What fascinated me the most was the "presence" of the tiger in its "absence". In the two days I spend exploring the Sunderbans, I wasn't lucky enough to see a Tiger. But the omnipotent presence of the tiger was written all over the Sunderbans.
Legends, folklore, images, memories and experiences of the poor people of Sunderbans had "tiger" written all over the place. Even though you know that it is not that common to spot the Royal Bengal Tiger in the Mangrove habitat, some where in the corner of your mind, you are tempted to turn your head to the corner of the narrow creek looking for the big cat!
Anil came across to me as the most unassuming person, interested only in running the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Sunderbans. Asit had mentioned in the morning that it was probably Anil who might be able to tell me stories that I was looking for. Stories of the struggle of local people to sustain their life in the most compelling terrain one can imagine of. A poacher turned conservationist, Anil's experiences in the jungles of Sunderban is an example of how one soul searching incident can trigger a social movement.
During one of his regular hunting expeditions three years before, Anil saw fear and tears in the eyes of a baby deer whose mother was shot dead few minutes before by his team. Feeling bad about what he was doing, he gradually transformed into a conservationist, which led to the setting up the Wildlife Conservation Society with support from some of the other poachers in his village.
A movement hence kick started now is transforming the lives of poorest of poor people of the villages like Bali in the Sunderbans. Facilitated by agencies like WWF - India and local forest department, this is now helping to maintain a healthy number of tigers in the reserve. Through the engagement of ex- poachers into community based tourism initiatives led by social entrepreneurs of Help Tourism; the movement is gaining financial support as well.
It seems, earlier every time a tiger enters from the mangroves, hundreds of villagers used to gather together and lynch it to death. It is interesting to observe how a community that worships the "Bano bibi" (Goddess of the forest) asking for protection from the Tigers and even worship tigers as Gods, all of a sudden transforms into a lynching mob. Memories of a previous attack or the vulnerability under which they live their day-to- day life, is probably all that is needed to change the god fearing communities into killers.
Since Anil's movement kick started, they have saved more than 25 tigers from being lynched by the mob. With an excellent network of supporters that they have developed all over the villages, the volunteers of the conservation society is now in a position to reach the spot of confrontation between the tiger and the men at the earliest. They tranquilise the tiger and take it back to it natural inhabitant, leaving the villagers with one more opportunity to build up stories on the legendary tigers of the Sunderbans!
Living with danger of being mauled by the cat in their attempt to tranquilize in front of the mob hasn't deterred Anil of his determination. The calm, ever smiling face of Anil is certainly an inspiration as well as the highlight of my stay in the Sunderbans!
Kolkatta © GP 2007
PS: My laptop is on strike and hence can't figure out a way to download the pics from the trip! Hold on for couple of days more and I will share those with you.
Legends, folklore, images, memories and experiences of the poor people of Sunderbans had "tiger" written all over the place. Even though you know that it is not that common to spot the Royal Bengal Tiger in the Mangrove habitat, some where in the corner of your mind, you are tempted to turn your head to the corner of the narrow creek looking for the big cat!
Anil came across to me as the most unassuming person, interested only in running the Wildlife Conservation Society of the Sunderbans. Asit had mentioned in the morning that it was probably Anil who might be able to tell me stories that I was looking for. Stories of the struggle of local people to sustain their life in the most compelling terrain one can imagine of. A poacher turned conservationist, Anil's experiences in the jungles of Sunderban is an example of how one soul searching incident can trigger a social movement.
During one of his regular hunting expeditions three years before, Anil saw fear and tears in the eyes of a baby deer whose mother was shot dead few minutes before by his team. Feeling bad about what he was doing, he gradually transformed into a conservationist, which led to the setting up the Wildlife Conservation Society with support from some of the other poachers in his village.
A movement hence kick started now is transforming the lives of poorest of poor people of the villages like Bali in the Sunderbans. Facilitated by agencies like WWF - India and local forest department, this is now helping to maintain a healthy number of tigers in the reserve. Through the engagement of ex- poachers into community based tourism initiatives led by social entrepreneurs of Help Tourism; the movement is gaining financial support as well.
It seems, earlier every time a tiger enters from the mangroves, hundreds of villagers used to gather together and lynch it to death. It is interesting to observe how a community that worships the "Bano bibi" (Goddess of the forest) asking for protection from the Tigers and even worship tigers as Gods, all of a sudden transforms into a lynching mob. Memories of a previous attack or the vulnerability under which they live their day-to- day life, is probably all that is needed to change the god fearing communities into killers.
Since Anil's movement kick started, they have saved more than 25 tigers from being lynched by the mob. With an excellent network of supporters that they have developed all over the villages, the volunteers of the conservation society is now in a position to reach the spot of confrontation between the tiger and the men at the earliest. They tranquilise the tiger and take it back to it natural inhabitant, leaving the villagers with one more opportunity to build up stories on the legendary tigers of the Sunderbans!
Living with danger of being mauled by the cat in their attempt to tranquilize in front of the mob hasn't deterred Anil of his determination. The calm, ever smiling face of Anil is certainly an inspiration as well as the highlight of my stay in the Sunderbans!
Kolkatta © GP 2007
PS: My laptop is on strike and hence can't figure out a way to download the pics from the trip! Hold on for couple of days more and I will share those with you.
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