Jungle Raj

Jungle Raj

A cousin of my mine sent a video yesterday of a chase between an eagle and a squirrel. The eagle had to really work hard to get its prey. There were maneuvering tactics, a display of speed and rising emotions of valor, fear that gripped the viewer. In the end the squirrel managed to shelter itself by scurrying into a tree hollow. So for the eagle it proved to be a wild goose chase so to say.   Not wanting to give up, the eagle tried to put its beak in the hole but to no avail. Finally took the flight to find another prey. The maxim ‘survival of the fittest’ so aptly applied to that chase. It could have been anybody’s guess as to who would win. Yet since winning of the eagle meant death of the squirrel, as we watch the video our sympathies naturally rest with the squirrel. So when ultimately the panting squirrel peeps out of the hollow after the eagle has given up and flown away, one does tend to heave a sigh of relief and the beautiful large eyes of the squirrel leave their mark in our memory.

As I finished seeing that video was reminded about the hunt we witnessed at Serengeti park way back in 2005. It’s been ten years but some memories are so vivid. The wild buffalo was protecting its calf against a pack of lionesses. The hunt is strategic. It is no less a team work of a cricket or a football team. The vast grasslands of Serengeti are a perfect camouflage for the lionesses who position themselves like pawns on a chessboard or should I say like the game of kabbaddi, with two of them taking the lead and others waiting to cover the prey, but settled at a  calculated distance. The lion lay slothfully on a rock giving lazy glances once in a while to the hunting pack but otherwise blissfully enjoying the sun. The calf was closely following its mother and the daredevil buffalo was taking the lionesses by the horns flinging them far away. Again and again the lionesses were trying to hunt the calf but the buffalo was valiantly protecting it with its powerful nudges, use of hooves to kick and the horns to fling them away. 

The driver was telling us, by and by the buffalo will get tired as there are were about eight lionesses. So the game was that of the cat and the mouse. Tiring the prey until it gives up. Once tired the pounce and the hunting down becomes easy. However it needs a lot of strength even for that. That is the point where the lion will finally come and hunt the prey with his powerful attack. Again like the squirrel, our heart ran out to the meek calf. Lo and behold, after some time some more wild buffaloes – mainly bulls  joined in the struggle and in no time the mamma buffalo had gone very very far away with its calf, out of reach of the lions. The hunt had failed. The bulls were too powerful for the pack and the lions had to beat a retreat.

As I thought about all this I realized that nature has not been too kind with the hunters. Although the eagle had a sharp beak and claws or the lions had power, if one observes, one finds that the eagle was not able to fly with wings wide open as the squirrel was scampering through twigs and branches across trees. So with wings half open, the eagle had to space out itself and yet maintain speed. Similarly the deer and buffaloes have hooves and horns but the lion have soft paws. The sharp nails and teeth of the lions or the claws of the eagle are good enough for tearing off the prey once hunted but the hunting by itself is a lot of sweat and that too on a daily basis.

They do not have bank accounts for retirement, in fact forget retirement they do not have a store for even few days’ food. They have no rest or holiday nor financial planning for future. They have to earn their daily bread. Once into safety, the squirrel too has to search for nuts and can even store them for the icy days when there is no food available. Thus here again the herbivores are better off than the carnivores. As I said nature has not been too kind to them.

Although our sympathies go out for the squirrel or the calf, yet we do not stamp the eagle or the lion as beings accumulating bad karma. Nor does the squirrel think – O why this has happened to me? What have I done wrong that the eagle has to hunt me?  There is no mind chattering and it goes about in search of food. Living in the present, so to say.

It is we humans who waste a lot of energy in worrying for the future or ruing on the past. The power of thought and discretion, given to mankind is for creating value,  by living in the present. Plan for the future, learn from the past and move on.

Incidentally, yesterday -  also happened to be the day known as August Kranti Diwas, more popularly known as the launching day of the Quit India movement ,  when way back in 1942 , Gandhiji gave the call of ‘Do or die’ to attain sampoorna swarajya or independence. The call is as relevant today as it was way back in 1942. We have to keep putting effort or we perish. So whether we inculcate the philosophy of Lord Krishna, Gandhiji , Lord Buddha , Swami Vivekananda et all , the truth is to live in the present. The nature trail also teaches us just that, what say?

Anagha Hunnurkar

Sunday, 9^th August 2015