Corbett National Park!
Her Story till 1987
Adapted from Ramesh Bedi.1987. Corbett National Park. Clarion Books. Associated with Hind Pocket Books, G.T Road, Shahdara, Delhi-110032.
By Ramaswami Ashok Kumar,
Member Bombay Natural History
Society,
Postal Address: 1/13, Telec
Officers’ C.H.S., Ltd., Plot 30, Sector-17, Vashi, Navi Mumbai-400703.
e-mail: [email protected]
Prior to the years
1815 to 20
Of bad British rule
The forests of the
Corbett National Park were
Under private rule
Private property
Of local rulers: Even
The British paid scant
Attention to forests’
Nurture under kindly use
The officials’
Sole aim at the time:
1820 to Eighteen
Fiftyeight was to:
Extract maximum
Killing forest capital
In deep ignorance
For high quality
Timber the forests yielded
They clear felled the source!
The golden goose gone!
At last came enlightenment
Major Ramsey’s plan
1858!
The first comprehensive plan!
To protect forests
He ensured that his
Orders were strictly enforced
Careful vigilance!
1894!
The condition of forests
Began to improve
Science of forestry’s
March: Patalidun Valley
Cattle sheds pulled down!
Forest workers drive
Animals out of forests:
1861!
They prevented fires,
Cut weeds and harmful climbers
Unlicensed felling!
Count of trees taken
Trees marked before they were felled
Came forest milestone
1868!
Forest Department became
Guardians of the greens
Responsible for
The Patalidun Valley’s
Beautiful forests
1879!
Under the Forest Act
They became reserved!
They had working plans
And interim schemes for profits
Far into future
1907!
Keen: Transform the forests to
Game Sanctuary
In 1909
The proposal was turned down
In 1916!
Once again mooted
By Divisional Forest
Chief of Ramnagar
Entire Dhara Range
Into game sanctuary
Kalagadh today
1917:
Conservator of Forests
Put to government
Accept proposal.
Area commissioner’s strong
Antagonism
Makes the government
Reject the proposal flat.
Remember Wyndham?
1934
Governor Hailey supports
Game sanctuary
Enactment of law
To make it a national
Park: How heavenly!
Reserved it became
Because of long gestation:
Full legislation
1936
The United Provinces
National Park Act!
This reserved forest
First National Park India’s
Untiring Hailey’s.
Yes, National Park?
Forestry operations
Had not at all ceased!
Clear felling rampant.
Several cattle stations
Right inside the park.
Grazing was rampant.
From trees branches were lopped off
Fully working plans!
Initially
323.75
Square kilometers
1966
523 square kilos
Became the forest.
Government climbed down
Forest operations should
Become minimum.
Forest sanctity
In the vicinity of
Dhikala preserved.
Sanctum sanctorum
Three to five kilometers
Around Dhikala
Totally stopped
Forestry operations.
Tourism prevailed.
This was in the year
1971-2
In seventythree:
A major landmark
In wildlife preservation:
The Project Tiger:
Inaguration
In Corbett National Park:
The reason? Yes,health.
The tigers here
Were in a better state of health:
South Patalidun.
Hailey Corbett Park’s
South Patalidun tigers
Roamed in huge numbers
Along roads, footpaths
Dry river beds, they were seen
During all hours.
Turn nineteenhundred
This was the picture in the
Ramganga Valley.
Tourist traffic and the park
Under Chief, Project Tiger’s
From April Eighty.
Patalidun was
Princley State Tehri Gadhwal’s
Land disputes: Bad blood.
Rohilas raided
Gadhwal’s territory
And vice versa
Area denuded
Raids made useless
Large tract open land
South Patalidun
Gadhwal Rajputs settled here
From the hills close by
They farmed the valley
Army check-posts were set up
Boksad, Dhikala
Khinnauli: they were
Manned by five hundred, thousand,
Three hundred soldiers
Most of the soldiers
Were Theri Gadhwal’s Negis
Of British Empire!
The earth’s large hard lump
That ploughs throw up from soil: In
Gadhwali: dhika
The land here was full
Of such, hence called Dhikala:
Lived off Ramganga
Peace in the district
Was broken by Gorkha raids:
Gadhwalis panicked.
The Empire helped them:
The Gorkhas were driven out:
Both signed a treaty.
Raja of Tehri
Ceded a portion to Brits
Called Patalidun
Patalidun’s farms
Ravaged by wild animals
Farmers had no guns
Migrated to hills
They, north of Patalidun
The rest moved elsewhere
Local dialect:
Boksa community camp:
Boksad: terai tribe
Farmed dense forest
By shifting cultivation
Forest cleared by fire!
Brits evicted them
Resettled Boksas elsewhere
No more farming there!
Tall thick grass took root
Wild animals settled back
Former habitat!
Chauds-these wild grasslands
Old settlements were found there
Mahawat house parts.
Near Ramganga lake
Ruins of an old temple
On Dhikala chaud.
The temple was built
From local hillock rocks hewn
Anwala the topi.
In seventynine
Ramesh Bedi suggested
Ruins be removed
Close to Dhikala
Around Dhikala, Boksad
Ruins of old stairs
Canals and wells have
Been found; old coins unearthed
Made of light metal
They have Persian
Inscriptions. Excavations
Behind mahawats’
Houses revealed
Brick made terraced wall; tank near
Reception Office.
Mango, citrus and
Guava trees are still found there
Kothi Dunga Sot
Mango tree twenty
Meters high, two meters girth
Begun bearing fruit.
Chital, barking deer
Do not fancy raw mangoes
Merely sniffing them.
Chital, barking deer
Sambhars and bears devour
Ripe mangoes while stones
Of fruits favourites
Of wild boar and porcupine
In Patalidun.
Road shady kuchha
Parallel to Ramganga
Towards Dhikala
Always elephants
Sambhars and chitals one sees
Its called Sambhar Road
A spot on this road
Nimbu Bhoji: Even now
In winter trees with
Ripe yellow nimboos
Are plucked by cow elephants
Needed by themselves
And the mahawat
Man and cow part of nature!
Wholesome fruit for both
High quality sal
In 1987
Yes, still flourished wild.
Named Kalaghad sal
Trunks grow straight attain best height
First quality sal
Three-fourths Park is sal
Graceful Thandi Sadak sal
On the forest edge
Park’s protected tree
Height forty-seven girth six
And half plus meters
Largest of its kind
In the jungles of this side
Unmatched this sal size
Pipal plants sprouted
From its trunk, elephants rubbed
Their backs on the trunk
Mud from their bodies
Splattered on its trunk up to
More than eight feet height
The boksa people’s
Forest deity was this sal!
Guarded by people.
In nineteen eighty
The park and tourist traffic
With Project Tiger!
But that year’s summer
Devastating fire broke out
Uncontrollable
Kalagadh its start
Spread right upto Dhikala
Even counterfires
At four or five points
Along fire line in between
Proved all but futile
Against the intense
Heat and strong wind: close to a
Quarter Park destroyed
The grandfather tree
Fell victim to intense flames
Long live Phulai sal!
Chief destructive force
Fire! To the vegetation
Summer fires in park
Mostly caused by
The professional graziers
And careless smokers
Some fires crossed over
From the adjoining forests
Collateral strikes
Firelines present were
Many but seldom kept clean
And hence were useless
Fires were annual
Threefourths to half of the reserve
Swept clean of fodder!
