Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Cinema Plus | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

My first sighting of a gaur ended in a gory incident. We were in the middle of an untrammelled wilderness at Mannavanur in Kodaikanal Taluk. A full-grown gaur was peacefully grazing, but less than a minute later, it was running helter-skelter for its life. A pack of about 30 wild dogs had swiftly rounded up the gaur. In its effort to escape, the huge bovine tore up trees. My heart sank as the gaur was overpowered. Unable to see his favourite animal being subject to a gruesome end, he clutched my arm and pulled me away from the scene. At an intellectual level, he understands the guar is part of a food chain. But his great fascination for the animal will not allow him to watch the death of a gaur with equanimity. As it supports a sizeable guar population, Mannavanur is his stomping ground. Before marriage, I regularly visited temples outside Chennai. Now, our outstation visits are almost restricted to Mannavanur and other wildlife areas. I have footslogged around many reserved forests. Keen not to disturb the animals, he insists on walking even when there is a path for a vehicle. His love for animals and desire to lead a life that is in tune with Nature often force me to make changes in my lifestyle. For health and ethical reasons, he shuns soaps. He says most soaps use animal fat and lots of chemicals. I had trouble adjusting to this thinking, but am used to it now.

She makes fun of my portly figure in such a way that I can’t take offence. Whenever I am setting out for Mannavanur, she says the gaur is going is to see other gaurs. Being compared to a gaur is the greatest compliment anyone can pay me; she knows it. She was not an outdoors or a Nature person, but after marriage she has walked around many reserve forests. I guess some people change totally for the person they love. During my trips to Mannavanur, I have often gone without a bath and a shave for days. When I return home from such outings, I look and smell like a savage. She will just smile and say, “The kaatu maadu is back!”

As told to

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail