Leopards, Tigers & Humans!

 

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“Leopards, that is ordinary forest leopards, do not like rain and invariably seek shelter, but the man eater was not an ordinary leopard, and there was no knowing what his likes or dislikes were, or what he might or might not do.”
― Jim Corbett

“A tiger's function in the scheme of things is to help maintain balance in nature and if, on rare occasions when driven by dire necessity, he kills a human being or when his natural food has been ruthlessly exterminated by man, he kills two percent of the cattle he is alleged to have killed, it is not fair that for these acts a whole species should be branded as being cruel and bloodthirsty.”
― Jim Corbett

When subject of sharing is Leopards & Tigers, then you will find no other man but the above one, as hundred years back when there was no Google or Drone or any such technology at assistance he has studied (not killed, do mind) these species on foot & by being with them in the real world & that’s why still today his words hold best about the behaviour of the leopards & tigers! And it’s not just about the wild animals but Corbett has equally given justice to the humans which live around these animals. And yes, he has warned & shamed also the humans who have made to become these animals Man Eaters which they are not by their basic nature! Unfortunately, our country which was & is rich in knowledge about every aspect of life, especially the nature we rarely listen to the wise & today's head-lines which leopards & tigers are making are the outcome of our that ignorance about the knowledge, is my subject of sharing!

Yes, it’s about leopards & tigers (tadoba is there too but for reference only) but interestingly both stood on different sides of the coin with the human’s society, such a weird species we the humans are! As those who are reading newspapers, watching TV news (paid/ free) following insta reels, forwarding WhatsApp messages & posting on FB (and if you are not doing any of above thing then you are a saint) they all must be knowing Leopard’s menace (means terror) in right our Urban Pune district & more than that the statements & comments by our rulers, system (read as govt) & media as well self-proclaimed experts & from the villagers! Well, many will say I am also one of the self-proclaimed experts, then you can say that but whatever I am sharing is not my opinion but analysis & whatever I am going to suggest are suggestions which can be used by the respective dept or people only if they logically accept the same (disclaimer 1), as well I have been lucky to spent some time over the span of twenty five years in & around forests & I am in touch with the humans who live around the forests, so , I have a little exposure with this issue is I can say! This to, And I felt writing this because I love wildlife of which leopards are very much part of & so does the locals which lives with these leopards so both lives are important equally the only difference is leopard can’t think & act for humans better living but humans can do for the leopard both above things that’s why & second leopards can’t read (sarcasm)! At the same time, I have full respect & sympathy for the locals who are living in the terror of leopards & who has lost lives of their family members in the leopards’ attacks, but I am writing this to make others understand the situation in leopard issue (I won’t say problem) & if my sharing can be helpful to save further lives, of humans & of leopard too (disclaimer 2)!

First let’s understand the exact issue of leopards & here many will say, what’s there to understand, they are a menace (just the way stray dogs in the city) & we need to get rid of them. I wish, it should have been that simple as we can even kill the stray dogs (sorry, just to explain) & here we are talking about class 1 animal by wildlife act which means they are too be protected above all & not killed & anything related to the leopards needs top level (Supreme Court) clearance for any policy regarding them! Another aspect is, this leopard’s issue has not popped up overnight, it was there nearly from last three decades especially in Junnar area but as usual we (read as system or govt) didn’t do anything about it & now when population of leopards & humans have crashed (and clashed) we are running clueless! And unlike tiger leopards are not studied properly barring few cases such as Borivali National Park & unless we don’t study a species, we can’t handle it, may it be a virus or a leopard, one more failure of the system as whenever bothered to study leopards! That’s why many people are (read as rulers) making statements & claims such as sterilizing them, exchanging them with African countries, feeding them dogs & sheep, translocating them to other forests & of course, even killing them (shoot at sight)! And all these claims are indications of our immaturity as well as non-understanding of the leopards & the issue (read as foolishness)! Btw, a decade back there was a proposal to start leopard safari in these parts of the Pune district so leopards can be used as means of earning for the locals the way in other forests has been done. Again, a mistake as this is not forest & leopards are not tigers to show themselves to the tourists! This habitat is agriculture & urban (recently) & forest safaris made wildlife conservation a success in places like tadoba or Vidarbha at large because there was nothing else as means of earning for the locals but here the lands are under cultivation of cash crops such as sugarcane & locals have enough means of earning. Definitely they don’t want their lands to be used for leopard’s safaris & then leopards don’t show up on the roads in broad daylight the way tigers do. Besides leopards, what will you show to the tourists, farmlands & heaps of garbage, that’s why the safari option won’t work at large level to make locals go friendly with the leopards!

