Nala - The beauty of Rantambore

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.

Cat Care

Whilst many of us have cats as pets, believing that cats need seldom as much attention as the dogs or rabbits or birds do, we usually forget the essencial that all living creatures need LOVE and CARE.

I have got 3 healthy cats and whenever I have people visiting me, they comment on how healthy these cats look. There is no magic. India being a tropical country and Delhi being a city where one experiences extreme temperatures all year round, I have to be very cautious what do I feed these furry pals of mine so that they do not fall ill.

Feed your cat raw meat. The healthiest cats are those cats who get the correct amount of tanin in their food. Whilst the canines have adapted themselves and lost some of their wild wolverian traits, our felines are still predators by nature. If observed well, our kitties still love to play with their food - just as the tigers and panthers do so in the wild. I usually have this cat n mouse game with my cats on saturday mornings. It may disghust some readers, but for the sake of the cats, its essential that I make thir environment as natural as possible. So, I take a piece of meat and fling it low across the room, all 3 cats of mine run after the meat and the fastest gets the piece. After this, he plays with the meat for several minutes before relishing it. I wash the meat under running water and store it in the deep freezer in zip locked bags. The meat is then thawed and given to the cats twice a day - in case the cats do not consume the food in a span of 45 minutes, the food is taken away, to avoid contamination and they get their next meal after 7 hours. This way, they have learnt that if they do not eat on time, they will have to remain hungry for some time before the next meal is given.


Do not cook the food and give it to the cats as it looses the essential vitamines. Please avoid giving, salt, sugar and turmeric based products to your cat. These are poison for them. Do not give onion, garlic and egg whites either.


All indoor cats also need ample exeercise to remain healthy. Please give your cats small balls, thick strings and bells to play with and exercise them selves.

Most importantly, cats usually have urinery tract infections as they hate drinking water. Always ensure that the urine of your cat is lemon yellow in colour. In case it is a shade darker, you know that your cat has not been drinking enough water to cleanse its system. use a small syringe sans the needle to inject .25x5 ml water in your cat's mouth. This is a very simple task. Take your cat and cradle it in your arms as if you are holding a small child, lift the corner skin of its mouth and slowly inject the water in. Job done :-)

Since this is my first attempt at writing, I am sure that my thoughts are not in order. I would appreciate your comments and feed backs.

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