February 28, 1999, Sunday, sunny with clouds, 16-30C

 

[18:49 @ Rm.111, Kanha Jungle Lodge]

     Today is a day of forced rest.  The following few days will be likewise, unless we can find something constructive to do around here.  Even the park will be closed in the mornings till March 4th.  It is that infamous drinking festival during which period we have been advised to stay in the lodge.  Even if we go out in our vehicles, let alone on foot, we’d likely be pelted with various coloured liquids and solids, including bottles.

     Much to everyone’s delight, I announced that we’d go out to the park for a long drive tomorrow afternoon, purely for pleasure this time.  We’ll be going in two vehicles, one driven by me with Faiyaz, Anne and four Manjitola kids on board, and the other by Tarun or Chris with Kim and whoever five others on board.    Around 17:45, I went to the school and organized a lot picking to choose the four lucky kids.  I asked, via Faiyaz, to have the kids show their hands as to who have never been in the park before.  Of the 14, 7 raised their hands.  I asked the 7 kids to write their names on a piece paper, folded the 7 little slips, and asked one of the girls, named Asha, who reminds me of a tiny dark skinned Lucienne, to pick the lot.  Unfortunately, she did not pick herself, but I promised the unlucky 3 that I will taken them into the park some time before I leave.

     While the kids in the back of the Gypsy were excitedly chattering away, Anne and I in front, and Faiyaz right behind Anne, pushed the omniscientific envelope a little further.

     “What animals and plants did you see between the lodge gates and the Kanha park gate?” Raminothna posed the question to Faiyaz.

     “Oh, the usual – cows, goats, dogs, a couple of camels, fields of wheat and rice, bees in honey farms, oranges and papayas in orchards…”

     “Are these integral parts of India?”

     “Yes, they are.”

     “And what plant and animal species inside the park have you seen today?”

     He took pains to mention a couple of dozen.

     “Are they integral parts of India too?”

     “Yes, they are.”

     “So, what is your conclusion?”    

     “Conclusion?  As to what?”  

     “Another interlevel parallelism, of course.”

     He took time to think.  Meanwhile, Anne answered, “So, cows, goats, dogs, camels, wheat, rice, oranges, among other domesticated plants and animal, plus all the wild plants and animals inside Kanha National Park, are integral parts of India.  So, India, an organism on the National Level of Organization, is composed of a broad spectrum of species on the level below?”

     “Very good, Anne.”

     “So, you’re saying that India, other than being an organism and a society, is also a… an ecosystem?” Asked Faiyaz.

     “Albeit a more or less centrally organized one.”

     “An organism comprising many species within – what an astounding notion!” exclaimed Anne softly.

     “And let’s not forget the Tribal species such as the Baiga and Gond cultures either.  And also cellular species such as penicillin and yeast, and even molecular species by the thousands, such as the medicines we dispense to the kids,” noted Faiyaz.  After some thought, he added, “And not just human societies, either.  It seems that some insect societies are the same.”

     “A bee hive contains no other species than bees,” Anne pointed out.

     Faiyaz answered, “True, but the societies of certain termite species contain not just termites, but specific species of fungus that the termites cultivate and feed upon, without which the termite mounds themselves could not survive, and which could not survive either without the termites.”

     “Now, look inside a regular plant cell and a regular animal cell, and what do you see?’  

     “I see its nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts, plastids…”

     “What are they?”

     “They are prokaryote-like organelles with their own DNA, possibly originally different bacterial species which has been somehow incorporated into the intra-cellular environment and become integral parts of the cells,” said Faiyaz.  “So, a cell, too, is an ecosystem, of simpler cell species as well as thousands of molecular species.” 

     “Fascinating,” said Anne.

     “Glad you find it so, Anne.”

     Back in camp, Tarun told us that Pradeep will be in camp March 6 or so.  Tarun is again cramming paper work in which he seems to be perpetually behind, and doesn’t look very happy.  This morning, I invited him to read my letter to Pradeep.  About half an hour after that, Faiyaz, him and I had a meeting about the conference.  He showed a new level of enthusiasm and involvement in the event that I hadn’t seen before.

     Anne spent some time analyzing her speech yesterday at the woman’s issues conference, which was attend 60% by men, and most of the speaker were men as well.  Anne felt that her speech may not have pleased Mrs. Srivastava, police chief and the organizer, saying that it was likely “not what she expected of me”.  She said that almost all the speeches were highly formal and academic, whereas hers, near the end of the conference, was much more informal and colloquial.  And she was airing this concern to one who has never used any notes for speeches in his life - me.  I said that she need not worry about it, that it was probably like a breath of fresh air after the stuffiness, formality and rigidity of all the others.

 

[00:38]     Just back to my room after a long and heated discussion with Tarun about Tiger Trust.  Tarun quite openly stated that what Tiger Trust has done up to my arrival one month ago is a joke, and that the staff used to laugh at it whenever the term “conservation program” was mentioned.  I can’t disagree.  “Just sitting here handing out pills to two or three villages isn’t going to save any tigers,” he blazed.  My own point exactly.  He is still unconvinced that solar cookers can save tiger habitat, but he seems open to possibilities, and somewhat convinced that what we (I, Faiyaz, Anne) are doing now is a new departure which will make a real difference.   Finally, he said, “I have never met any living tiger conservationists as hard working as you, and if these technologies can work socially as you believe they can, you will succeed.  You will be as big as Valmiki (Valmik Thapar).”

     Now here is a truly humbling compliment I have yet heard,