Bearding the Lion in his own den As Chairman ITDC I decided to visit Gir Forest in Gujerat to have a look at the tourism infrastructure there and to explore possibilities of our involvement. I was accompanied by two of our officers. A closed van was to take us inside the Forest where we could seen the lions in their natural habitat. Having reached there we saw the Forest officer merrily sauntering along from inside the forest on foot.I asked him whether that was his normal practice of taking a round in the forest and whether he encountered any lions in the course of his beat.He said that was part of his job and he was least bothered about the lions who ignored him. I was a little intrigued why we were proposed to be treated like wild animals to be taken in a closed van for the lions to have a good look at us.,instead of the other way round. It was very humiliating and I felt and I would not permit such ignominy and decided to lay down the law. I very firmly made my mind clear to the Forest Officer;if the lions had been ignoring him why would they show extra interest in us, and therefore we would discard the van and trudge along.I looked to my two colleagues for support.That is what junior officers are meant for. It was the month of April and this fact is relevant to what follows,for generally starting from this month according to bureaucratic procedure ,the CR s or the performance reports of the officers is written,and I was quite certain that the two officers would not go against the wishes of their superior.I was not wrong and ( and never am ) The two officers rightly came to the conclusion and without wasting much time fell in line and decided that it would be most unwise to go against the wishes of their immediate boss even though the mission might appear to be foolhardy.So with no further problems we moved on our mission Jungle Walk.Everything augured well. The weather was pleasant,the birds were singing,the trees were dancing in the breeze,God was in his heaven and all was well with the world.Bonhomie all around and things looked bright and cheerful. It is said that good things do not last.Whoever,discovered this phenomena must have been very perceptive and certainly deserved an award for his discovery.It was proved true in our case for the premature optimism soon gave way to consternation .I,however, felt a sense of adventure and having experienced a few unusual situations in the past,though unexpected and even having lived to tell the tale I looked forward to this one wondering what direction it would take.At a distance of about 30-40 yards a lion and lioness were resting under the shade of a tree ,looking quite contented and happy.A good sign,perhaps they had helped themselves to a good lavish breakfast ,perhaps had over eaten and would,therfore feel too,lazy to get up.I was totally fascinated seeing the King of the JUNGLE and his mate in their natural habitat relaxing perhaps oblivious to the world .I took a sidelong glance at my partners and found them in the prayer mode. Reflecting later I could not explain to myself why I was not scared at all.Perhaps my district training had helped. Curiosity got the better of His Majesty,the lion and he decided to have a better look at the unexpected guests.He moved in our direction. In slow and measured steps.I had to act fast .Beating a hasty retreat was foreign to my thinking .In any case it was out of the question.However fast we sprinted we would only excite his athletic instincts and being a record holder we could possibly have no chance.In moments of crisis,we are trained not to lose our cool and in any case my brain acts fast and comes up with a solution to meet the crisis,I remembered suddenly as a child being told to look a tiger or a lion in the eye if one encountered such an animal in the wild.Here was the time and opportunity to test the wisdom of the elders.His Royal Highness was just 10-15 yards away when I gave him one of my fiercest stares which I generally reserve for official duties.He,surprisingly stopped in his tracks but we continued to glare at each other in a spirit of contest when he realised that he had no chance and admitting defeat gracefully sat down.I was elated beyond words .One of my greatest triumphs. The Forest officer advised us to inch our way backwards without any perceptible movement which we did and though it seemed like eternity we were ultimately out of range and out of possible danger to the great relief of my two assistants who,I discovered had been perspiring profusely.It was hot weather,no doubt ,but that was not the cause. On getting back to safety,I suggested a trip in another direction arguing that based on the law of averages we could not expect to find lions everywhere .My colleagues were I sensed,having a serious debate within themselves as to what would be best for them .Again future career prospects triumphed over other possible consequences so putting up as brave a face as they could they joined the adventure party,Belief in the Law of Averages drove away my worst fears.But as many of us know ,acting on this principle has brought many economists,politicians and others to grief and we were no exception,though we did not come to grief. After having walked three quarters of a mile ( kms had not come into fashion then) we encountered a sight for the gods and a wish come true for photographers.What do we see? A lion and a lioness having made a kill were tearing the carcass and their four offsprings,the cubs at the pond quenching their thirst,The pond was not very large but certainly within leaping distance of any one of their parents should they be in a mood for some little exercise.It was a fascinating sight and though I had my camera my instincts told me to restrain myself.I looked back to tell my colleagues how lucky we were ,but they were nowhere to be seen They had fled leaving the boy as in that poem on the burning deck. I went back and found them but all attempts for a third venture failed.The instinct of self preservation had prevailed over doubtful advancement of career prospects.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 07:38:07 +0000
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