March 7, 1999, Sunday, sunny, 19-33C

 

[23:25 @ Rm.111, Kanha Jungle Lodge]

     Our large solar oven developed a leak in the lid seal today and did not cook the rice, although its little brother saved the day.  Strangely, it is one of the villagers that came this day who expressed the greatest interest in the oven.  Follow-up work will be fruitful.

     As per pattern already developed, we started our session with self-introductions.  Regarding their concerns, other than the usual needs for irrigation, roads and crop-plundering by chital and wild boar, is cattle lifting by tiger, except this time, when I asked the gentleman where the cow was lifted, he said “in the park”.  Having seen their destitution, I normally feel a genuine sense of sympathy for them, but this time, although I tried, I said to myself, “What do you expect?”

     Lately, in my slideshow, the part where the tiger Charger makes his appearance has evolved to the following:  “Charger has a job to do – to patrol his home range to safeguard his cubs from other male tigers.  He is still in his prime, but his teeth are beginning to wear down.  It is a certainty that sooner or later, perhaps in a year or two, he will be deposed by a younger rival.  When this happens, since every square inch of the park has been claimed by one tiger or another, he will be driven to the fringe of the park where no tiger likes to tread.  Not much later, he will have aged even more and be unable to hunt down fleet-footed prey like chital and wild boar.  Then, he maybe driven by hunger to take a cow that has wandered into the park.  If no cow is found, and he fails more than three or four weeks to take down prey, he would be too weak to hunt, and die.  Even though the tiger is the king of the forest, the end of a tiger is usually tragic – killed by poachers or another tiger or starvation.  When I hear of a tiger taking a cow, I feel sad for both the tiger and the cow owner, and of course the cow.  It makes me think of my parents who are now in their 80s.  Able bodied before, they are now feeble and infirm.  The thought of them starving to death is unthinkable.  In this light, I plead with you to forgive the tiger, and I will do my best to work towards a better system of compensation.”

     I’m spending a lot of writing time to put together an e-mail package comprising my field journal entries to send to WCWC when we go to Jabalpur tomorrow – departure time 05:00.  Jabalpur, 6 hours by road due north, is the nearest place, with the possible exception of Balaghat, 3 hours due south, where there might be an internet café.  Both cities are regional centres politically and economically, and the purpose of our trip to Jabalpur tomorrow is to announce to the region via media the Kanha Panchayat Conference, to invite local dignitaries to it, and to raise the profile of tiger conservation in general.

     Today, I deemed it fit time to show Anne and Faiyaz the prologue of the version of OMNI-SCIENCE I had brought on this trip. They were amazed at the Eight Cosmic Signs (see Prologue – Dear Homo Sapiens).

     “So, what do these Eight Cosmic Signs signify?” Raminothna asked them.

     “The coming organismization of the Earth,” said Faiyaz.

     “Or the failure thereof,” said Anne.