LT COL NOEL ELLIS
22/VI/2025
It was cloudy again today. Rain was hiding within the clouds, waiting for an opportune moment to get away from their clutches. The sun tried hard to show itself, but the clouds were too strong and thick to let it peep. Dark clouds kept circling & engulfing the white ones. The weather stayed cool but humid.
A heavy shower helped new colours of rain lilies to join our garden. We welcomed them wholeheartedly and wished them many more flowers and bulbs in the coming years. Bees and insects could not resist themselves and kept returning for the nectar and pollen. At times, I felt that the lily was getting irritated by their frequent visits like ‘nosy neighbours’.
Leaving the lilies, it was time to take a walk to meet my birdie friends. The sparrows came in a group, so did the Bulbuls. All of them flew together to a tree and kept returning to feed like a swarm. The weather made them happy too.
As I walked to the broken boundary wall, knowing well that across in the wilderness there must be some new bird waiting for me. One can be surprised any day.
One had to climb a parapet to peep into the adjacent plot. Construction of that wall is in full swing. Peafowl had met me yesterday at the same spot. I shaded my eyes to focus on a ‘kikar’ thicket from where I heard them call. The foliage being very dense, but sighting them was eluding me.
Today was my lucky day. Usually, a man who keeps an eye on birds got a chance to witness something new. Last year, I was lucky to spot a “Porcupine” near the river. But then, it was sad to see that some animal got the better of it. Quails were strewn under the old Peepal tree, which I had collected for keeps.
A birder by nature generally looks above and on trees. Some movement, some sound, something which is different from the usual to latch on. I kept looking till I thought the birds were avoiding me. I was belly up over the half-constructed wall. They could see me but I couldn’t see them.
That is when I heard a ‘rustle’ in the clump of vegetation which had been chopped to clear the place for the wall. There was a slight movement inside. What was it? I tried peering through the fallen branches. For a moment I thought it was a ‘Pata Goh’ or a monitor lizard. They are common here. But then it all went still. The place was uneven as a JCB had moved the soil.
From the corner of my eye, I could make out some movement on one extreme end of the broken wall. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was a “Mongoose”. It was after ages had I seen one and for the first time so close to our colony. This also meant that the whole family must be around. One will have to use a lot of stealth and camouflage to catch them in action.
It took me back to my childhood, when we used to read ‘Rudyard Kipling’s’ book called the ‘Jungle Book’. One of the stories was about a baby mongoose called “Rikki Tikki Tavi”.
Before I lost sight of it, it was just in the nick of time that I could take one shot as it disappeared into another cluster of chopped trees & branches. Documentary proof as they say of my quick encounter with one of the bravest characters of my favourite story.
He had killed the ‘Cobra couple’, Nag and Nagina, (Nag’s wife) and saved the child of the family with his bravery, guile and cunningness.
Hope no Nag and Nagina wander into our colony which they sometimes do. We would then need the services of “Rikki Tikki Tavi” and the whole mongoose family to keep them at bay.
As I walked back home, that story got re-winded in my mind and kept playing in bits and pieces. It was time to dig out my archives and read the whole story again, for old times sake.
I am not sure if children would like to listen to such stories these days. They love to watch all kinds of cartoons. Somehow, the language used to dub those cartoons is what I detest.
Those stories of yore have relevance even today. Those simple things and simple life, which had deep meaning are all being forgotten. I doubt if children even read story books anymore, even online.
Having spotted ‘Rikki’ once, I am sure we shall cross paths again. How soon will it be? I wonder!!!!!!
JAI HIND
©® NOEL ELLIS
Find My Friend..........
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