February 1, 1999, Monday, sunny, 7-20C 

 

[07:12 @ Kanha Jungle Lodge]

     I did get up early enough to go with Pradeep and Craig into the park, but I declined just before they left, partly due to Pradeep’s imperious way of ordering me around, and partly because of my real preference to spend my time with Anne, Faiyaz, Chris and Kim instead, before Kim leaves for Bandhavgarh later in the morning and before I leave for Delhi tomorrow. 

     Faiyaz made his morning’s appearance in a state of dejection.  Last night, he made two requests of Pradeep, one, for Tiger Trust to go outreach with me to the 178 Buffer Zone villages, and two, that he be put on outreach duty as Tiger Trust operative.  Pradeep rejected both flatly.

     Well, he has no power to order me, and I will do it. 

 

[22:14]           At about 07:40, I knocked on Kim’s door to wake her for a last coffee before she leaves for Bandhavgarh.  She rose at once, but took about 45 minutes to do her morning chores and to pack for her relocation to Bandhavgarh later in the morning.  When she did knock on my door, she was fresh, with hair damp.  She sat on my bed and I on my computer chair.  We’ve known each other since Bear Referendum ’96, and it’s only in these last few days I’ve got to know her personally.  But now, too soon, she is being whisked away.  But it’s her choice.  Were it Anne that Pradeep had named to move to Bandhavgarh, I would have put a stop to that.  Kim and I both know that Kim would rather work with tourists than villagers.  Her own profession in Vancouver is tourism, so I can understand it.  It just means that if and when I have to choose between Anne and her as my assistant, I would choose Anne without a moment’s hesitation.  This means that come March, when it comes to switching them between Kanha and Bandhavgarh according to Pradeep’s plan, I may have to take action to retain Anne with me unless I go to Bandhavgarh as well on March 1 which, given our outreach plan at Kanha, is highly unlikely.  These are just my thoughts.  I didn’t voice them with Kim.  But I think she already knows.  Still, we have a personal rapport that underlies everything, and my choice of Anne over Kim is purely professional, although I like Anne very much too.    I will miss Kim, that is for sure.

     And then, the Tata Sumo (Indian-made diesel jeep used on highways, but not in tiger reserves which bar diesel vehicles) arrived, and she and Janice were whisked away.

     In the meeting with Faiyaz, Anne and Chris, I told Faiyaz that I will talk to Pradeep about the outreach program myself.  His face wore a big question mark of uncertainty in my success.  I also talked about the possibility of having them in Delhi for the St. Valentine’s Day Love-the-Tiger Walk.  The stumbling block is of course time and money.  The plane fare one way is US$135, US$270 return, plus overland Rs10 per km, return 650 km, or Rs6500, or US$160.  All told US$430 or CDN$600+.  Too expensive for too little.  Also, re-experiencing in my mind the dangerous highway and reckless driving especially in Maharashtra, it’s not worth it.  The alternative is a 50-hour return trip by rail.  Nah, forget it.

     Pradeep spent the rest of the day mostly with Craig and Tarun.  In the afternoon Faiyaz, Anne, Chris and I went for a walk through the sal forest to the river less than a kilometer behind the Jungle Lodge grounds.  It is a picturesque river about ten meters wide which flows serenely through a jumble of exposed rocks.

     We walked downstream for a change.  After only about 100 meters, Faiyaz pointed to a tree stump on the other side of the river.  “Look over there.  More deforestation of the park at work.  If you sit here for long enough, you’ll see cows.”

     “Is that the park over there?” Anne looked at the forested bank across the river where the tree stump stood like a sore thumb.

     “Yes,” answered Faiyaz.  “Core Area over there, Buffer Zone here.  Tiger and deer over there, people and cattle here.  Wilderness over there, so-called civilization here.  Nature over there, artificial things here.”

     “We’ve got to do something about the problem.  Let’s talk about it at length later,” I said.

     We sat down on the rocks at a particular picturesque bend.  Anne pointed into the water at her feet.  “Look, a prawn.”

     Faiyaz went over and looked.  “It’s a crayfish.  A big one.”

     “Is it natural or artificial?” Raminothna asked them.

     “Is this a trick question?  Of course it’s natural,” said Anne,

     “Watch it, people.  Anthony’s up to something, as usual,” said Chris.

     “Including its cells?” Raminothna asked further.

     “Of course, each and every one,” answered Anne.  Not only I, but Anne too, tend to say “of course” to Raminothna a lot.

     “And its shell?”

     “Yes.  No shell, no crayfish.”

     “See that termite mound over there near the stump?”

     “Yes, I see it.”

     “Is it natural or artificial?”

     “It is natural.”

     “The whole mound?”

     “Yes.”

     “Including the termites inside?”

     “Yes.”

     “And the shell?”

     “Yes.”

     “A tribe of Langur (“lang-GOOR”) monkeys.  Natural or artificial?”

     “Natural.”

     “And a tribe of humans.  Natural or artificial?”

      “I think I know what you’re driving at,” said Faiyaz.

     “Me too,” said Chris.

     “What he is driving at,” said Anne, “is that a human society is as natural as a termite society, and that a human village, or a high tech city for that matter, is as natural as a termite mound.”

     “So, even your camera, or a Gypsy, is an object of nature?” asked Faiyaz.

     “Essentially speaking, everything in the Universe is natural, even the ‘artificial’, including this camera, yes.  Ultimately, the entire Universe is a single natural object,” said Raminothna.