Upto browsing height
They affected adversely
The water regime
Disturbing balance
For wildlife in the area
Limiting factor
Tree growth unhindered
But southern and southeastern edge
Adjoins villages
The fires commonly
Start from these habitations
And spread to the Park
Past successive fires
Created drier Park states
In the Park’s southwest parts
Indicator of
Very humid tracts: Typha
Elephantina
The patera plants
‘Have lost ground in this area
Exterminated!
Labourers working
In felling logs and owning
Cattle: Fire starters
Since his toddler times
Mahawats’ midst Hamid lived
Mahouts his mentors
Had first-hand knowledge
About Corbett elephants
The Chappal Eaters!
The Dhampur Rani
Had several elephants
Many mahawats.
Fridays mahawats
Would get shaved by a barber
Who came with his kit
One Friday they were
About to break up for tea
When the barber came!
Join us they told him
He obliged, tying his bag
On a stable peg
Twenty-four minutes
And they came back but the bag
Was not on the peg
Nor anywhere else!
Those who cannot themselves shave
Barber’s duty to!
But who will shave him?
This anomaly Cantor’s
Was solved clean today:
The barber shaved clean
The kit, his only means of
Livelihood vanished!
Two days later: bag
The stable-cleaner found in
The elephant’s dung!
All the kit’s contents
With long folded blade razor
Unfolds life barber’s
An elephant can
Gulp down even a kaith fruit
Without chewing it!
Garbage in and out:
Tar, shoes, barber’s kit, plastics
Intact in droppings!
Year 1971.
One hundred years of power
Paterpani: Rains!
Monsoon in full swing!
Snapped live wires a tusker kicked!
Electrocuted.
Two weeks no power
Before it could be restored
Blacked out Dhikala.
March 1973.
An electric pole fallen
In Paterpani.
An adolescent
Mating young cow elephant
Power shock killed them.
A little later
Gujars’ water buffaloes
Come near them grazing.
One sniffed the dead cow
She and her calf both snuffed out:
Lethal electricks.
Paterpani deaths
Makhana five elephants
Duel killed tusker
In 1980
Probably a snake bite killed
An elephant-calf.
Four One nine seven three
Beat Sher Bhoji for tiger
In dense reed forest
Four elephants march
Slowly from different paths
To central focus
Had left Sher Bhoji
Certainly during the night?
Failed to drive him out.
Mahawat’s eyes were fixed
On ground underneath the grass
Elephants closed in
Tiger encircled!
Elephants within a few
Meters of tiger
With blood curdling roar
In self defence the tiger
Confronted danger
He sprang; cows trumpet
In forefront Malankali’s
Trunk took paw’s wild punch
Sensitive spot bled
Five centimeter deep wound
Extremely painful
Bashir commanded
Crying Malankali stayed
Flash! Tiger vanished!
Four One Nine Seven Three
Divine mercy the only
Park’s dispensary
Tradition’s methods
Available for treatment
For all animals
Malankali’s wounds
Bashir washed with rum rinsed it
With cottonwool soaked
In hot mustard oil
Prevents wounds from festering
Trunk had swollen up
Word had been sent to
Ramnagar dispensary
First aid was given
Cibazol powder
Antiseptic ointments were
Applied to the wound
Because the wound was
Still fresh and likely to turn
Septic and messy.
For about ten days
She was unable to lift
Anything with trunk
Or fill it with fresh
Water to pour into mouth
Water filled bottles
Emptied into mouth
So she did not die of thirst
Trunk was exhausted
Trunk could not grip food
Fodder-cutter fed branches
Grass wheat cakes to mouth
Fortunately she
Responded to the treatment
Fifty year old she.
Trunk swelling was same
After ten days the swelling
Became less and less
In a month wound healed.
But the trunk never regained
Original strength
Even years later
Malankali had problems
Breaking and tearing
The stout branches down
In April 1978
Shallow depression
On her trunk was seen
Where the tiger’s paw had struck
Pinnacle’s power!
Nineteen seventy nine
March 25 we left for
High Bank at six thirty
In the morning. We
Saw a tusker standing on
Gently winding road
Beyond Khinnauli
Seven kilometers from
Dhikala we saw
Him from quite afar
Else our matador could have
Come too close to him
It would have been
Difficult to reverse it
A tight spot indeed
Tusker roamed alone
For some days, vigilant and
Conscious of safety
In a herd colleagues
Would have taken care of him
Loneliness, strength, tusks
Made him arrogant
Game guards, park road workers brought
Tales of his bad ways
We stopped van at once
At road’s middle he stood stared
Suddenly lifts tail
Spreading his fan-like
Ears ran in our direction
We reversed van fast
He ran after van!
Then stopped abruptly but did
Not move off the road
Could not move ahead
We parked at a safe distance
To see him closely
I got out of van
Approaching him so slowly
He shook a thin tree
After a while he
Vanished into dense thickets
Relieved we sped off
Nineteen sixty nine
Evening: Workers on way home
From Sunday market
Herd of elephants
In a bamboo forest on
Road to Saddle dam
From Boksad: Frightened
They raised alarm to drive them
Away. Some duis:
Threat to their babies
Trumpeted: Herd attacked men
Who took to their heels
They ran throwing their
Canisters of provisions
Bought at the market
Three dead bodies, no
Elephants: Eight man posse
Found out at the site
The escaped labour
Returned to site; were taken
To Boksad by guards
Next morning bodies showed
They had received fatal kicks
One had his skull crushed
25 years ago(continued)
Havoc by tusker
Forest guards’ two huts destroyed
In the Samal chaud
Bajrani forests’
Sarpaduli, Khinnauli
A wicked fellow
He wandered at will
In the park: Forest dwellers
At their tether’s end
Road construction from
Dhikala to Kalagadh
Rogue in Kalagadh
In Paterpani
The rogue attacked labour camp
A family was killed
Pregnant wife, husband
And their daughter: Lord Ganesh
Entrusted tusker
To destroy monster
Born in their camp: Such belief
Consoled simple folk!
Reckless, obstinate
The killer had brushed aside
Prevention attempts
To drive him away
From the camp: Even set hut
On fire to no use
He trumpeted: Its
Elephant territory
Quit or else face it!
He demonstrated
“Making nuisance of himself”
For one and half hours.
When he finally
Left for greener pastures, they
Thanked God Almighty
The killer appeared
In Dhikala-Khinnauli
Driving off park staff
Killer’s rear right leg
Had severe injuries
It pained him too much
Cried in agony
Limped dragging his injured leg
Circular imprint
Possibly the wound
Inflicted by a man made
All humans his foes!
Branded a killer
A dangerous plan was hatched
To finish him off
Injured leg precludes
The error of friendly fire!
Easy tracking him.
The shikars set out
On three cow-elephants to
Search and destroy him.
They found the red-eared
In the Khinnauli woods: Charged
He towards the tamed
Ten bullet fire burst
Felled him in elephant’s own
Territory: Sad!
2, 1978
Lone barasinga grazing
In Dhikala chaud
First time the swamp deer
Seen since 1935, year
Of Corbett Park’s birth.
Maldhan chaud
Barasinga’s habitat
Nearest Corbett Park
Till 1957
Five thousand barasingas
Lived in Maldhan chaud
Large forest tract cleared
Tumria dam decimated
The barasingas
Farmers from elsewhere
Cultivated land here and
Became prosperous.
To wildlife: Mercilessly
“ Tiger terrain”
Civilised human:
Tiger, a ferocious
beast
Lethal barbarous
Eighty four tigers
Tigers seldom seen
near man
They are so wary!
But extremely shy.
The moment the tiger
sees
A man, he departs.
