A herd of deer were grazing in the middle of the Kabini forest. There were 2 safari buses and 1 jeep already at the far end of the herd. As we arrived nearer to one of these buses, its driver said “Call bartha ide…We just heard some alarming calls”. Our driver immediately switched off the engine of the bus and asked all the passengers to remain silent and not to move. Within a few seconds, we heard an animal screaming kaa kaaa kaaa continuously for 10-15 secs. Our driver said “Calls… ide.. shhhh… pakka tiger pakka tiger.. Looking at those calls, it must definitely be a tiger. Don’t make noise, there is a tiger. This is the alarm call”
Seriously, do you think a Tiger can make Kaa kaa kaa kooo kaaa… sounds? I was about to laugh but controlled myself and asked the driver, “Who is making that ‘calls’?” He got irritated by my question which was evident in his facial expression. I repeated “Sir, I don’t know what these calls are and who is making it. If you can explain, it would be helpful”. He immediately said they are Langurs as well as deer. Again, he instructed to remain silent.
With my new long 600mm lens in hand, I was waiting for the tiger to come out of bushes and attack on the herd of deer. Suddenly, I realized if langurs are making these calls, that is, giving signals that there is a predator then the deer should run away from there right? So, I asked this to my co-passenger. He said it might be a warning call just to be alert. Hmm… Ok now I could understand it better. We waited for another 10-15 mins but there wasn’t any tiger or leopard to be found. Then all vehicles started to move away from the herd of deer.
This was my 1st safari in Kabini and I understood one simple thing. How different species which is capable of something, can help another species. I mean, Langurs can climb trees and watch for tigers from a far distance so that it can alert the herd of deer. I understood it better when I took the 2nd safari on the same day in Kabini. I noted that for every herd of deer in the jungle there will be 3-4 langurs which will be helping them by alerting if they find any threat approaching towards it. These signals are given by langurs and also, deer. This helps other animals and birds too.
Behaviours or Characters of people vary between each individual. If we try to match a few things, we can categorize what is good and what is bad. What is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The level of tolerance can be defined. Similarly, we have made a law in our country or everywhere in this world based on our experiences and common human behaviours.
Many of us get abused every day, especially women. While they walk on the streets or travel in public transport or anywhere else, they get easily abused. Also, men are not exceptional to these. Most of the men here would have also faced such kind of abusing in their life.
You might be wondering my initial story was on animal behaviour and now suddenly I am talking about human behaviour. I am trying to link both with a fine beautiful thread.
I felt there is something which we can learn as human beings from the story I narrated earlier. Every individual is capable of something which can be helpful to other individual. In the same fashion, the other individual can also be helpful to some other person. There will always be threat in society. We should try to identify those and raise the alarm. If we encounter someone possessing a bad character, we feel threatened. If there are some alters or alarms provided like monkeys to deer, then such kind of abusing can be easily avoided. The crime and harassment rates can easily come down if we start helping each other.
My message is for those who watch the crime happening live and try to ignore it. If we are in a safe zone, let us give that safety to those who might be a target of the anti-social elements. Let us not make them bend their head while walking in front of those abusers.
Raise the alarm! Help each other and save lives! Let us become helping hands to each other!
Click here to see some photographs from Kabini, Dhammanakatte Safari, Karnataka
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