CHANCE ENCOUNTER

CHANCE ENCOUNTER

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

01/IV/2023

Let me congratulate all my like minded friends on this 'all fools day'. Me, you, they, them, him, her and all in between and beyond. It is good to be a fool once in a while, as since the morning messages on social media are bent upon proving me one. Tere peechay chipkali…... kind of April fool banaya kinds.

Be that as it may. I had a ball this morning. I met very intelligent and beautiful people. Some of whom I could catch in my camera. Nor could I tell the titars, that tittar ke do aage tittar…... Even peacocks and peahens posed.

It was time to visit Jojari wetlands. At the gates it was a mesmerizing site. The Peacock family were feeding. A Partridge family descended over the bundh to feed alongside.

A little down the river front, it was after ages I stumbled across ‘partridge chicks’. Mom-Dad and about five little ones. I got transported to one of the Military training around Hanumangarh, Rajasthan. We were deployed in a tented camp along a canal awaiting orders for the next move. There was a little lull before we moved.

Partridges were calling. Their call was like a magnet to me. A couple of them would mean Partridge on my plate for dinner which was obligatory as . Our issue was that we could not drive into the fields as they had freshly planted Wheat. my driver Rajjan to accompany me for a walk down the canal. It was sans water with lots of sarkanda on both sides.

We must have walked half a kilometre when something darted into the sarkanda. Instinct told me, it was what we were looking for. .22 was cocked and ready to fire as we crossed the dry canal. Two partridges just froze infront of our eyes.

One blink of our eyes and they disappeared. Rajjan too was taken aback, as we saw them in the open field a second back not more than five meters away and they disappeared into thin air. Both of us started scanning the ground. Then I took two steps forward.

Two birds rose into the air infront of us from right under our feet. We were so flabbergasted that leave alone firing the gun, it took us sometime to reconcile. We could have caught them live. Partridges are agile fliers but why should they hang on in danger.

Rajjan shouted, sir ye dekho and lifted a couple of small partridge chicks. It was an eureka moment for us. Very quickly Rajjan took off his camouflage net from over his jap-cap and collected eight chicks. I told Rajjan, chor de yaar. Nahi sir, in ko palunga.

Khilayega kya, I asked? Deemak (White ants) khilaunga, he said. We carried that little pouch to our camp and had so much to discuss. The parents abandoned their chicks only when they were threatened beyond doubt. The chicks must be a few days old but know that the best survival is to turn into a statue and lie as close to the ground as possible. The parents flew to a safe distance and kept calling after regular intervals to indicate to the chicks that don’t worry, we are there. It was a lesson of life.

In the morning, Rajjan came running to me holding his net. Sir, tittar ke bacche bhag gaye. I laughed till my belly ached. Jane de un ko, agle season mein kaboo kar lenge, I said. In the middle of the night when all was quiet and people were asleep, these chicks wriggled out to freedom.

We never returned back to the area, Rajjan proceeded on retirement, but this life event came live when I saw the chicks today. How many chicks were there exactly? I wonder!!!!!!!!

JAI HIND