Old men and the forest

During his usual morning round, Manish the god of small things indicated that he along with a few others was executing some work @ Jharpada which lies within the forest adjoining Pauni (Mansar). He invited us for a fish feast!

We decided to take up his offer and thus me along with my friend Pavi proceeded towards the rendezvous. Upon reaching the destination we were greeted by the mesmerizing sight of an 8 kg freshly caught Rohu pulsating with life.

The location appeared picture perfect as we negotiated a path towards the shade of the mango tree situated on the ridge of the small pond nearby. This pond was yielding a surprisingly healthy stock of an assortment of fish varieties. Upon inquiry it transpired that this must be because people avoided coming here due to the presence of a tiger in the vicinity. Suitably impressed we settled under the cool shade of the mango tree. The pond throbs with avian varieties as well. We spotted a Jacana and also a gaggle of ducks. We were joined by a couple of cowherds and a monkey or two feasting on the mangoes overhead.

The afternoon was enlivened by the prank I played on the birds. I confused them with electronic versions of their own calls! This of course is prohibited but I ignored the rules for the sake of some harmless fun. And fun it was. The birds appeared flabbergasted through our binoculars!

Eventually the fish was ready and we feasted on it heartily. Later after topping it up with a refreshing cup of tea we decided to check out the machaan situated half a kilometre towards west, overlooking the pond.

We must have walked some 50 metres towards it through dense foliage on an overgrown path, when Pavi spotted the tiger and decided to run back! I was left with no choice but to follow cursing myself silently for not having instructed him on the protocols to be followed. As we joined the rest of the apprehensive staff and fished out our binoculars....it turned out to be a false alarm! What Pavi saw was a horizontal bundle of partially rusted GI wire fence lying by the way side, in conjunction with the cross-section of a log.

As we realised what a farce of Shakesperean proportions had we enacted, we could barely contain the laughter at our own stupidity.

Then the epiphany hit me.... the Forest, my elder brother, had played out a prank upon me by reciprocating in a manner exactly similar to the one that I had played upon its avian family!

POV: Anil