March 16, 1999, Tuesday, sunny with late evening showers, 21-35C

 

[23:06 @ Rm.111, Kanha Jungle Lodge]

     A full and fruitful day.  We (Faiyaz, Anne, Sucheta and I) left the lodge in the old Gypsy at 07:20 with Amar at the wheel.  Shook hands with Pradeep goodbye (good riddance?).  Beautiful flame-of-the-forest trees along the Buffer Zone route.  Arrived at Mandla around 09:40, but had to wait for Rajesh Raj Gopal to appear at his office.  Finally, he got there around 10:20.  Sucheta had the task, given by Pradeep, to deliver his letter of surrender and to find out the reason for His Exalted Highness’s objection.  We waited for her in the Gypsy outside the government building. 

     I estimated that if Sucheta didn’t emerge by 10:30, we would have to go, if we weren’t going to be late for the media conference, driving time from Mandla and Jabalpur being about 2.5 hours.  At 10:30, Faiyaz sent Amar into the building with a note for Sucheta to hustle up.  She finally came back out at 10:35, and reported that it was our not following government bureaucratic protocol when organizing the panchayat conference, especially involving a foreigner.  When I asked her what is the protocol, she had nothing to say.  I still think there is more to it than that.

     We arrived at the Krishna Hotel not a moment too soon.  27 media people were there, already seated, but my slide projector bulb burnt out, so Faiyaz and I had to improvise on our feet.  Still gave a reasonable bilingual speech, dedicated to Dr. Preema Kumtakar of the Madhya Pradesh Women for Agriculture.  Afterwards, the Hitavada reporter said he wanted to do a whole series of articles on our campaign.

     Predictably, however, conflict surfaced between me and Sucheta.  During the Q&A, one reporter probed deeper on the cattle overpopulation and overgrazing issues, but before I could answer, Sucheta jumped in, in Hindi, and took over the rest of the Q&A.  We had agreed that Faiyaz would translate for me those questions posed in Hindi, and would translate my answers back to the press into Hindi.  He would also speak for himself as the Tiger Trust field officer on this project.  Sucheta would serve only as an observer, or “monitor” if it pleases her.  As it happened, however, she totally pre-empted Faiyaz and took over the entire Q&A by herself, in Hindi, and of course after that, all questions were in Hindi.  She did not once try to translate a question into English for me.  Faiyaz tried to translate some of the questions for me, but when he tried to translate my answer, Sucheta all but shouted him down.  Neither he nor I wanted to have a shouting match with her in front of the media and Preema, so we just let her have her way. 

     After the media had left, before I could confront her about her interference, Sucheta took further offensive and almost shouted at me, right in front of Preema, “You should not have mentioned anything about cattle to media.  It is a sensitive issue.”

     Preema looked at me in astonishment.  

     I replied, “This media conference is about tiger conservation.  When speaking of tiger conservation, how can you avoid talking about habitat loss?  When speaking of habitat loss, how can you avoid talking about cattle overpopulation?”

     Sucheta said, “You just shouldn’t talk about it in India.”

     I couldn’t believe my ears. 

     “On the contrary, we must talk about it, especially in India, because this is where the Bengal tiger lives, and where the problem lies.  And especially when other so-called ‘tiger conservationists’ wouldn’t dare to talk about it.  Because it needs and begs to be talked about.”  I didn’t raise my voice, but I could hear the steely edge in it.  “Let me ask you.  If you’re in China, wouldn’t you talk about the damaging effect of using tiger bone for medicine?”

     “No, I wouldn’t, because I respect the Chinese culture.”

     “If you’re baiting me by implying that I do not respect Indian culture, I’m not biting.  If you are afraid to tackle this central and crucial issue, Sucheta, you are in the wrong business.  And you’re certainly not doing the tiger any favour.  So, are you going to follow me around everywhere I go to monitor me?  Let me tell you what I’m going to do, right now, up front.  I will send out a follow-up media release specifically about the cattle issue, in the name of WCWC only.  And you are free to send anything you like, in the name of Tiger Trust.”

     Later, even Faiyaz said that he toned down what I said in his translation when it came to the cattle issue, with Anne present.  I said to Anne, in front of Faiyaz, “Tiger Trust is fucking chicken shit spineless!”  These people are always afraid to say this or do that.  They are dead scared of offending anybody.  They avoid controversy at all cost, when controversy is key to campaigning success.  They will never be anything.

     Anne tried to defend them.  “They are not the campaigners that you are.” 

     Well, what the hell are they then?  As Tarun says, social workers?

     Our drive back, on the other hand, with the night wind whipping our hair, was greatly enjoyable.  Enmity was set aside, with all of us singing the whole way, Faiyaz and Sucheta in Hindi and Anne and I in English, and I even sang one in Chinese.

     Between songs, we played an impromptu game to see who would be the first to run out of ideas on a certain topic.  One of the topics was friendship.  Anne went first, and said, “Rule number one: Do not screw it up by turning it into a romance.” 

     Another topic was identical twins.  “There is nothing as truly identical twins,” I said.

     “I disagree,” said Sucheta.  “Granted, those separated since birth and raised under different circumstances may have different experiences and values and beliefs and behaviour patterns and educational levels and skills, if this is what you mean, but physically, they would still be identical, in both their genes and their bodies.  If they wear the same clothes and sit there posing for a reunion picture, you still wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.  Physically, they would still be identically.”

     “Except their brains, which are nonetheless physical, and integral parts of their bodies.”

     “In what way?”

     “Anne and Faiyaz will understand when I say that their neuronal circuitries, which are physical, would be as different as their divergent experiences and values and beliefs and behavioral patterns and educational levels and skills.  Differences in their neuronal circuitries are physical differences.”  

     In the last hour, Anne’s head had dropped on to my shoulder.  The rest of us dwindled into zero energy silence. 

     Tomorrow, Faiyaz and Tarun are going to Balaghat, then Seony.  I decided to have a final hurrah in the park to max out on the photographic part of this mission.  Anne, Kim, and Chris say they would join me.  Sucheta elected not to come.  Fine by me.