Poetry tells us that the obsession with muse often makes the poet familiar with the people who surround her. So it doesn’t come as a surprise when Valmik Thapar, whose affair with the national animal is well-documented, decided to compile a 480-page book on the avian friends who often led him to a Changez or a Noon. From Babur to Khushwant Singh, “Winged Fire” (Aleph) documents human fascination for the jewels of skies in minute detail. With pictures from the likes of Kiran Poonacha and an exclusive essay by avid birder Ramki Srinivasan, it is a close encounter. “My knowledge of birds came through watching tigers. While waiting for the tiger to show up, I would often relish the beauty of a black stork or a saras while relaxing on the balcony of Jogi Mahal rest house. The sound of crows always indicated that there is meat somewhere. If they are landing and coming up, it means the tiger or leopard has left. Egyptian and king vultures would hover around the spot where tigers were gorging away. Tree pie, a beautiful scavenging bird, would make a peculiar sound. When you are driving you absorb all this and then decide what you want to do. Once, a tree-full of crows led me and Fateh Singh Rathore to nine tigers feasting on a blue bull,” reminisces Thapar even as we warm up for a meal on the lawns of Shangri La’s Eros Hotel. We sit at the junction of Sorrento and Shang Palace, the Italian and Chinese restaurants that the hotel has come up with. Thapar picks sauna prawns, which are chilli and garlic marinated prawns cooked on a lava stone. The stone reminds me of his fascination for jungle food.
It was Rathore, his mentor, who groomed Thapar, a Delhi boy from Chanakyapuri, for the sound of the jungle and its food. “There were no tourists, so no rules. We would start in the morning and would never carry anything to eat with us. We would end up at a chowki where the forest guard would make us bajre (millet) ke roti covered with red chilli and garlic paste. It was my staple diet in the jungle. It was a life saver and delicious.” They say jungle is for the loner, but Thapar feels otherwise. “I am more reclusive in Delhi. In jungle I can easily sit under a tree and speak to 100 villagers.”
Thapar says to appreciate nature one has to understand the deliciousness of eating out in the open. “You eat like the locals do. I remember in Kaziranga we ate fresh bamboo shoots. I always advise the authorities to have a food chain in all parks which makes the tourist familiar with the local flavour.”
Does being a non-vegetarian create a moral dilemma for him as an environmentalist? “I grew up eating meat and I eat meat. I don’t justify it one way or the other. I make a distinction between wild animals and animals which are bred to be eaten. In Africa you get a lot of wild animals but I refrain from their meat.”
The research for Mughals’ fascination for tigers led him to their love for birds. “Mughals enjoyed their birds. The queens are often shown with parakeets in paintings. Pigeon flying was part of everyday life. Saras crane is a symbol of marital happiness and there are numerous myths around peacock. Earlier everything –– from forest to wetland to village –– had its space. Now population pressure is so severe. Still we have more respect for birds and animals in the villages than we have in the city. Here you are educated but alienated from nature.”
Thapar’s 40 years of experience in the wild tells him that tigers and birds don’t like to waste food and the best time to observe them is when they are having their meal. “Everything revolves around food for a tiger. They are going to protect their food and finish the last scrap. They will not run away. So you get time with the animals. My all the food encounters with tigers have been fantastic. Same way if a crested serpent eagle has caught a snake, it would not fly off till it consumes it.”
Of course, there are traits that separate one from the other. “When Changez was eating he had a do not disturb sign. Noon was like come and join me. You are welcome to watch me eat. I link this a lot with human behaviour.”
No wonder, in his next book, Thapar is going to narrate his experiences with ten of his closest tiger friends. Noon is his all time favourite. She got her name because she was the most active at noon. “She was the one Rajiv Gandhi saw at Ranthambore in 1986. She used to kill in water.” The male tiger whom he was very much in tune with was Changez. “When he would disappear I would know when he would reappear and where. I was so familiar with his movements that I would park one kilometre away and he would come down that path.”
Do they recognise him? “I don’t know but when Fateh Singh died I knew; they knew him. Like elephants, tigers also have a good memory. The book will deal with it. Also, I want to highlight how mothers keep away from sons and fathers avoid daughters…how they avoid incest.” Thapar has no proof but his years of work tell him that tigers pass on the information like people on foot are poachers. “And being in jeep is considered to be a friendly act. ”
Thapar tells us that the book will be textual, with only sketches of tigers. It is an interesting departure in these photo-friendly times. He doesn’t believe in selling wild life experiences through photographs. Perhaps, that is why only two of his pictures feature in “Winged Fire”. “I always missed the picture. I have to be woken up. I don’t use all the fancy equipment. I used a small camera like a Lumix, a Leica lens on a Panasonic body. It gives me decent pictures. Also, I enjoy going into the journeys of everyone. How people reacted to birds….”
However, for Noon he has always been all attentive! “I remember I was having scrambled eggs when a sambhar called. I got into the jeep and found Noon with her three cubs. Half an hour later she came racing out of the bushes and gripped the shoulder of sambhar. I had 20 stills in the camera. I made each one them count. It was a master battle between the prey and the predator as five minutes later the sambhar kicked her in the belly and escaped.”
Thapar pleads for sensitivity while dealing with the big mammal. “They have emotions and they must be respected. Don’t treat it like a dog. Collar them only when it is a must. Sometimes they collar even those who are in the epicentre of the jungle just to ensure when a VIP visits the jungle they can capture their movement.” He also cites the example of relocation of tigers from Ranthambore to Sariska. “It resulted in trauma. They missed their relatives and they didn’t move the villages as promised. As a result there was very little breeding for three years. Also it has become fashionable to inject tigers with antibiotics for wounds created by thorns. I tell officials that its salvia is the biggest antibiotic. It is not used to antibiotics like we are. Sometimes, I feel we have to get back the gold of the old world.” Indeed!
Culinary adventures
“I would quickly prepare pasta or prawns and mix rice in it. It is one big nicely spiced meal made without planning or looking at recipes. I go bang, bang, bang, and normally it turns out tasty.” Explaining the process, Thapar says, “I put onion and garlic with little bit of oil and add fresh tomato puree. Then I throw in prawns and spices turn it around to make it tasty. Then I mix the rice so that they absorb the flavour of prawns. Sometimes do the same with soya sauce instead of tomato sauce. At times I use chicken at times I use vegetables – all variants of one big mix pot.”
Thapar says wife Sanjana (Kapoor) scores zero in cooking. “She is learning now. Our food choices are similar though. We both love Japanese and Chinese cuisine and when in Delhi we love to eat out at Tamara in Okhla and Fujiya in Chanakyapuri
Making it work
Thapar who has been advising different governments is happy that the Railway Minister has heeded to his advice and has got Sawai Madhopur station painted with information and pictures on wild life. “It will help educate local children. I have been told eight stations are going to be painted.”