The two face to face
In a jungle, the
tiger
Into thicket slips!
Prior to ‘Project’
Forty four tigers in
park
Steady rise after
To ninety one in
June 1982. Tigers
Seen more in the
park.
March 1978
On twentysix days
sighted
Rest rained cats and
dogs
A number of streams
And ravines in the
park: deep
Into the jungles
Year long green
shrubs clothe
The jungles along
with fast
Growing weeds:
hideouts
Tiger homes!
Ideally undisturbed
Free in the hideouts
Corbett Park cannot
Afford any more
tigers
Migrated outside
Amangadh, Fanto,
Garjia, Kakkarwala;
Swaldeh, Am Danda.
Domunda, Mohan;
Durga Devi
Ratuadhab;
And Am Pokhara
A serious problem
Poachers and
inhabitants
To migrant tigers
Wildlife experts
build
Congenial habitats
For jungle tigers
Which formerly had
Cover, natural
atmosphere
And ecology
Hardwar, Motichur
Chilla, Ranipur
forests,
Halwani, Banda
South Kheri forests
Pilibhit, Haldwani
woods
Bundelkhand(Vindhyas).
June 1975
Corbett National
Park closed.
Only stray tourists.
Heavy rains: Pug
marks
2 kms from rest
house seen,
Off Dhikala camp.
Doubtless a hungry
Tiger camped in that
forest
In search of good
prey.
Late evening they
Tied a buffalo-calf
to
A tree trunk as food
Morning calf missing
Blood stains on
ground cat’s pugmarks
Tiger killed the
calf
Held it in his mouth
Severed the rope
jerking it
Savagely enough
Rope’s rest around
trunk
Dragging prey into
thicket
For undisturbed meal
Tiger left remains
And lay near
gandhela bush
Asleep in thicket
Riding elephants
Nine for Dhikala
outings
Serene excursions
The tourists set out
Under an overcast
sky
Seeking the tiger
It rained cats and
dogs
Cameras covered in
haste
Nalas overflowed
When crossing nala
Elephants firmly
plant feet
Heading for jungle
Tourists on machans
Panorama of cleared
land
And elephants left
To drive the tigers
Towards the machan
for show
Tiger east of them
Elephants flanked
him
On three sides: Only
escape was
In our direction
Slowly elephants
Began to move
towards us
We waited for him.
Raincoats,
waterproof
Sheets, its raining
cats and dogs
Only our eyes fixed
On the open strip
Anticipating tiger
Elephants closed in
To tiger’s hideout
Fifteen minutes
silent wait
Then flash: It
happened
The tiger leapt
strip
Disappeared into
dense jungle
Lightning lit up sky
Those of us who
blinked
At that split second
had missed
The experience
Sherbhoji woods
block
Cats’ permenent
habitat
Ramganga’s left bank
One and half kms
By four hundred
meters block
One flank dense
forest
Perennially
Water flows through
the forest
Maljhan climbs round
trees
Several thickets of
fern
Old trees of
Sherbhoji dense
Prevent sun’s rays
in
Tiger habitat!
Shade shelter from
summer heat
Tigress seen often
In the muddy pools
Worked our way
through weeds, climbers
Finally reached
forest
Where the tigress
had
Dragged her kill
reed clumps tall thick
Over Sherbhoji
Wild elephant herds
Had made paths like
tunnels where
Tigers tread unseen
Throughout Sherbhoji
End to end tigers
traverse
Leaving not tunnels!
After a few years
A mahawat turns
trekker
Team had a trekker
Two cameramen
Trekker to help drag
carcass
To study in peace
On fourth round
through block
Traced the carcass
looking like
A white boulder mass
Stomach of the calf
Decomposed
undigested food’s
Gas ballooned
stomach
Body part and head
Lay concealed in a
clump close
Reeds bent over them
Appeared as if
Tigress concealed
carcass
Wanton skillfulness
A detailed survey
Of surrounding tract
convinced
Us the cat was’nt
there
Safe! Remove carcass
Flesh of rump eaten
only
On close scrutiny
Bones dislocated
Badly of neck; And
broken
Neck had distinct
marks:
Deeply punctuated by
Her long canines:
Tigress dragged
Calf ninety meters.
Carcass tied again
On same peg as
before and
And covered with
some grass:
Lest vultures feed
on
The remains; before
sunset
A vulture had
perched
On kill eating it
Feasting were two
mongooses
And four tortoises
We exposed body
To the elements
It had decomposed
Meters forty five
From kill, a machan
on a
Tall tree was set up
Where we could spend
night
Freshly cut leafy
branches
Ordinary tree!
Needed to remove
Every dry leaf from
machan
Because in dead
night
Stepping on dry leaf
Distinct crackling
noise defeats
Voids the exercise
Motionless we sat
With legs crossed
which became stiff
Slightest sound
picked up
By tiger’s ears in
Jungle night’s eerie
stillness
Neither sneeze nor
yawn
Motionless state
Tigers see not
such
Believe it or not!
Tigers leopards
follow wind’s
Way stalking shikar.
Their whiskers thick
stiff
At base but thin out
towards
The ends; slightest
breeze
Make the whiskers
sway
Vibrations carried
to base
Thence sensory lips
Take them to upper
Lips; by sound he
is guided
Towards objects
far
He can hear
faintest
Whispering and
stifled coughs
Sights hears but
smells not
Motionless,
silent, hidden
Behind leaves,
that’s it!
Instances when cats
Have come within
five meters
Of machans clueless:
.
Of human presence!
God’s wisdom is
infinite:
Skills distributed!
So ecologic
Balance prevails:
Turya of
Superb
consciousness!
Evening seven
Respective spots on machan
Solemnly we took
Twenty minutes past
From south end of Sherbhoji
Tigress gave a call
It was repeated
Thirty three times with pauses
Short: She was on heat.
Tigress had come out
In search of a mate
Answered! From the north.
Persistent his call
Six times with stops; tigers spaced
Eight hundred meters
We sat halfway there
In two shisham bhojis
They had slept apart
Each unaware of
The other’s presence
Calf eaten by cat:
The previous night
Her food preceded mating
She ignored his call
Eight minutes later
He called again thrice;
Five minutes: She called
She advanced slowly
His calls told he advanced east
She away from him
This was three minutes
Past at seven thirty eight
He called seven times.
There between bhojis
Land strip seven meters wide
Where calf had been tied
Machan at west end
Of this strip: Could see east end
Four hundred meters
Tiger would emerge
From here, cross the open strip
To approach the calf
This tiger too took
Same route; a minute later
Tigress called again.
Tigress called six times
Pausing in between-deep calls:
But not in answer.
His calls seemed to leave
Her unmoved; he called once more
From strip’s other end
Then, there was silence
The tiger’s cry was low pitched,
Tigress was strident!
Somewhere in the east
A peacock’s loud harsh scream broke
The stillness; perhaps!
A tiger passed tree
Peacock was perched on; Warning
Five times, then stillness.
From seven forty
Two minutes long he called her
Intermittently
Tiger crossed the strip
Into right bhoji and gave
Nineteen mating calls.
He could’nt have been
More than four hundred meters
From the hot tigress.
As darkness fell an
Elephant herd assembled
Near machan to sleep.
This was behind and
To right of machan, spot on
Where she was coming.
Soon elephants smelt
The tigress; trumpeted loud:
Seven forty five.
She continued her
Slow prowl though startled towards
Machan where we were.
Tigress called nine times.
Five to eight: Elephant cry;
Cracking branches heard.