So, what to do with these leopards & the solution will be two-fold, short term, may be catching some leopards & even killing a few (sorry leopards but that’s just a suggestion) which are used to attack humans regularly. At the same time use as much manpower as we can get people from Vidarbha or parts of the State who know wildlife because you can expect the people in urban parts to deal with wild animals such as leopards. And make squads of such people for patrolling, especially from early evening to morning to keep the leopards away from human settlements. A leopard is very smart animal probably the best in survival (read Jim Corbett) & it will understand that its not easy to live in these habitats with more humans, that too trained, moving on the roads which will be a big obstruction for its movements in the dark for hunting & slowly it will retreat for sure & itself will find a new habitat. Though this won’t happen in a month or year yet this will make locals at ease & attacks on humans as well domestic cattle will reduce for sure because leopard again unlike tiger is afraid of humans at least grownups for sure! And this will give a breather to the system (read as govt & forest dept) to plan long term solutions as well right policies where tourism will be sure part of, as some day coexistence has to be there!

But if at present you go there & tell people about accepting leopards or use them as tourism or be cautious & change their lifestyle, it will backfire such is the mess we only have created & not the leopards. And in the long term there will be awareness, packages & things like creating reserved habitats around these villages, towns which can include even sugarcane fields & then we can plan safaris with introduction of the prey base which these leopards are now getting used to! As you can reserve sugarcane farms as habitats for the leopards but from where you will get food to them, nobody thought about this aspect while preparing the safari proposal here! As well think of green corridors by which these leopards themselves will migrate to better living conditions for them because as the conflicts will reduce & so will their food chain then first option any wild animal chooses is to find another home & at present, we have cut down their migration means that’s why they are attacking whatever comes in their way! That’s the reason why the attacks have been increased in the recent as till the time leopard’s population was at one level they were getting food in the form of stray dog, pigs & even rodents in the field but with the increase in population but limited prey base they are bound to get desperate for the food. At the same time difference between the tigers & leopards is, tiger is very individualistic animal, & in one territory only one tiger lives but leopards though do have territory, but seems doesn’t mind sharing the same (at least it seems they have adopted this attitude here) as survival is more important for them than pride! As well a male tiger kills cubs to a female in his territory from the other male tiger, this in a way keeps tiger population in check, which isn’t the case with leopards! So the real problem with growing population of leopards even if they learned to stay accommodating each other’s is, lesser food to share & outcome is, desperate attacks or increased level of boldness in behaviour! This is what we have failed to study & this study aspect also must be part of long-term solutions. Classic example we already have & that is Jhalana, a leopard sanctuary near Jaipur city in Rajasthan. Though again the habitat is totally different but we can start making one from now & divert the leopards towards the same as well something like Vantara exclusive for leopards! Though all these must be done fast & get in reality or else, again it will remain on paper, which is the main problem in wildlife conservation! Till then a slow awareness campaign must be on at all levels of society especially amongst the politicians’ who are more interested in their votes than solving the real problem!

Now coming to another classic wildlife example, where a tigress named Chanda has been translocated from tadoba buffers to Sahyadri tiger reserve near Kolhapur. Look at the interesting fact as if on one side people are angry about wild animal like leopard then on the other side tadoba locals opposed to shift Chanda & one more tigress to Sahyadri tiger reserve as they thought it will damage their tourism & on the other side entire Sahyadri region is welcoming these tigresses as now tourism will increase here & so will be livelihood of the people! Strange creatures we the humans are; aren’t we, because look at our behaviour as a society with two wild animal species at the same time, in one case we are worshipping tigers & in other case we are at war with leopards! Wisdom is, to stay with the right way of living which is coexistence where all i.e. humans & leopards & tigers will stay at peace together & that’s human’s responsibility only, adios with this remark!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked..

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Piyush Pandye, Jane Goodall & Immortality !!

