In The Garb Of a Man...

The Toyota Innova eased out of the house onto the wide road and was soon seen speeding smoothly on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. The destination was the Sariska National Park.

Siva was a wildlife enthusiast and so were his son Easwar, wife Shreya and mother  Kamakshi. They had visited Sariska quite a few times and other sanctuaries like the Corbett National Park, Bharatpur and the Periyar  Sanctuary. The tiger had been pretty elusive and now they were all geared up with enthusiasm to have at least a glimpse of the tiger.

Siva’s elder brother Bhaskar, his wife Seema and their two sons Jayanth and Surya had arrived from U S on their yearly vacation and the trip was solely for their sake. One month was over visiting the temples in the South and they had just another fortnight before they left for States.

“Did you put the lunch basket in, Shreya?” , Bhaskar enquired recalling their trip to Hardwar the previous month when the basket was left on the porch of their home and how the four days’ interval had facilitated the growth of fungus !!

“That’s the first thing I put in," and turning towards Seema she said, "and thank you Seema for not wearing your perfume. It would make them sense our presence and send the animals packing deep inside the forest."There were good motels on the way for breakfast but deep inside they preferred homemade food.

“Will we be able to see the tiger, Siva uncle?” Jayanth asked. He was in grade eight and was planning to do a beautiful essay with photographs and all that for his Geography class.

Surya replied, “Don’t worry, Jay. If we miss the tiger here, we can go to the Delhi Zoo tomorrow and pay ten Rupees and see it.”

There was laughter all around.

After a lovely breakfast of ghee –soaked paranthas, pickles and excellent curd from a roadside Dhaba, they reached Sariska by ten.

The children were extremely happy to see the different kinds of birds; the barking deer; horned and collared owls; foxes; elephants and monkeys. Big brown squirrels; peacocks…one of them dancing beautifully.

The jeep in front of them slowed down and the occupants turned behind and said, “Hush !! There’s a tiger here”.

“Oh ! Lots of Tigers,” one of them whispered aloud (!).

The jeep in front pulled to a side so that this jeep could slowly edge it’s way too, to see the tigers. They had to transfer themselves to battery-operated jeeps to avoid pollution and noise.

There were a mother tiger and three slightly grown cubs, in a small plane down the slope. They were playing around the mother.

Wow! It was a sight to be seen! Cameras went clicking away…till the mother got up and walked away, leading the cubs. They could now see the remains of a deer.

They moved ahead and the jeep stopped near a rocky area with thick green foliage and waterfalls. There was a small Shrine for Hanuman, the Pandupol Hanuman, they called Him. .A few people were getting into a vehicle after the worship.

All of them got down and the priest performed the Pooja. They drank water from the small stream that was flowing there and stretched their feet. The basket was taken out and they had their share of Iddlies, Vadas, Sooji Halwa, Pooris, etc. There were no takers for Bananas and Sandwiches. They offered the Iddlies and Vadas to a couple of boys who were seated near the temple and Kamakshi kept goading to eat more when she saw them relishing the middle coated with the chili powder. She loved to see people eat with appreciation.

“Let’s start now if you wish to see the Neemrana Castle near Alwar,” Siva said and all of them started getting ready to leave.

The Innova was reverberating with the chatter of the kids. Everyone was discussing the tigers. The elders too were happy with the sighting of the tiger…the elusive animal.

“Jayanth called out from the front, ”Uncle, ask Easwar to come here. We want him here.”

There was a stunned silence and Siva cried out “What? isn’t he there with you?”

“No uncle, he was walking with you and I thought he is there.”

The driver Salim stopped the Innova.

“Salim, Gaadi Vaapas  Chalao.”

There was fear in his voice. They had come fifty kilometers.  

Shreya started crying.

Kamakshi said, “Don’t panic dear. My lord Ganesha will definitely take care of him. Just wait and see. He’ll be there.” She started reciting the Vinayaka Agaval…she was a staunch devotee of the Elephant God and was ever taking His name. He had solved many problems for her.

Seema said,” Don’t worry Shreya. I am praying to Bhagwan He’ll certainly take care of our Easwar.”  She was a great Sai devotee and had made a trip to Puttaparthi after her return from Chennai.

Bhaskar chipped in, “ Shreya… I know how you are feeling, but don’t get scared. Be calm. God is great. Nothing will happen to the kid.”

“Daro math, MemSaab. Allah Acha Karega.” Saleem turned behind and told her.

The vehicle reached the Pandupol Temple. It was locked. One of the boys whom they had fed was there/

“ Where is the priest? Can you tell me if you saw my little boy here? Is there anyone else here ?”

“ No Saab. I saw nobody. The priest has gone somewhere. He may come back now.”

Shreya was crying quietly. Kamakshi was praying with closed eyes, seated on a rock. Only the sound of the crickets and the water, falling from the rocks could be heard.

Then he came. He looked like a priest too. He took out a bunch of keys and opened the Temple door.

Siva went to him and narrated everything. He looked for a while and asked Siva and Bhaskar to follow him. They went near the shallow stream. The priest walked through and got on to the other side. The trees grew close together. There were creepers entwining the trees. After a three minutes’ walk, they came near a clearing. The priest signaled to Siva to call out the child’s name.

Siva’s voice reverberated in the forest..” EEEaswarrrr”.

There were sudden silence and chatter of monkeys..and then the voice cried out,

“Appa…”

The priest walked ahead. They followed.

There…. Under a tree, was Easwar…doling out bread slices and Bananas to the monkeys. He came rushing to them.

Siva handed over a Hundred Rupee note to the priest who pointed to the temple Hundi.

Kamakshi was all tears, staring at the priest, who walked away and disappeared into the rocks ahead.

The Innova rolled towards Delhi. Everyone was happy and chatting away.

Easwar snuggled close to Kamakshi who had been unusually silent. He whispered.

 

”Patti..did you see something? I did. I don’t want to tell others. They’ll tease me. They won’t believe too. That Priest’s  ears were like the elephant’s..”

She had seen them too.

She whispered softly..”Deivam Manushya Roopena”...