The day in the wilderness began with invigorating sounds of
chirping birds. If you read Jim Corbett's book "Jungle Lore", you would
be fascinated with the sounds of birds and insects. Each sound has a
meaning and indicates happiness, fear or anxiety as the animals too live
their lives. These sounds can propel humans to understand nature's
sensitivity and their role in conservation along with the morality as a
seminal trait.
Jim lived in these parts of India till 1950s before he
migrated to Kenya for his business and remains buried there. He remained
such a strong personality that in the spring of 1985, a film crew came
to his hometown Kaladhoongi to shoot a film on his life. Suddenly, an
old Kumaoni man of about 80 Years arrived to meet "Carpet Sahib" as he
was fondly called by locals. The man had heard that Carpet Sahib had
arrived at his home and he traveled 100 Kilometers in 2 days flat to
meet his icon!! This generation has long gone. If you ask an average
Kumaoni today, you may be surprised with their answers about Corbett.
Corbett name today is about business and the writ of business runs
larger than the Corbett persona.
As ,I powered the 4×4 Duster through the winding roads in
and around Kaladhoongi and criss-crossed the jungles,I could vividly
imagine Corbett walking through many of these areas along with the
majestic animals and flora. The tell tale signs of the animals are
written large over the signboards which guide humans to be careful with
nature and not to walk alone into the woods. Humans never walk alone in
any case. We come in droves with all sorts of fancy gadgets and each one
of us does our bit of damage to the ecological system. Some of us steal
the woods,many of us dump the litter and in the end it is the
quintessential selfie which remains our only possession till another one
replaces it!!
The Sivalik hills have eroded- the greens are a pale shadow
of their rich past. Maybe, if Carpet Sahib comes back,he will not even recognize these zones. I drove slow and steady keeping my headlights on
to forewarn the speedsters who kept zipping on the curvy roads. Dried up
Kosi River,threw up many questions as its white boulders devoured each
drop of the little rain that came by as a welcome note.
I did not see any animal other than some small birds and
the jungle was silent. I did get a resolute salute from Pankajkali,a
tame elephant as she dropped the Safari tourists.
Somewhere,deep inside these woods, a Tiger would be
looking up as its home is getting shrunk each day. Would the gracious
animal survive to stitch another Jungle Lore? The naked hills,the dried
up river and the pale yellow woods all silently weep as the Big Cat puts
its head on its paws and its intestines churn. The Tiger is no match to
the technology of today. Maybe the game would have been perfect if
human would have fought it one on one with the Tiger. Alas, humans are
not known for fair deals and sound decisions.
I am powering back to New Delhi now and leaving yet another
beat in Corbett's Zone. Looking forward to yet another trip down here
and a prayer that we must do a little for the Jungles.
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