Chandrapur, Maharashtra. There are men standing on alert on the rooftop and a leopard roaring underneath. What follows is scary. In the rising din, the loosened roof tiles are flung about like chips of a child’s game. Out of the torn roof springs the beast in full frenzy. Men scurry out of its way, but one of them is too late by the fraction of a second. Pouncing on the unfortunate man, the leopard bites him on his behind. In New Delhi, a female leopard is found dead on a golf course near Manesar, with a deep wound on its neck. In Vancouver, Canada, Municipal authorities ban doorknobs in the city buildings to quell bear menace. The cunning animals manipulate doorknobs to gain access to private homes and help themselves to food available inside.
Have the wild beasts forgotten Nature’s law that they shall respect man’s domain?
‘Beasts are ignorant of law,’ cawed Kaga Bhushundiji, ‘and then, my son, it is man who trespasses their domain and not they his.’
‘A crow that you are, Kagaji, you will always take sides with any creature other than man,’ I said resentfully.
‘Yes, I am a crow, but a crow that sees all. Your kind is crowding out all other beings that walk, crawl, fly, swim or stand on earth. Tigers, leopards, boars, elephants and lions are killed under your vehicles speeding by their abodes. Your villages and townships encroach upon the surrounding wildernesses. The water under the soil is fast diminishing as you suck it out greedily for yourself. The dry soil develops cracks and vegetable growth is stunted. What will then poor beasts of the wilderness do if not plunder your territory!
‘Not too long ago,’ Kagaji went on, ‘there were tens of thousands of tigers roaming freely in your jungles. Now are you left only with 1400. And where have sparrows gone? Cheetah, that spirited and graceful animal, is nowhere to be seen. You have robbed your domesticated animals of their vigour. Imagine your pet dog standing against a wild one. I pity those enfeebled creatures. They live at their masters’ pleasure. Cattle that have run dry of milk are butchered and horses too old or infirm ‘put to sleep’. Countries that pride themselves on their riches and advancement follow a ruthless routine while dealing with their animals. They kill the numbers they cannot hold. This good Earth was meant for each and every creature that lived on it, but you men have appropriated it entirely for yourself.’
‘But, Kagaji, man has been killing since times immemorial. Even Shri Ram Chandraji holds his bow and a quiverful of arrows, ever ready to shoot enemy whether in a human or animal form.’
‘Why talk of His times, it was less than a hundred years ago that your jungles teemed with beasts of all kinds. The creatures your ancestors hated most were petty rats, parrots and tsetse flies, which harmed their crops. Attacks by lions and the like were rare.’
‘How did our forefathers manage to live in harmony with wild animals, Kagaji?’
KAGA BHUSHAUNDI SPEAKETH
Suman K Sharma
‘They kept their own space and conceded the wild beasts theirs. It was that simple.’
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