At eight : tigress called
Twenty times without a pause
Darkness prevents ‘notes’.
Tigress continued
To call but with long pauses:
Right of the machan:
A hundred meters.
Eighty three calls hers, thirty
Eight calls the tiger’s.
She did not notice
The dead calf and turned away
From machan swiftly:
She rejected him
Because his calls were feeble
Her’s were full-blooded.
The tigress ambled
Towards Dhikala along
Ramganga and called
Loudly many times
She left rest-house river bed
And climbed a hillock
To Thandi sadak
Three kilometers on
She lay in wait
Half an hour past
Chital belled warning-spoilt show!
All were alerted.
She was crestfallen
Got up and growled twice and moved
To continue prowl.
Then entered sal woods
Permanent habitat of
Chital herds and bears
Road on forest’s edge
Hungrily she looked for prey
On road, lying down.
No animal came
It was now midnight; she growled
Fully frustrated.
On machan cramped cold
Shrill notes of jungle insects
And loud peacock calls
Disconsolate she
Resumed her stealthy prowl
With mating calls loud.
Noiselessly she moved!
Along road west of grassland
Eyes ever alert.
The tigress’s snarl
Chitals scurried for dear life
She needed a mate!
To fulfill desire
A day’s hunger a small price
For tigress in heat.
A trapped tiger showed
Not the slightest discomfort
After ten day fast!
Crossing the chaud in
Her beat, she came upon hog
Deer herds, sounder boars
In this forest block
She eyed boar cubs grazing
Along with parents
Under a simbal
She reclined leaning against
Its trunk; two ‘o’ clock
Dawn none too far off!
Night’s vigil: end of tether!
Scavengers feasted.
Wolfing down the calf:
Mongooses and tortoises
Near our machan.
In the still of night
Dry leaves crackled on the ground
Creatures walking on
We hoped: If she failed
To get her shikar, return
To the kill she would.
A shisham bhoji
Two sub-adult tuskers stood
From herd separate
Amorous ogling
Of a cow-elephant: No
Love lost between them.
They had fought through night
Intermittently: Jungle:
Battle sounds alert.
She silently watched
The tuskers; would hog deer
Come closer than now?
Herd of hog deer on
Slope of muddy pool, from her
Five hundred meters
Sounder of wild boars
Eating ripe dwarf date fruits in
The chaud above her
They came towards her
In search of delicious fruits
One raised alarm call
One hog deer endorsed
Boar’s call: Alarmed, deer bolted
Frustrated she left.
Tortoises feasting
Mongooses feasting, were still
Eating flesh of calf.
Din of elephants
Uprooting trees deterred her
From coming to calf
All round the forest
Was waking up ushering
Dawn! Sky over hills across
The Ramganga paled
Racuous insect sounds died down
Replaced by bird songs
Early morning breeze
Sherbhoji’s elephant ooze
Heady secretions
In the sal forest
Amorous stags were fighting
For mating chitals
Tigress in no mood
To appreciate beauty
As the valley dawned
Unconsummated
Passion and hunger had made
Her frustrated, tired.
Into a dark den
She retired from night’s travails
To recuperate.
Tiger’s direction
Position estimates her
Movements precisely
Some parts of Corbett
Park waterless in summer.
Many times a day
The animals walk
Long distances for water
Region Dhikala
Tourists, wild beasts walk
Unrestricted; water-pools
Water not scarce here
In dense forest’s midst
One and half kilometers
East of Dhikala
Rest-house: Circular
Reservoir twelve meters
Circumference and
Two and half meters
Deep in the center, straight walls
Saw its construction
A few years ago
Accomplished against great odds
Demolished by herds
Of wild elephants
Half erected cement tank
Workers’ implements
Trampled upon or
Hurled them into thickets with
Their trumpets: Pipes first!
Thirsty! Would stampede
There, drink the water it held
Duis tuskers deadly
Workers masons feared
For their lives; hesitant
To carry on work
The marauders were
Matched by Park’s Range Officer
Two gunners posted
Boosted their morale
From dawn to dusk himself watched
Atop a machan
A stringed cot tied to
A jamun tree’s top branches
Around with loaded gun
To pool now complete
Came tigers and deer alike
To drink and survive
In May and June of
Nineteen seventy seven
Summer at its height
Birds and beasts thirsty
Pool full from early morning
Clear view from machan
Seven meters high
On machan atop four trees
Seventy meters
Pool’s west Jamun’s shade
Four men sprawled unseen on it
The roof just higher
Within five meters
Of pool, thickets cleared to sight
The great spectacle!
Sounds of birds and beasts
Recorded from dawn to dusk
Near the machan’s site
Early morning calls
Loud and distinct in the stillness
On May twenty nine
At nine forty morn
Climbed machan: My grand daughter
Son, me to study
Bulbuls dominant
Flocks of twenty five would drink
Water and fly off
Pool’s south: Lasuda!
Part covered with lantana
Cats rested under
The lasuda tree
Stands by the Tiger Gali
See tigers emerge!
On machans our eyes
Focussed on Tiger Gali
At ten three wild boars
Walked along the track
Straight to pool; began drinking
Bulbuls flew away
Soon came jungle fowl
Red crest adorned strutted proud
On greens by the pool
Frequent calls of Fowl
Jungle: ”A tiger on prowl”
A dow’s coo mellow!
Mosquito’s torment
Persistent; but light breeze gave
Good relief from heat
Bird songs had lulled grand
A dove brought his beloved
Prancing wooing her
From lasuda tree
Paradise flycatcher stared
Flash! Swooped on insects
Its mating season
The female was laying eggs
Flycatcher’s nest seen
Near machan off road
Mother hatching two eggs there
Two days later four
Nest on three forked branch
Five feet high thin pilu tree
In dense woods pilu
The nest a shambles
Two hours later jungle cat
Had a meal of eggs
Thirty species birds
Frequented pool for water
Some in search of food
Pool’s tiny fishes
Kingfisher delicacy
Saw from twenty feet
Stationed himself still
Wings pulled at sides hurled himself
Caught the fish and flew
To a jamun tree
Perched on one of its branches
Prey battered and swallowed
Barking deer appeared
In the Tiger Gali walked
Gingerly to pool
Hardly drunk some gulps
Jumped out of pool with a start
Stood in the cool shade
Then went back to pool
Drank for two whole minutes and
Langurs followed suit
Soon all animals
Left by the Tiger Gali
Morning eleven
Many thirsty beings
At the pool: Suddenly shrill
Cry of jungle fowl
From Tiger Gali’s
Jungle; langurs wailed; we were
Rapt in attention
The trekker followed
Jungle custom: Silently
Pressed my arm: Tiger!
Coming down Gali
Eleven fifteen; tiger
Stopped for a minute
Surveyed the scene on
His left and right and made
For the lasuda
Man hunted tiger
From time immemorial
Tiger mortally
Feared man; he will not
Come face to face with man; most
Men who worked all life
In jungle have not
Seen a tiger in the woods
Fortunate few have
Now the full grown cat
The tiger stood before us
Unaware of us
A few days earlier
A tiger had been sighted
At this pool, same tiger!