 

                                    

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“It isn’t the whiskey they choose, it’s the image.”
― David Ogilvy

“Many a small things have been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
― Mark Twain

“You may be able to fool the voters, but not the nature.”
― Donella Meadows

Founder of advertising empire via Ogilvy & Mather, David Ogilvy is supposedly the last word in advertising & Mark Twain as per me is, the wittiest writer we ever had, & Donella Hager "Dana" Meadows was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer. She is best known as lead author of the books The Limits to Growth and Thinking In Systems. Well, if you are confused about the subject of quotes as they vary from Whiskey, to Advertising to nature then hold on as the sharing is about two people who where by birth & by profession poles apart & yet has made a deep impact on my life (read as thinking) & this sharing is tribute to both of them. In nutshell this is very personal sharing & about Piyush Pandey who has been path breaker in the world of advertising & Jane Goodall, again path breaking in the world of conservation (more specific, wildlife conservation). And both these subjects are very close to my heart as if earlier is important for my conservation i.e. business, then later is important for my personal conservation, i.e. passion! So, you may opt to stop reading but let me tell you something important, Piyush taught me to look at the world & not just my business from a different vision, which made me do many things which eventually helped me to survive in the concrete world. While Jane made me learn so many things about other species than the humans & their importance for my own survival as a human, so you also can get benefitted, if you read & if you are interested in surviving your own self(disclaimer)!

Well, it was the month & week of Diwali as well of RoKO (google plz) show in Australia & Women’s World Cup in India (which we won) & on all such backgrounds, two great people left this world, Jane Goodall & Piyush Pandey! Though Pandyeji does got some space in print media in India because he was of same fraternity & represents big media house (Ogilvy & Mather) but Jane didn’t get much of space, barring some posts on Insta & FB about her demise, though she rarely has cared about it even when she was alive! But overall masses were not much interested as that’s the irony of work by these two GOTs’ (google plz) as I am sure nearly all those who have got access to TV or OTT & that makes three fourth population of our country has seen Piyushji’s work once at least but doesn’t know its his work. At the same time if not most of India but out of the entire world’s population many have seen a Chimpanzee in the same way on screen if not in actual, which is the work of Jane! Well, had there been Superstardom in advertising then Piyush would have been one for our country & Jane would have been at top in female category had there been such in wildlife conservation, such is both of theirs’ contribution in their respective field, is my subject of tribute!

Surpassingly both of them though represent totally different worlds (and lived also that way) yet I have learned a lot from them & has a big impact on my work as well on personal life!

Speaking about PP (Piyush Pandey), I am not a bit of a sales-man or marketing person but I am an engineer, civil engineer & the common thread which ties us (me with PP) is creativity from nothing! If you are confused then let me explain, a civil engineer enters on a seemingly empty land (will explain this in my sheinr about Jane) which for most eyes is a barren thing & creates life out of it by building structure over it, that’s creativity’s one form! While PP give words or say marketability to dead things (products of his advertise) which needs utmost creativity as a gum tube (fevicol) or network (Hutch) or a chocolate (Cadbury) can’t speak how good they are for the humans & PP did that job for all these commodities which is another form of creativity & a tougher job than any of us! To build something is easy (keeping respect for great structures like Sea Link & many such) as you have every liberty to modify design, increase budget & complete the structure whatever you have imagined as an idea. But, to make people buy something which they haven’t created nor has any experience of using (read as eating, sticking & such) via some medium, even as powerful as TV (audio visual), that needs extraordinary creativity & PP showed the world power of that creative mind via his creations! I have read his biography Pandemonium, & it has helped me immensely in understanding his philosophy behind his creations & that knowledge’s applicability is universal & I have no shame in accepting, many of my marketing concepts to sell my product (Home) are blessings of PP!

