing this, a little girl innocently asked her father what was bothering the lion. To which, he promptly replied that the Tiger was just tired of seeing humans! We all roared with laughter but its so true, and so inhuman to encroach on the animals privacy. I mean, dont we get sick and tired of people who try to invade our own