This forest block’s king
No hurry to go to pool
Sat on his haunches
As if like watchdog
Surveying the environs
Then sprawled on the ground
He yawned many times
Licked himself and flapped his ears
Son’s lap grand asleep
Eleven twenty
He walked to the water’s edge
He faced us and then
Lapped up the water
For five minutes then entered
The muddy water
And lay there; the splash
Sent fishes to the pool’s edge
A kingfisher came
Swooping down: Tiny
Fishes he caught several
Fully succeeding
Birds deserted pool
Five minutes later another
Tiger located
Near lasuda tree
He sprawled under its shade with
A smaller tiger
Tiger in pool
Looked at them, one family all,
Pool tiger female
Two under the tree
Her cubs a year old; being trained
By her for the woods
They accompanied
Their mother for shikar; learnt
To negotiate
Thickets and bushes
Still wholly dependent on
Her for year and half
Lying under shade
Waiting for her signal to
Join her in the pool
Five minutes later
Moved towards cubs and sat down
She nodded her head
She got up and took
Again a step towards them
Do as I told at once!
They got up entered
The pool; eleven thirty
All drank leisurely
The younger fellow
A devil: Splashed in the pool
Embraced brother played
Frolicking with him
At eleven thirty five
The mother stepped out
Stood still an instant
Went to Gandhela thickets
To find out safety
She beckoned her cubs
Who followed her like good kids
Lifetime experience!
Barking deer hog deer
Chitals Sambhars elephants
Wild boars tigers and
Others came to pool
To bathe and drink fresh water
And then would return
Five kilometers
From Dhikala pool jungle
Surrounds mota sal
Full of lantana
Thickets impenetrable
Home of a tigress
In the early bloom
Of her youth; she had chosen
East mota sal’s spot
To give birth to cubs
Two unmolested and safe
For the first time in
February month
1977, she was seen
With her two cubs near
Mota sal; two month
Old then, smaller than jackals
Near pools the cubs looked
Older than six months
Elder like full-grown tiger
Seen alone in woods
Pathia sherrani
The tigress was known so by
Dhikala mahouts
Difficult to tell
The tigress from her two cubs
Identical three
A magnificent
Spectacle of animal
Fraternity wild
Day and night forest
Creatures bound together by
Fraternal feelings
Cabin machan up
On jamun tree near the pool
Made for tourists
Daytime nine to six
With armed guide they awaited
Tiger at the pool
Tiger sighted at
Pool, not the Pathia tigress
With her playful cubs
On Malankali
We went into the forest
With mahout Bashir
Both old hands in Park
Malankali’s valour and
Deeds legendary
When photographing
She would stand completely still
Near elephant herd
Bashir took her rear
Of the pool into forest
Pathia and cubs in woods?
Half hour still no sign
On coming out: Face to face
With bull elephant!
He was digging earth
And throwing it on himself
Gave him a wide berth
North east Dhikala
We reached, took Thandi Sadak
Running along chaud
Three hundred paces
From machan one, animal
Moves towards reed clumps
Pathia the tigress
Was squatting behind reed clumps
Facing the jungle
Her fixed gaze told us
Deer herd would enter the chaud
Cubs within earshot
Four-month old baby
On mother’s lap woke up and cried!
Pathia heard him not!
Fifty meters rear
We came slight rustle she turned
Her head towards us
Bashir somehow kept
Malankali still, she was
Trembling all over
Cat’s menacing jaw
Had her transfixed she grunted
In anger and fear
We were now within
A few meters of each other
Malankali downed
Head, rolled trunk’s tip in
She was now in striking stance
We gripped howdah’s bars
Our eyes transfixed
On Pathia’s awesome canines
Atmosphere of fear
Minute and half crawled
While she worked out strategy
Leapt with lightning speed!
Growling and aiming
Malankali’s trunk: The cow
Kicked out with front foot
Hissing with her trunk
In this redoubtable duel
Youth experience
Wisdom ‘s avatar
Malankali and Bashir
Came out the winner
Bashir goaded her
Hitting Malankali’s head
Thrice to remain still
I let out a cry
Hat! Go away! Pathia did
Not advance further
She withdrew passing
Thandi Sadak calling her cubs
Escaped into woods
In battle Royal
River Ramganga
Flows east to north
along the
Corbett National
Park.
Branches out into
A number of streams
shallow
Ponds ankle deep
some
Knee deep several
In summer the animals
Refresh in the ponds.
Just to see them I
Walked kilometers along
The hot river bank
May 1977
In the Corbett National Park
Daily something new
June one: Tiger seen
In Anwal sot Rashid told
Got on Roopkali
Cow-elephant of
Rashid and we went in search
Tiger in large pool
He coaxed and cajoled
We are twenty meters from tiger
We watched the tiger
Fascinated for
A quarter of an hour
Game warden guided
Rashid to take us
Closer! The tiger did not
Like this intrusion
He got up slowly
Vanished into thatch grass on
Pool’s left bank; relaxed!
From east we crossed pool
Attempted to approach him
Saw us just walked off
Entering jungle
Sat down on cleared ground
Facing a hillock
Sixty meters
From tiger: Rump towards us; two
Minutes later he
Sprawled on his back with
Legs up in the air; belly
Full; indifferent.
We drove Roopkali
Still closer within fifteen
Meters from his tail
Roopkali stood like
Rock in front of the tiger
Eyelids batted not
Tiger’s eyes were closed
Two minutes and he opened
His eyes and rose up
He was thunderstruck
To find us so close to him
Words fail to express
The excitement one
Feels in a jungle face to
Face with a tiger
Suddenly he roared
And sprang at Roopkali who
Was petrified, but stood ground
Rashid frequently
Struck her head with goad
And cheered her up, she steeled
Herself against him
Head bent, trumpeted loudly
Rashid too shouted
The tiger spotted
Chetana the youngest of
Park’s cow-elephants
On his left who was
Stunned but reassured by
Her mahout Idu
Piercing cry let out
She! The tiger stopped but rushed
Towards Roopkali
Both mahouts struck their
Elephants repeatedly
Urged them to be still
My grand folded legs
Under her belly beyond reach
Of the tiger’s claws
With deafening roar
He attacked Chetana
Roopkali five times
Eyes blood-red with rage
Jaw wide open long canines
And molars laid bare
Shined ominously
A crucial moment mighty
Kick Chetana gave
With her front foot blew
Air through her trunk trumpeting
Loudly in utter contempt
Confronted by a
Combat-ready Chetana
Nerve and muscle taut
The tiger stood still
But he showed no signs at all
Of quitting the fight
He was incensed as
Chetana had treated him
Like a petty wolf
Frightened monkeys cried
Cautiously mahouts pulled back
The cow-elephants
The tiger calmed down
Elephants looked back: Cat’s smell
As they retreated
They were wary of
Tiger’s attack from the rear
Chetana kicked hissed
We emerged unscathed
From near fatal fights led by
Trained cow-elephants
Rashid was full of
Admiration for tiger’s
Cunning; a tiger
Digs his teeth into
An elephant after thought
Deliberation
He will first extend
And strike with his
Paw, his head held back
Because he knows that
An elephant’s foot landing
On his head tears it
As if it were a
Ripe pomegranate; shooting
Him then not needed
The power-packed kick
Completely crushes the bones
In the tiger’s skull
During the monsoons
Logs and fallen
trees get swept
By the floods
Of the Ramganga
When waters recede
in
November debris
Lie scattered on the
River bed Project
Tiger
Takes count called
marking
A team of workers
Left Dhikala one
morning
With their pickaxes
To mark driftwood
Trapped in a shisham
bhoji
Beyond the river
Passing by Shisham
Bhoji one saw a tiger
Lying on the ground
Before the man could
Draw the others’ attention
The tiger vanished
Chief Debris Marking
Of tiger in forest block
Tiger killed chital
During the night and
Eaten it near the sight spot
Find shikar remains
Chief Debris Marking
Spotted another tiger
Near the other’s track
Fully stretched on track
Surprised he asked his men to
Raise an alarm
The tiger didn’t stir
The tiger was dead and gone
Rear legs eaten off
These were the very
Parts of his kill he eats first
Tiger ate tiger!
