Live another Day

 ‘Hey, point and shoot! Focus on the job we are here for!’

A ‘yes’ was all I could muster, embarrassed, in the middle of a thick jungle inside the famous tiger corridor of India.

I picked it up, the fickle Sony digital camera hanging from my neck and clicked the tigress out on her morning walk with her cubs in tow.

A couple of clicks and I had forgotten about the camera in my hand already. I was overwhelmed with the beauty and the poise of that ferocious animal as it strutted confidently in its home – the wild.

Before I knew, she had found herself a clearing amidst the tall trees where the foggy morning sun kissed the ground. The dew was still fresh and the occasional gust of wind sent a chill through my spine as it weaved its way through the forest. I needed the warmth, even under the three layers but getting any closer to the magnanimous beast was never going to be a good idea.

But, she had already begun basking in the golden light. Her cubs toddling around merrily, running and stumbling, jumping and clowning while chasing a butterfly. They hit each other with their paws, bit and rolled over fighting over a twig of grass.

It felt as if I was sitting in front of a 2000-inch widescreen curved AMOLED TV watching a 10-D film replete with climatic and physical effects and what not. I was anticipating Sir David Attenborough’s deep silky voice beginning to say “How can they become the most ferocious carnivores fit to be the kings of the jungle? Those bundles of fur, if they looked at you right now, would make you melt. Would you believe that in six months, this little cubs would have had stalked, hunted and ruthlessly killed dozens of other animals just to satisfy their hunger?”

And I would have been in awe of it, just like I am now. But those judgmental thoughts haven’t crossed my mind yet. I was enjoying the moment. As one of the cubs strayed a little further away in its jolly, mama tiger would just snarl a grunt out. The cubs would just leave whatever they were in to and scamper back. We sat there in the jungle, still and quiet spectators, witnessing the beauty of the rustic life of an animal – a beast when it is in the hunt.

That’s exactly when I saw some movement from the corner of my eye. Far to the right of this clearing, were large shrubs and mid-size trees. I could see the rustling leaves giving away the path of another wild being. As it came closer, I could see the sharp tusk of the wild boar heading in the direction of the clearing where the tigers were having their morning picnic.

I almost jumped at the thought of seeing a real wild kill. The predator in its full glory, pouncing on its prey who is no walkover itself. The boar is known to be a tough nut and a fierce fighter. The duel would be epic. The cubs were too young to participate but mama tiger was huge and supple. The boar looked stocky and its thick skin was glowing in the sun that had climbed further up in to the sly.

The boar, running through the foliage with its head down, passed through the bushes and was just entering the clearing when the tigress snarled at one of its cubs. Its ears popped right up and its front legs stretched ahead. And that is when I realized that the way Pumba braked in cartoons all these years was the real deal. The boar froze when it heard the snarl and stood there like it as a piece of furniture. It stood there still staring at the tigress with its eyes wide open.  

The tigress must have already heard the boar coming, its hearing much stronger than us humans, especially the urban dwellers. As she snarled, she looked in the direction the boar was coming in and saw it freezing to a stop. But she was full and unlike the sapiens, animals do not eat or hunt unnecessarily. So she just turned her head around and looked the other way.

That was the cue the boar was waiting for. It just turned around in one swift motion, completely unlike its clumsy demeanor. And run it did. Run for its life, run away from the hunter. Not that it was being hunted, but you could have seen the spook in its eyes just before that cue telling it could live another day.