My First Tiger Sighting an Incidence to Remember

My First Tiger Sighting When I Was Child

This is a true story of my life which happened when I was just eight years old. My family was dependent on cattle rearing and a large number of livestock was confined in the premises of my house. We had cows, buffaloes and goats kept which we milked every day.

According to the prevailing tradition at Bandhavgarh, the livestock is named after trees, animals and birds. The population comprises of tribal communities and traders from nearby cities or towns, who have settled here. 

As the story goes, one day, one of our cows went missing. When she didn’t turn up for long, it became a matter of concern for us and we thought that the animal has been stolen. In spite of visiting all the houses and inquiring with the local folks we could not find any trace of our beloved cow.

In order to expand the search, we decided to go inside the forests of Bandhavgarh were she might have gone for forage. On that fateful day I accompanied my father into the forests.  While venturing into the jungle, we saw a variety of flora and fauna. As if the jungle welcomed us with all it’s grandeur. The experience was so unique that it almost made me forget about our lost cattle. We saw various birds, jungle cat, wild boar, spotted dear, mongoose, sambar dear, peacocks, vultures, languor’s, jackals etc

After some time we decided to rest on a hillock before going back. As we did so, we sighted a folk of vultures hovering over patch of grassland in the vicinity. This made my father curious. These scavenger birds usually encircle a dead animal before descending upon to feed. This helps them in locating the right spot were the dead animal is, as well as assure them that no other predator is strolling nearby.

Out of curiosity we decided to check and began to trudge towards the spot. We reached the spot but my father decided not to proceed near the kill. However I was unable to hold myself and pushed forward only to be greeted by a loud roar. Frightened with the unprecedented sound, I started looking around. Right next to a bush there sat a magnificent tiger. He continued to roar as I looked at him mesmerized. 

I was pale and I ran back to my father and clasped him like the embrace of a tiger. I have never experienced such fear before. My father hugged me to comfort me. I could see that he was greeting the tiger with a “Namaste”, as Hindus do to express respect.

Tiger is considered holy as he is the vehicle of Goddess Durga. I watched with amazement as my father paid reverence to the great beast. 

Unfortunately we could only find the carcass of our beloved cow. Instead of expressing anger or grief, my father bowed again in front of the tiger and we gently moved away. The carcass had been eaten and sadly we had lost our animal. The beast had been forgiven by my father as he was enacting a deed that was essential for his living. 

"All life form have right to live and we must learn to co-exist. Remember we have encroached into land that belongs to the wild animals and the diverse flora." He had to stop his conversation as tears began to roll down his cheek. He was humble and wise enough to know that the magnificent carnivore had no ill will of harming us but only to satisfy his own basic needs, which in some way have been snatched by us. We came back home with silence and remorse.  

As we trudged back I realized that I just had my first tiger encounter in the wild. I was completely awe struck but petrified as well.     

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Eksjk thou dk igyk vuqHko ck?k ds lkFk

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^^vkius dc ns[kk viuk igyk ck?k**