Before the tiger
Returned to claim his meal send
It to post mortem
A tiger killed in
Park was extraordinary
Skin to post mortem
With gunners ready
The tiger’s body was tied
With rope and lifted
Up Malankali
On to her back; Dhikala:
Body examined
The neck mouth and head
Had several wounds made by
Claws and canine teeth
One eye was mauled; skull
Bones had broken to pieces
Finger feel proved it
Late adolescent
Was the dead tiger: Killer
A fully-grown beast
Battle scarred fighter
True to the inborn trait of
Tigers the younger
Resented others
In his territory though
Park’s cats had enough
The younger’s roar was
Earsplitting proclaimed him a
Full-blodded young cat
He had recently
Been separated from his
Mother to go wild
The young tiger was
On shikar: challenged by an
Older veteran
A past master of
Jungle warfare pounced on him
Savage fight ensued
Deafening roars kept
Workers in neighbouring camps
All night without sleep
The struggle flattened
Every bush and grass over
A wide area
Scene like elephants
Had trampled upon the field
Of blood-stained battle
Two and half meter
Youngster was courageous
With two claws broken
Eighteen forty one
April twelve: Okeden’s note
In his diary
A tiger had killed
A tiger mighty used to
Kill two bulls daily
Tarai Himalay
A tiger killed a tiger
Double bull killer
May 1978
Pathia her two cubs
In the bichhu bhoji pool
We photographed them
1979 Jan:
One of the cubs dead:
Sherbhoji: His rump eaten
His hind leg broken
The bone sticking out
A tiger had killed him in
A fight: Mating call!
Pathia’s cub answered
His rival a veteran
He killed Pathia’s cub.
Two adult tigers
Once fought in Paterpani
They were fully matched
The flattened grass pug
Marks betrayed large battle- field
Only one lived on.
Gairal: Dead tiger
Taxidermist from Mysore
Stuffed it, on view in
Ramganga office
Of Project Tiger’s FD
A full skeleton
Assembled from bones
Of tigers found dead in woods
Stands in Dhikala
On Ramganga’s banks
In the Sarpaduli’s block
A torn ear tiger
This was price paid for
Killing a bear in a fight
Summers spent in pond
Once killed stag near pond
Saw him completely smeared black
With mud: What a state!
Public Relations
Assistant Wild-life Warden
Reception Office
His name was Howard
Eleven children had he
Sense of humour great!
Spent several years
In jungle at home with its
Environs: His sons his copy!
At four son Mahesh
Rode park’s elephants; later
Understudy of
Park’s fodder cutters
Accompanied them marching
To woods elephants
Before long every
Nook corner familiar
To Mahesh Howard
Hobby: Kept young ones
Of all kinds of animals
Born in the forest!
His own hands fed them
Now events in Park’s life
Never missed telling
Even before chin
Sprouted hair fodder cutter
Officially!
Mahesh overjoyed
His childhood dream was fulfilled
His charge: Chetana.
Kallu the mahout
Was happy and so were the
Project Tiger staff.
Nineteen eighty two
March twenty seven: Kallu
To stables returned
Mahesh brought howdah
From Chetana’s back; stepped on
To her trunk, caught hold
Of fan-like ear lobes
And climbed on to her neck and
Perched, feet pressing neck
A command to move!
Ustad there’s rice tikkads eat
He said to Kallu
Mahesh and Kallu
In two solitary cells
In mahout’s new wing
Both being away from
Their families they would cook
Their meals together
Mahesh and Kallu
Took turns cooking: Politeness
Mahesh got from dad
Devoid of guile was
Helpful and was hard-working
Mahouts confident
Kallu looked upon
Twenty one year old Mahesh
As his own dear son
Riding elephants’
Fodder: banyan, khabad twigs
Pilkhan pipul twigs
Rohini bamboo
Bamboo and khabad winter
Delicacies theirs
Summer twigs banyan
Rohini keep body cool
With pilkhan added
Pilkhan trees are few
Monsoon kasera grass and
Gular fodder few
In rainy season
Throughout the day elephants
Left to graze in chaud
No matter how long
They grazed during day fodder
Given at night-fall
The fodder-cutters
Therefore cut the kasera
Khabad fed year long
Its neither hot nor
Cool; hot pipal lowest ranked
Fodder milky trees’
Trained elephants eight
Daily four quintals fodder
Needs cutting for them
A medium sized tree
Yields double the daily feed
Sal dominant tall
Under them pilu
Rohini gandhela bhant
Kuda lasuda
Fodder trees only
In a few places fodder-cutter
Needs to travel far
From the elephant
Stables eight kilometers
In search of these trees
81-82 was
Unusually cold March
Even no spring sign
Late after day-break
Only rides into forests
Eight morn Chetana
Had gone into woods
And returned at ten Mahesh
Had taken her out
At eleven for
Fodder-cutting normally
By three he returns
So he can ride her
With afternoon batch tourists
At three Chetana not back
Till five Kallu not
Concerned about their return
Lad wandered afar…
In search of fodder
Till before dusk Kallu said
They are on way home
Darkness fell Kallu
Became apprehensive and
Told Range Officer
Mahesh was not back
Neither his charge Chetana
Looking after the
Riding elephants’
Guardian Range Officer:
Others were all back
Fodder-cutters three
March their charges together
In one direction
The guardian learnt that
Mahesh had gone by himself
South to Chua Sot
Compartment nine of
Dhikala block Chua Sot
Had slopy water-hole
Ten by eight meters
The other three sides were steep
Hill side wall six holes
Enables water
To seep into water hole
Two meter deep wall
Some water in it
Even in summer on March
Twenty-five Guardian
Had come to inspect
Water-hole road gang men five
Formed the cleaning gang
On twenty-sixth March
Mahesh had joined them to smoke
He informed them that
On the morrow he
Would lop banyan tree half a
Kilometer far
On this basis he
Organised search for Mahesh
People were alarmed
Anxious inquiries
About Mahesh were being made
At reception room
In the diesel lamp’s
Smoky light fodder-cutters
Were baking tikkads
For the elephants
But their minds were not on job
A jeep and driver
Was offered the team
By a moved tourist they were
A godsend taken
By road Chua Sot
Seven kilometers far
Knowing, men made trip
Three fodder-cutters
Three gang-men and guardian
All went in the jeep
Armed guard Hira Singh
Was seated front search party
Kept a sharp vigil
For Mahesh and foot
Prints Chetana would have left
On the rugged path
Throughout the journey
They shouted Mahesh Mahesh
Chua Sot parked jeep
They shouted in a
Prolonged high pitched voice Mahesh
Search method: Kuka
Every member of
Search party now joined in the
Kuka, beamed searchlights
Mahesh had come here
Information from many
He did not reply
Had Mahesh taken
Chetana to Khinnauli?