On that front, you can compare my learnings (read as relationship with PP) with Ekalavya & Dronacharya (plz google) & though PP is indeed Dronacharya, I a no where near to Ekalavya & neither did PP asked me for my thumb for his teachings! And I am sure just by creating best of the advertisements PP has become Dronachary for many youngsters like me (I am speaking about my younger days) because such people are open school, all you have to do is take admission there & start learning! The best part of PP’s creativity is the simplicity with which the advertise has been delivered to the masses as till then advertising was meant for upper classes with use of fancy looking models & language which common India never used to speak or the animations of DD or TFII (Television & Film Institute of India) on which even the kids didn’t use to laugh. And the outcome was, whenever there was a commercial break (advertise i.e. ad break) on the TV, people used to silence the sound or later on when the option of multiple channels came then change the channel. This was because most of the people thought watching ads is a waste of time & they are boring which was in a way a big defeat of the basic purpose of that ad in the first place! This is where PP’s contribution to the ad world & entire media marketing matters most as those who remembers 90’s then they will smile remembering the ad of Cadbury where a girl from the crowd run towards her BF who has made a century in the cricket ground crowd cheers; well, PP hit the chord with masses in one stroke as cricket is second life to this country & emotions which everybody can connect with, doesn’t matter its ad break, rather this was part of the match & then started series of such ads’ may it be simple fisherman catching fish with drop of fevicol to his stick & scoring over a wealth sophisticated (rich) man with costly fishing gears & even the animates Zu Zus’ & yes, the Pug (breed of a dog) which follows his master wherever he goes for the ad of mobile network! The words in each ad were simple, carefully crafted & so were the characters which get connected with every gender, classes & masses, that’s what a genius. As take example of Hutch, lead characterise a kid who can wander anywhere & following him with little steps, his dog a Pug, a small size  breed (do mind, not a big dog which most Indians are used to see till then) & a simple tag line with tune, “Wherever you go, I will be with you (or follow)”, you just can’t stop smiling & loving those 30 seconds as its no more just ad of a product, now it’s a nice mini story getting unfolded in front of you! Speaking about this particular Hutch ad, not just the mobile companies’ sales rose but the dog breed Pug came in demand too, which is still one of the most popular pet dog breeds & many people call it as a Hutch dog, such was the impact of that 30 seconds’ ad! And this was just one of the thousands of such creations by PP which made him a legend in the media world. Agreed, masses may not be knowing what his contribution to the Indian Ad World is but that’s why this sharing!

Just by watching, listening PP’s creations, I have learned so many things about projecting my product, one most important of those learnings is, keep the things simple & straight, just like another Ogilvy Mather creation for Sprite (cold drink), “sidhi baat no bakwas” & people will respond! PP, via his creations made me realize importance of connecting with people, which is backbone of marketing & which they didn’t teach in engineering, this is why I will be always thankful to Piyush Pandey as now also he must be busy in making the heaven interesting place, by his creations there, for sure!

About Jane Goodall, all I will say is that if PP was my Dronachary (Guru) in the commercial world then she is my Guru for my personal world, as watching her & reading about her I understand the importance of my passion (wildlife, what else) for my personal survival. It made me realize my responsibility also about other species & importance of studying or say observing them keenly! Here is a lady who gave up comforts & glamour of western world & dedicated her life to study species like Chimpanzee which was considered as just a monkey by the entire world & now the same world respects her for her contribution in conservation of wildlife! As without study you can’t understand behaviour as well as needs of any species & without that understanding you can’t conserve (read as save) that species. Jane didn’t just studied & saved Chimpanzees but she became an inspiration for thousands of students (mainly women) to dare to take on the path of wildlife conservation as a respected career, of which I myself also a big beneficiary as today whatever respect I get as a wild lifer, I wouldn’t have ever got as a builder (though I am equally proud of being a builder too) & what’s life without a respect, right? Jane didnt just stopped at reasearch but created a legacy in conservation by forming Jane Goodal Foundation, Institutes for wildlife research, she travelled all around the world to make people aware about wildlife & become a Brand Ambassodor for wildlife conservation!

Thanks Piyus Pandeyji & Dr Jane Goodall for your life on the earth & your work which has made you immortal by brightening millions of lives, a feat not many can ever achieve & yet if there is concept named Re-Birth then please both of you do come back as this emotionless, irresponsible world does need people like you, is all I can say in paying tribute to you, adios with this note!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

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https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html

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RoKo, Women Cricket Team & Lessons of Life!

 

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“It is not true that everyone is special. It is true that everyone was once special and still possesses the ability to recover it & only the Very Special does that.”
― Criss Jami

“Redemption is something you have to fight for in a very personal, down-dirty way. Some of our characters lose that, some stray from that, and some regain it.”
― Joss Whedon

Fun is, when the entire world says you won’t be able to achieve something & you just do that… Me.

