India, an incredible land that has a rich flora, fauna and heritage is slowly, but surely loosing out on her wildlife. 5 decades ago, there were nothing less then 3000 tigers to be found across the country. There have been other animals who, along with the tiger also need some attention. These are leopards, wild cats and panthers.
The untamed growth of human race has become an absolute threat to the wild. Yet, neither are WWF, National Geography nor other NGOs able to do much.
Nevertheless, I must give kudos to Valmik Thapar and his efforts at doing something for the tigers. I am much impressed in the manner that Rantahmbore has worked on saving the tigers. I was there recently and had the wonderful opportunity of seeing 6 tigers spread across the jungle. My favourite is a tigress called 'Nala or Lady of the Lake'. This furry lady is a true beauty and she knows how to instill the mortal fear in all creatures both living and dead that fall under her territory. Seeing her and her freedom was wonderful. She is indeed a lucky cat. Imagine being born in a zoo she would have never known what freedom were to be.
Most of the time its criminal to confine these huge creatures in cages. No matter how beautifully the landscaping is done, it is nothing close to being out there in the open and in the wild... nothing like hunting down your food, nothing like facing the furies of the nature, locating crevices and caves, having secret routes, hiding the kill.... freedom is so important to anything living.
Plant a tree in a forest and the same species of tree in one's courtyard. There will most certainly be a difference in the quality of the fruit and the growth of the plant. Even stationery living creatures need freedom. I managed to enter Nala’s head…and with her permisson managed to capture below some of her thoughts.
I am ‘Nala’ - 'Lady of the Lake' and Ranthambore is my home. Unchartered, unbridled, free from realms of human intervention - I saunter across the plains and the grasslands. This is my land; these are my creatures - all of them - air borne, water borne and those who eat the grass of my land. I am permitting humans to come and learn from my kinds - let those lesser mortals learn how to live in harmony and what it means to be content. But let me tell you, human beings have no dignity, they trespass my privacy and misuse the hospitality that I have offered. One day one of them will shoot my cubs, kill my kinds and decorate their homes. Yet, let me just live in peace for now. Let me live for the moment, let my silent pugs usher the free spirit of my soul and for now, let me drink the cool water from my lake and sleep under the shade of the sisal tree. I can hear the monkeys chattering and the Sambar baying .... they need not fear for now. I am content and thus languid.