From Chua Sot road
Kamar Patta runs
Towards Khinnauli: Thence a
Motor road to a
Rest house Khinnauli
Six kilometers away
There live some Park staff
Watch fodder-cutter
Mahawat guard forest guide
None knew of their fate
Eleven at night
The search party went back home
Shocked crestfallen dazed
Two cow-elephants
Mauli and Gomati were
Also put on search
Both were in their prime
Hence quick on their feet, riders
Expert mahawats
Kallu Mahesh’s
Friend, Saradari and one
Sharafat; others
Two armed guards and
A road-gang man Ram Ratan
Mahesh had informed
Ram Ratan of his
Trip to Chou Sot for fodder
At nine night both cows
Were driven towards
Chua Sot by a short-cut
Was rough and bumpy
During the ride they
Flashed their torches at nalas
And trees frequently
They called the missing
Mahesh and Chetana if
They were near-abouts
Would not have failed to
Recognise Kallu’s voice till
One o clock they searched
All in vain they went
Back to their huts tired hungry
Lay down till daybreak
The hookah was an
Ideal device to make
Officers’ brains work!
At the stroke of dawn
He mobilized all Park’s means
And renewed the search
Park’s cow-elephants
Khinnauli’s Rambha with their
Howdahs on pressed in
All adult males with
Eight armed guards left colony
At seven morning
In search of Mahesh
In search of Chetana lost
In the wilderness
The cow-elephants
Fanned across the entire forest
Each nala bush searched
Chetana’s malan!
Kallu spotted finally
Traces of the cow!
Kamar Patta road
She had bolted across steep
Slopes; rope dragged along
Was Mahesh’s rope
He used it to tie fodder
To elephant’s back
Chetana bolted
In terror! The malan was
Traced to pilu shrubs
Chetana was there!
A kilometer away
Towards Dhikala
A mahawat marched
Chetana to stables back
The other cows were
Driven in the path
Whence Chetana came one and
Half kilometers
Southwards off the east
Kamar Patta road along
The climb towards hill
They saw banyan tree
Mahesh had lopped fodder from
The foot of the tree
They had almost reached
When men spotted a tiger
Hiding in the shrubs
Westwards he walked off
Elephants following him
But he was lost in
Thick undergrowth; from
A maida lakadi tree
Hung the shirt of Mahesh
Bidis down on ground
A few paces from banyan
Three stocks lopped fodder
Nearby lay scattered
Large branches lopped off banyan
They were not pruned yet
Having reached this spot
From Chetana he got down
And taken off shirt
To prevent the shirt
From being spoilt by milky ooze
Off banyan fodder
He hung his shirt on
The maida lakadi tree
Before this he smoked
To refresh himself
Evident from the pack of
Bidis found on ground
Half burnt match-sticks proved
This along with the end of
A consumed bidi
Chetana stood by
His side as long as he smoked
Then he climbed on her
Took her underneath
Banyan and went up the tree
Getting hold of branch
A fodder-cutter
First lops the larger branches
Letting them fall down
Next descends cuts off
Smaller branches from the lot
Prunes and groups them in
Stocks for loading them
On elephant’s back; two hours
To lop, cut fodder
The loading job takes
A further half hour; meanwhile
Elephant grazes
No chains round her legs!
Necessary precaution
Cow is free to bolt
If wild elephant
Comes anywhere close to her
She is saved from harm
The cow elephant
Never runs away even
If free to roam round
She remains grazing
On grass or tree branches in
Work’s vicinity
On the other hand
An elephant untethered
Escapes from stable
When fodder-cutter
Perched on a tree is lopping
All his attention
Is on his pickaxe
And the fodder, a slight slip
And large branch may fall
And in the process
Injure the fodder-cutter
He should be alert
From his perch he keeps
An eye on his elephant
Calls her now and then
Till half past two he
Was at the job at he spot
Then he disappeared
Mysteriously!
The men left nothing to chance
The search continued
For Mahesh Howard
Minutely they combed all woods
Past the fodder stacks
They advanced towards
The hill climb, sandan tree stood
Thirty meters far
Thin twigs were broken
Of this tree Chetana had
Eaten sandan twigs
Her ball shaped droppings
Were on the ground, between stacked
Fodder and sandan:
Lay Mahesh’s cap
His axe a meter away
Blood stains on ground sent
A chill down the spine
Twenty five centimeter
Stain’s diameter
Tiger’s doing this
The search party men surmised
Dead body dragged east
From the bloodstained site
After following malan
Ten meters the men
Saw the lad’s trousers
But found no corpse of Mahesh
He was devoured
Since 1950
I have been coming to these
Dense forest foothills
It was the first time
A tiger had eaten man!
Twenty years ago
A tiger had killed
Not eaten a human being:
Engaged in marking
Accident it was
Inadvertently the man
Dashed against tiger
Asleep in a bush
Mahesh’s pants all along
Its length from seat
Showed holes made by teeth
And claws when the big tiger
Pounced on poor Mahesh
The circumference
Of these holes was stained with blood
Corpse dragged by its neck
But trousers got stuck
In the bushes; the cat had
Not removed the pants
Fifteen meters off
They saw a flattish round stone
On which the tiger
Had placed corpse en route
The stone was stained with his blood
Getting a firm grip
Dragged it ten meters
Where he again put it down
It bled profusely
A large patch of ground
Was stained red nearby lay his
Vest soaked with his blood
Body’s boneless flesh
Part was eaten by tiger
Grass flattened tousled
Beyond this point was
No malan to be found with
All thorough search done
Eight elephants roamed
Throughout the day looking for
Dead body’s remains
Every bush within
Half square kilometer searched
Every one so scared
None dared to dismount
Search went on till five evening
Tensed up for ten hours
Insecurity
And fear gripped Dhikala camp
Even stroll unsafe
Tent reservations
Summarily cancelled Swiss
Cottages wound up
Morning March 29
An identical search was
Repeated: In time
A blood stain sixty
Meters west from where his vest
Was found a new clue
On a sal tree’s trunk
Man-eater rubbed his bloody
Face, his itch satisfied
Thus the westward search
Began and soon proved fruitful
Though widely scattered
Line of flattened grass
Broken shrubs a rider found
Led to a nalla
Two hundred meters
Distant clearer blood stains on
Sand and boulder seen
At several spots
The sand bore tiger’s pug marks
He had left a clear
And all too fresh a
Trace at a spot in the earth
Along a nala bank
Where he had squatted
A while at seven meters
Bits and pieces of
Partly digested
Fish rice lay scattered, part of
Food gobbled in haste
Three four hours before
It had come out of his mouth
As a result of
Mahesh’s stomach
Getting squeezed what unseemly sight
For all forced to see
Uneven bumpy
Terrain elephants made to
Stand on even ground
Thirty terror-struck
Men with armed guards set out on
Foot to find remains
In every bush lurked
The man-eater ready to
Pounce on one of them
Earmarked as the next
The thought made them too cautious
Advanced stealthily
With their hearts thumping
Hours search- six bones on flat ground
Two loin upper arm
Two and rib bones two
Speechless with eyes full of tears
Stood around remains
The sight was enough
To show that the whole body
Was dragged to this spot
It has been observed
A tiger having killed prey
Drags it away for
Hundred meters and
Begins meal- twenty seven
Kilos at one go
Larger kills last for
Two to three days- only then
He begins anew
Small animal killed
Then every day go hunting
Forty hours had he
To eat fifty four
Kilos of unfortunate
Mahesh with two nights
Hence he had devoured
Even bones-after eating
The entire corpse he
Licked clean remaining
Long bones with his sand paper
Like tongue-since these bones
Were still fresh it was
Clear they belonged to Mahesh
Tiger’s latest kill
Assuming that they
Might come across some more bones
They combed three four times
The entire area
Within radius of something
Like eighteen meters
To no avail-no
Head spinal cord hip bone hair
Intestines feces
Tiger eats large bones?