Criss Jami i.e. Christopher James, born May 29, 1987 in Lynchburg, VA, is the author of several books, creator/designer of Killosopher Apparel, and the musician for the metal project Crymson Gryphon. Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, director, producer, comic book writer, and composer. And no need for third one i.e. Me, as I just try to narrate whatever I have understood by reading words from great names such as of Criss or Joss! The subject is cricket & I was fortunate (just like many other cricket fans around the world) to witness two wonderful moments in the week of Diwali, which will go a long long way in the history of Indian cricket! One was the RoKo show & another was the semifinal of Women One World Cup & incidentally (or irony) is in both cases the opponent was Australia or say, the Australia! I have always regarded Aussies as a deadliest opponent for many reasons as one they are physically strong by their DNA & that’s a plus point in most of the games. Another is, they may not be skilled or gifted but they believe in practice & doing things methodically. And Aussies are ruthless in any game & doesn’t take any game casually making them very less vulnerable. Last & most important thing, they play to win every match especially the big matches & all these characteristics makes them champions in any game they play to which cricket is not an exception & that’s why to play against Aussies in any game on any venue is a challenge for any team to which team India is not an exception! Whenever its cricket then for decades Bharat-Pak match was supposed to be an epitome of any tournament & as the political situation between the two countries got bitter the bilateral games are stopped but team India also was changing, thanks to political, social & financial stability in our country & frankly no more Pak team is match for Indian team with due respect to skills of Pak players. At the same time the hard rivalry between England & Aussies which was at par with Bharat Pak, Aussies dominated it much of the time so the lustre of this rivalry also started reducing. But team India has emerged as Australia’s strongest opponent in all formats of the cricket, is the present scenario at the same time Aussies are team India’s nemesis, especially in the big games of big tournaments & that’s why any match with this team is special. As in any game impossible does happen but Australia is a team which is known to achieve the impossible rather than allowing opponents to achieve so, that’s why they are the most dangerous team!

If you say you know all this, then it’s for those who doesn’t know or think why Australian team is special & then for me cricket (just like forest) is not just a game or entertainment but it’s a life’s classroom for me & harder the subject along with its tough teacher then more precious the lessons of life are, so is Australia as an opponent! And in life also the tougher the opponent or the task, it’s an ability for you to test yourself your limits, is the first lesson I learnt! Now coming to first part of the sharing i.e. RoKo means rohit sharma & virat kohli & I won’t waste much words about their greatness especially in one day format just this, after the great Sachin Tendulkar, these two holds most of the records in this format of the game which includes maximum numbers of double centuries, to sixes to catches & what not, so be it! The latest team India’s Australia tour for three one bilateral series was supposedly these two’s last trip there & fans were super interested & more than that the critics! In any career, especially that of sports, when you are on the last phase of your career critics look at you the way vultures look at a dying prey, ready to pounce on your slightest failure. And first one day, Rohit got out on 8 runs while virat made a duck, India lost the match & the vultures were happy sensing flesh & blood! In the second game rohit made a gutsy 70 plus runs, virat made another duck & India lost again! Vultures were sure of the kill, though rohit has made maximum runs in the team, they said his run rate is slow & so his body movements & virat is done now etc etc! India has already lost the series with two defeats in row in three match series but it has never had whitewash in one day format from Aussies, so pride was at stake & for RoKo, something far more than pride was at stake, redemption!

And the both replied in the only way they knew, by their performance, unbeaten partnership for 2^nd wicket with century & half century respectively they delivered a massive win for India. I don’t go in figures as for these two that was never an issue, the point was not to prove anything but stand to expectations of their own self from themselves! At the age where most players choose to retire happily these two have shown willingness to play for the country & they wanted to prove their own decision right which they did! This is the lesson for people (including youngsters) who want to follow their own path & what it takes to do so is what RoKo shown us, again! Rohit shredded nearly eleven kg of his weight as he knew his age is not on his side so he balanced it with reducing age to make his body move quickly for the Aussie pacers & fast pitches. And for Virat even his enemy can't doubt his fitness but for him more important was to find time on the creese & that needs discipline & patience, he also regained that! We all face doubts & questions some time or other in our careers & in any field, especially when we are not in best of our form or say position & at such times instead proving something which we are not best way is stick to basics, work hard & play (or work) focusing our cores strength is the way ahead, which RoKo did & this is the lesson I learnt. As they both don't have to prove anything but just ensure that they don’t become a laughing stock of people (fans become people very fast in this world, one more lesson) & end their respective careers on a bitter note, & that’s what champions do, perform & end the career on high note! When RoKo will stop playing even from one day it's they only will decide but for now fans are happy, critics will wait for some more time & I become a shade wiser!

