Vibrant Echoes

 2330 Hours
March 23, 2014

Had a long night working on my couch, felt drowsy and lethargic. Pendulum struck 0500 hours and I decided to do what I love the most, it was still dark but undoubtedly a very beautiful and refreshing morning. A day of testing the iron for both the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams to open the ICC WT20 tournament with flair too. For me, the test of survival started very much in the dew laden dawn of the day.

It was a very pleasant Friday morning, the Sun was gearing up. I was there some 5-6 Kms. from the main entrance of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, on one of the most beautiful & mystic trails called SHILONDA. Bursting with all forms of wildlife and splendor, it offers with what I was searching and it is known for “the surprise element”.

Well it was too early for me to finish my bottle of mineral water and was still thirsty after a long and brisk walk up to that point, which compelled me to divert from my proposed way to get some water from one of the many, familiar to me, underground fresh water springs called “Bhoke ka paani” (an underground water spring belonging to a male wild cat territory). As I approached the Spring, found myself surrounded by huge boulders of volcanic rock, adding a tint of mystery to the place. The place was breathtaking and a bit familiar to me as I have been there with a local inhabitant long time back. It didn’t take too long for the transition of senses from captivating to thrilling, as I saw some pug marks, etched in my memory, of a male leopard.

‘This is what I was looking for’, and the thought almost quenched my thirst. The upsurge of sense of investigation propelled me to proceed further and led me to something which transformed the scenario from thrill to horror. A recently eaten up carcass of seemed to be a fully grown dog, confirmed its presence in one of the many caves nearby among the boulders, as I started collecting the information and capturing a few snapshots.

It was now 0700 hours, I was facing towards the East. I realized the sun shining on me, so many findings early in the morning, seemed to be a great day ahead. Suddenly, something seemed unusual, the birds suddenly stopped chirping, the bunch of ‘langurs’, high in the Bombax Ceiba, were anxious too, a sense of uneasiness was prevalent in the zephyrs.

Well I thought to ease off the pressure a little bit by concentrating on what I was doing, getting a few good shots and collecting some water and leave the place as soon as possible. But it was a thought and in no time the reality was right in front of me, gazing at me, growling and making faces at me as if who was I to be in his territory.

Never seen such bewitching eyes in my life, a big and matured male leopard just 4-5 meters away from me, asking questions as his pupils expanded. And within seconds, the element of all thrill and excitement suddenly turned up into a not so pleasing nightmare. I was stop dead as if an NYPD officer with 2.5″ canines said ‘Freeze’.

Dazed and confused, lone and disarmed, the reality was disconcerting, it seemed as if time had been paused and the music of silence was deafening indeed. One thing was sure if I have to see another day then I have to handle it on my own and a single step back must ensured the end of the story.

Time to bind myself up, keep control of the nerves and find a way out to get out of this situation, was in the mind. Although it was not the first encounter with a big cat, nevertheless the scenario was all different, no escape route, no weapon for self defense.
No time to think, had my cell phone in my hand, clicked the capture button and the shutter sound surprised him a little bit as he was too close and it gave a fraction of seconds to analyze and think what to do next.

“Dear Sweet Lord! help me”, echoed in my mind, with an all dried up throat, feeling thirsty like never before and processing thoughts like,
Would I be so fortunate to see such seductive creation of god with pale-blue eyes ever again?
Would I be able to see my family?
Would I be able to serve for the existence of such beautiful creations of god around the world?
Would I be able to thank those who helped me out, through my thick and thins?
Would I be able to have a bottle of single malt with my dearest uncle?

Bottle…bottle… Yes, I came here to have some water, and my bottle is empty! Roger that!

Without wasting any single moment, standing high in front of him, I took the emptied water bottle from the side pocket of my backpack, in secret, and crushed it repetitively as hardly as I could have, with an intention to surprise him, acknowledging the fact that wild animals are shy and reluctant to unfamiliar and new sounds. As luck would have it, the idea worked for me, he felt a bit brain sick and annoyed by it and retreated slowly to one of his dens among the boulders with a grin on his face and gesture of forgiveness, as if he said: “Okay, this is the last time, huh, but never ever come in this area again unless you want the same, happening to you as you have just seen (the dog).”

This incident did came out with a few positives for future:
1-Always expect something unexpected while you are in the woods.
2-Do carry a plastic bottle (not rubber) in jungles to shoo animals away, but bring them back and dispose off at the right place.
3-An animal-man conflict may end up in a tie, but a predator at its place must have the last laugh.

“We call them as Man-eaters. Aren’t we intruding into their territory and eating their own space?”