Buffalo-calf: Skull snout horns
Spinal bones hip bone
Shin bones most of ribs
And hoofs left out compared to
These human bones soft
And plain given chance
Tiger will crush swallow them
True the skull is large
But the skull bone cracked
Open by his powers molar
Eats delicious brain
What plan man-eater
Used to kill Mahesh? When he
Was cutting the last
Few branches he saw
A tiger lurking in a
Bush-petrified he
Ran to Chetana
Eating sandan-he thought he
Would mount her and make
Her run away from
Danger- even if tiger
Pounced Chetana would
Fight him off, he had
Axe for emergency use
But the tiger struck
Him powerfully
His lethal paw landing square
On hips felling him
He collapsed headlong
Axe catapulting from grip
Fell a meter off
The tiger would not
Have harmed Mahesh if atop
The cow-elephant
When she saw the cat
She just bolted in panic
Where was her courage?
She removed herself
From danger site to safe spot
Well away from it
With Mahesh atop
Her morale grown high she would
Have fought the cat off
She had not seen him
Succumb to his injuries
She was expecting
Her master’s return
To where she was standing and
Then-take her back home
Park’s trained elephants
Are obedient loyal
Do not wander far
No matter how late
She will always wait to be
Taken to stables
When the mahawat
Finally located her
In pilu thickets
She had been waiting
For Mahesh over eighteen hours
No tikkad no jal
On March twenty nine
Ramganga to Dhikala
Came the director
Howard and eldest
Son Rajesh also came there
In seventies was
Howard- made shock of
Son’s death more unbearable
Life’s best part in park
In its service- a
Conscientious forest man
Mahesh worked eight years
As fodder cutter
Son’s untimely death left the
Old man grief stricken
He was visibly
Moved by words of sympathy
And condolences
By life-long colleagues
The few families who live
In Dhikala have
“No amenities
Which make for a happy and
Comfortable life!”
Consequently lack
Of minimum comforts has
Created strong bonds
Among these people
They are one large and close-knit
Harmonious group
No wonder then that
Everyone condoled Howard
With eyes full of tears
Man-eater trapping
Efforts failed in spite of good
Strategies applied
It is a great tale
The director held record
Unbettered so far
For taking a cat-
A man-eating tiger- alive
In Uttar Pradesh
On March thirty
Nineteen eighty, two calves
Buffalo tethered
Two places apart
Baits to entice man-eater
Who killed ate Mahesh
They were a spot near
Water-hole Chua Sot and
One where Mahesh died
While no tiger came
To where Mahesh was felled one
Came to the other
Killed and ate the calf
Another calf was tied at
Same spot- the tiger
Repeated the feat
Four were eaten-one died a
Natural death on
The third day-looked sick
It was buried at same spot
Large boulders were placed
On the spot as mark
Of identity-the boss
Kept watch from machan
A sandan tree near
The Chua Sot water-hole
Closeby was the spot
Where the calves were tied
In succession-he had made
Up his mind to find
Mahesh’s killer
Not an innocent tiger
He saw two tigers
One a thick- set beast
The other a slim bodied
Cat- both came to lift
The bait in daytime
The thick- set braver- he would
Lift in front of guards
Despite his vigil
He could not be sure about
The man-eating cat
Ultimately he
Had to give up hope to trap
The killer tiger
Forest guards noted
Two weeks after calf burial
Empty was the pit
It was found dug up
But only a jackal does
Such demeaning act
So thought Nautyal
The search party chief:
Back on killer’s trail:
Mahesh’s killer
The man-eater Chua Sot’s
The same man-eater
Apparently seen
In Dhikala’s neighbourhood
Often by mahouts
The beast was wont to
Frequent Bichhu bhoji’s round
Water-hole for sips
Some three weeks later
A tiger killed a chital
At eight thirty night
Near Nautiyal’s home
Two days later a tiger
Was seen near canteen
Late in the evening
Road traffic had not yet ceased
People scurried in
A tiger roaming
In that area during rains
Was not unusual
During rains clean ground
In the quarters is ideal
For tigers to rest
Because during rains
Grass grows profusely to great
Heights- no place to rest
For tigers in Chaud.
Such a tiger resting next
To houses-harmless
However even
Two and half months after his
Ghastly death it reeked
Earlier visits
To Ruina pool to film the
Gharials there had no
Need for armed guards as
Precaution we were in a
Hideout entire day
However in June
Nineteen eighty two without
Armed guard no visit
To jungles of the park
Fodder cutters no longer
Lopped Park’s milky trees
They only fed to
Elephants rohini twigs
Rohini trees were
Abundant in the
Surrounding woods Dhikala
Staff felt insecure
Convinced they were that
Once the monsoons set in they
Were in their last days
“Having tasted man,
The tiger would be stalking
Them for its next meal.”
That was during days
When man returned all he took
From woods, preserved soil.
His flesh and blood was
Tasted, once a man-eater
Pays to remain one
But no longer its
Business as usual its
So tasteless human flesh
“ In Uttar Pradesh
Once it tasted man never
Again it killed man”
Perhaps it tastes just
NPK Swaminathan’s
Trick made forests safe!
Having devoured one
Man each the Chua Sot and
Sonaripur cats
At Corbett Park and
Dudhwa did not kill any
Other human being.
Dhikala is the
Main draw of Park’s five two five
Square kms of wilds
Tourists enjoy it
Ten km stretch Lidkhalia
To Khinnauli and
Five km stretch from
Kamar Patta to Phulai
Within this block of
Fifty square kms
Eight tigers territory
Long term habitat
Their prey are chitals
Four thousand, sambhars sixty
Four hundred hog deer
And seven hundred
Wild boars - all are tiger’s food
Also porcupines
Peacocks are his prey
Six hundred and six creatures
For every tiger
One wonders then why
The park staff were so nervous
Perfectly safe Park!
New millennium
Is Dhikala so safe that
Eight is now just nought?
Twenty five years ago
Havoc by tusker
Forest guards’ two huts destroyed
In the Semal chaud
Bajrani forest’s
Sarpaduli Khinnauli
A wicked fellow
He wandered at will
In the park, forest dwellers
At their tether’s end
Road construction from
Dhikala to Kalagadh
Rogue in Kalagadh
In Paterpani
Rogue attacked labourer’s camp
Killing family
Pregnant wife husband
And their daughter- Lord Ganesh
Entrusted tusker
To destroy monster
Born in their camp- such belief
Consoled simple folk
And simple folk are
Nearer God – according to
Alexis Carrel!
Reckless obstinate
The killer had brushed aside
Prevention attempts
To drive him away
From the camp- even huts set
On fire proved useless
He triumphed- it is
Elephant territory
Quit or else face it
He demonstrated
Making nuisance of himself
For one and half hours
When he finally
Left for greener pastures they
Thanked God Almighty!
The killer appeared
In Dhikala-Khinnauli
Driving Park staff off
Killer’s rear right leg
Had severe injuries
It pained him too much
Cried in agony
Limped dragging his maimed leg
Circular imprint
Possibly greed for
Ivory caused injury
All humans his foes
Killer elephant
So branded he was marked for
Extermination
Dangerous mission
But precludes error killing
‘Innocent’ other
The shikars set out
On three cow elephants to
Search and destroy him
They found the red eared
In Khinnauli woods- the rogue
Charged towards the tamed
Ten bullet fire burst
Sadly felled him off in his
Own territory!
End of Haikus by R. Ashok Kumar- 12 March 2005
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Plot 30 Sector 17 Vashi Navi Mumbai-400703
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