And about the second part, if your patience with cricket & life is still intact then, today the final is on for the women's world cup of cricket one day format! Just an interesting fact: the first women’s world cup was played two years before the first men’s world cup was played i.e. in 1973. As usual Aussies are seven-time champions & were unbeaten in the last 15 matches of the world cup. Has beaten team India in rounds by chasing world record 331 runs & nobody gave a chance to team India to march in the finals. Whatever little hopes were there they also seemed blown away when Aussies posted 337 runs as no other team than the Aussies has chased such a total ever! Team India’s highest run chase was 264 till now & that too in front or comparatively easier bowling attack & then this is stage of world cup semis, the pressure itself kills your performance with the burden of expectations! Here is a game lesson which team India gave to me, use the pressure as an opportunity to focus for doing best. This is very easy to say & feel nice but to absorb that pressure & deliver, well that’s what I watched team India doing in reality! As under the pressure only, even Australian team dropped some simple catches which also helped Indian team!  As well there had been some terrific individual performances yet it was a collective team effort where everybody chipped in & that’s what we all must learn, when a job or game is of a team then every contribution counts, however little it may be! A team of superstars can get defeated by a team of players who knows their respective job & stick to that only, that’s where the importance of discipline & system comes in, which team India did. We had some great players but we didn’t depend on them entirely but every player kept thinking how I can contribute in winning my team, that’s how you can defeat a team like Australia!

Indian captain Harman Prit said, she was fade-up of losing (as India had lost three straight games before the semis) & determined not to lose again, was the only thought on her mind! Jemima Rodrigues, with her maiden century broke down after taking the team to victory & frankly accepted her battle with anxiety & fears of not getting chosen in the team & yet raising her performance & that mattered most! All these are living lessons of grit, determination, dedication, fitness, ownership, team spirit as you can keep reading or hearing these words from many so-called Gurus’ of Boss people but the match was a live example of how to use these words in real life! Last but not least, Jemima thanked Jesus for supporting her in the post-match sharing & it’s an eye opener for a country which at present is being divided on the basis of caste & religion as nobody dared to troll her or insult her for praying or praising her god openly! This is what our country & culture is, where everybody is (and must be) free to pray & bow in front of the god he or she believes in & nothing wrong in it till we play under one flag which is, the Tiranga!

Finally, on a personal note I am sorry to Women’s team India as till this game, I hadn’t followed much of women’s team & always thought women cricket is bit slow & lacks the Khunnas aspect of game; today I swallowed my such opinion as this game was not just at par but beyond any game, I have watched of men’s cricket teams & I think that’s my best tribute to team India Women! I know, the final is yet to be played but so what, I am ready for more lessons, adios with the Dilse thanks note for RoKo & Women team India!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

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Honey Badger & Lessons of Survival !

 

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“We each survive in our own way.”
― Sarah J. Maas

“Innocence is a kind of insanity”
― Graham Greene

“The fool does think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”
― William Shakespeare

Sarah Janet Maas is an American fantasy author known for her series Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City. As of 2024, she has sold more than 75 million copies of her books and her work has been translated into 40 languages. Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. And the third name i.e. Mr Shakespeare, well plz google, rather if you have started reading this piece & don't know about him then a big salute from me! Ok, sharing is about survival so needless to say wildlife is part of it (and Tadoba also, lol) but it’s not about how wonderful forest is & why we must save wildlife & that blahblah… (sorry, that was for those who doesn’t like overdose of wildlife) but it’s about things forest teaches us (read as taught me) & ways of teaching! Guys, apart from beauty & adventure & conservation etc if you remember then best of tour childhood stories were from Isap Niti & Panchatantra & if you haven’t read it (God plz forgive such people as they don’t know what sin they have done again lol) then plz, plz, do read it now, as to gain wisdom age is never a criterion! Ok, those who have read it then who were the main characters of all these stories, they were animals & mostly from wildlife & if I am not wrong then Panchatantra is even part of many B-schools syllabus also! So, what's the common link between forests, Panchatantra, learnings of survival which is part or say by-product of survival, it is wild animals & what they teach us by their behaviour! Hushhh, hope I tried my best to make you realize the gist of the sharing in the best possible words so you can choose whether to read ahead or not!

Ok, recently one video got viral about a Honey Badger getting killed by tigress from tadoba & it’s very rare footage which either you can get from years (yes, years not days or months) waiting & camera traps at your service or simply you have to be super lucky to witness such action. In this case the tourists were of a later case & not only he got lucky to witness this drama but made us also lucky by being able to click the whole action! In buffers of tadoba, a honey badger came across tiger sub adult cubs of a tigress named Choti Madhu & the footage shows the way tiger cubs reacted to honey badger’s sighting & vice versa, eventually the scene ended with the tiger killing honey badger! I thought of writing poor honey badger but then realized there is no such thing as poor or rich or luck or bad luck in the forest, it’s all about what you have learned to survive & how you use what you have learned! This is practical side of wisdom but we are living thing & we have emotions, & I too am no exception so without shame I accept I felt sad while watching that video & silently cried the way honey badger confronted with the tiger & I consider myself a hard, tough person yet I couldn’t watch the clip even second time though watching it just one time has made me realize so many things about survival, which I wanted to share along with few other such incidences which I have personally experienced in the forests & has taught me some real important lessons. As well there are few lessons which we at large must adopt or one day we will suffer due to not learning from our own ignorance, which is the gist of my sharing!

Ok, about the honey badger thing, I am sure not many have seen one in actual ever this animal which is the size of a small pug (breed of dog shown in an advertisement of Vodafone). Though it has thick skin but by height it must be hardly nine to ten inch tall which doesn’t even come to the three fourth height of a tiger sub adult cub. Honey badger is nocturnal animal & to my knowledge even can’t properly see also in day light, always moves in darkness which is one reason of its very rare sighting in the wilds. So, this honey badger was in the open in daylight & must be practically blind or clueless where to go & when the tiger cubs saw it first, they also were confused about what it is & kept a safe distance. The honey badger must have smelled it & it is an aggressive animal & it charged literally on one of the cubs while it even can’t see what it is charging on! At first the tiger took a step back & when it realized honey badger is not at all a threat then in one stroke killed it & that's the end of the story. Lesson, I learnt is, if I am a honey badger then I must not venture into zones which are unknown to me such as daylight. At the same time a forest where bigger predators such as tigers & leopards or wild dogs roam then I must avoid open areas while the honey badger was in open on a road where there was no cover to hide & became an easy target for any predator!  And it hasn’t been trained to identify its enemies such as tiger as it hasn’t never encountered one & this is very important lesson, because when you don’t know your enemy then you are most vulnerable, so if I have to survive, I must know my enemy well then only I can decide right strategy in-case I get confronted with one such, even by accident, is the what honey badger taught me. Because honey badger doesn’t knew a tiger at all it tried to charge on it first while it couldn’t even see the whole of tiger with its limited vision & height rather it should ran away for cover & the tiger might have left it alone as the tiger also didn’t knew what is honey badger, one more lesson to learn! It's no shame to run away & live one more day than to show courage to take on an enemy which you are no match for, that’s what survival is about! Though the scene of small honey badger showing teeth & charging on the tiger making it to take a step back will linger in my mind for very long, for the sad end of that scene & again I know there is no sad or happiness in the forests, just lessons to learn & move on, rip honey badger!

This incident made me remember one story from Panchatantra, where a deer stag with the biggest & most beautiful set of horns used to have great pride in it & showing them off, teasing other deer for not having such horns was the main character of the story. One day when a tiger started chasing the herd of deer of which this stag was part, all deer ran away, the stag was the slowest because of the heavy weight of its horns & then he ran in the wrong direction, in the thickset while other deer ran towards the open land. The tiger got the stag easily, because it was slower than other deer & its horns got tangled in the bushes & creepers, making the stag stuck still! The story ends with the stag naming its own horns for making him vulnerable as a kill in spite of him praising them all along! Again, a lesson of survival, when you are a deer then understand what are your actual tools of survival than going behind false or showing things which will land you in danger than having any use of them to you! This is why deer always prefer plain open patches or meadows in the forests, as their main weapons of survival are, strong sense of smell & fast speed both tools are of no use in thick forests!

In one more incidence, while we were returning from safari, a big, well build wild boar was standing on the edge of patch of tall grass (in tadoba) & my guide asked me, sir photo leni hai kya (sir do you want to click it), but it was already getting late so we decided to move on & as we just crossed the wild boar which was so engrossed in its own-self that it even didn’t moved to give space to our gypsy & suddenly a tigress which was waiting in the grass nearby, leaped on the wild boar & holding it by its neck pinned it down to kill it slowly. It was a big wild boar, the tigress was pregnant & in normal case she wouldn’t have dared to attack this size of wild boar on her own in open as one, she wouldn’t have been caught hold of it & second, a grownup male wild boar is a powerful animal & in the hunt process the tigress also could have seriously injured which she wouldn’t have taken the risk in pregnant condition. It’s only the wild boar was not on its guard, either too confident of its size & power or just ignorant of capacity & speed of ambush by the tigress but in both cases, end result was it has to pay the price of its overconfidence / ignorance & in the forest there is only one price for your such mistakes which is, death! That day I learned my one more lesson observing the way wild boar got killed by the tigress & that is, never be of-guard may it be real jungle or concrete jungle! While in business or at work, you must be always alert & know that danger always strikes from the most unexpected direction, again may it be business or wildlife or any work you do!

And let me tell you, the survival game is not only for the weak or prey species, as in the forest nobody is an exception to the vulnerability of survival, even the tiger can’t escape this game & has to be always on guard. One will say, what's the threat to a tiger which is the biggest & most powerful predator in the entire forest but do understand the more powerful you are the more hated you become by all others & this hatred or fear (whatever you call it) from others is a big hurdle in your survival. As for tigers wherever it goes right from the birds or deer or monkeys. Every animal which senses or sees a tiger, warns the entire forest about the presence of the tiger & that's a big problem for hunting i.e. getting food, for the tiger which is directly related to the survival of the tiger. So, the tiger never roars unnecessarily or shows its power especially when it’s on hunt rather it prefers stealth mode i.e. tries to become non-existent while it’s hunting, as then only it can hunt without its prey being warned by all the haters in the forest, right? What better lesson than this there can be, by which you get to learn how to succeed in your mission without getting distracted by flashing your so-called success or wealth around than focusing on your target (do mind real estate guys i.e. builders, lol)! And then tiger cubs are most vulnerable when they have yet to become a full-fledged tiger & there have been incidents of smaller tigers being killed by wild dogs or leopards or even by sloth bears too! Again, a lesson, you may have been born in a powerful family or have great qualities but till the time you don’t become perfect on your own, never venture too far on other’s support from your safe zone!

And then in the forest its survival comes to you in many ways, if for a tiger now to show off its strength is also a way of survival then coexistence i.e. making allies with other weaker animals is also a way of survival, which are like joint ventures or say combining strengths of other parties! For e.g. friendship of languor (monkeys) & spotted deer, while cheetal graze on the ground, the monkeys on the tree can keep a watch around from the top & can warn the arrival of a tiger from distance alerting the grazing spotted deer! At the same time spotted deer can smell the presence of leopard which is a master of disguise or stealth attack & warn the of-guard monkeys while they are feeding or drinking water on ground! So, by joining hands both the prey species survive together, a system which we also can use in our concrete jungle keeping our egos aside & accepting our weaknesses on respective fonts of life!

Last & most important controlling greed & living by only the needs or necessities is the prime way of surviving for the entire wildlife which we the humans must learn! Have you ever heard of a tiger killing ten or twelve deer at a time & storing them for next month or selling its kills to other tigers? Well, I know you will laugh & say that’s why they are animals & we are humans, the progressed species but trust me that’s why the tiger survives (unless we start killing them also by our way of living, which we are doing anyways) as in the greed of securing our future, we are actually killing every resource & then we are fool enough to darken our own life by things like burning firecrackers under the name of celebration & polluting the very air which we are only going to breath & the list of our such foolishness is unending! One most important thing observing this survival game of forest I have learned is, discipline, as in the forest everything is about timing & that means discipline. At the same time when you are disciplined it means there is a system for living & it doesn’t have space for the most common excuse which humans are so used to & that is, “I thought”! May it be forest or city life (read as work), things don’t work on your feelings but by the facts & the way you face them, something the younger genre must learn & adopt

Friends, actually, this is a subject of PhD (seriously), as everything thing in the forest has a purpose & that is survival & with the changing values of our life its high time, we again turn our heads toward the guru named wildlife & start learning as well practicing the lessons by this Guru or tomorrow we ourselves will be responsible for our extinction! Thanks to the honey badger for making me a shade wiser by giving its own life!  Btw, you may ask, if survival is a problem, then how come human population increasing & you are not wrong but do keep an eye on the rate with which human population is increasing while at the same time every other species population including tiger to blue whale to trees, even that of butterflies is decreasing because of human population growth. There is one enemy against which no species has got any technique to survive i.e. the humans, & the humans have got only one enemy, we ourselves! And if you think I am joking then do mind, cancer is nothing but overgrowth of the cells which eventually eat-up or kill each other along with the body of which the cells are part of, mind it friends, adios with this warning!

* You can watch some such moments at link below

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coexistance_is_the_key/albums/72177720317550777/

 

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

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https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/12/right-home-buying-in-2025.html

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