Glimpse In Gir, Bliss for Lifetime!

A glimpse in Gir,

Set my heart racing,

Not for Deer, Not for Zebra

But for a Lioness.

Twinkling fierce eyes,

Tawny coat, tufted tail

Screening the surroundings

For a prey.

She caught my whiff wafting through the air,

She inched closer,

Observing and speculating,

Pretending nonchalance.

Pleased,

I settled down nearby;

Assured that

She’d noticed my dark dense mane.

We lived a hundred metres away,

Couple of days passed;

Atmosphere,

Between us tensed.

She hunted skilfully,

Ravenous and ruthless

Often left some carcass,

For me.

I lazed around,

Reflecting my kingship; believing,

She was my Nala,

I, her Simba.

Thin mane and bruised

Arrived a loser

One day,

To eye my lady.

I roared through gritted teeth,

“I’m the Alpha,” I said.

He growled back

Attempting defence.

Next, he imposed

Himself on her; she snapped back!

Too proud, my love was, to let

A stranger, have his way.

I let her fight

But soon intervened;

Pounced on my rival, caught hold of his back

Dragged him, slashed at him.

He lay there,

Still.

Failed to fight back

To save his skin!

Bloodied, triumphant

I walked towards her.

She held her head high, ears twitched.

She was in heat.

Nuzzles and faint roars,

Ecstasy and bliss,

Together we became one;

The King and Queen.

Created, two little cubs,

A girl and a boy;

Our Kiara and Kopa,

Absolute bundles of joy!

Lions have always been one of my favourite animals. Their majestic pride, their size, the soft mane and shining dark brown eyes have always lured me towards them. I believe animals have emotions though they cannot directly express it. Also, animals sometimes show a strong similarity between their behaviour and human behaviour. Isn’t love, pride, desire and rivalry characteristics of human as well as the animal world? Being a Leo and an animal lover I’ve always wanted a cute cub for a pet. These thoughts and also the Book and Movie- Born Free have inspired me to write this.

Note- Lions with dark dense mane are considered healthy and sexually attractive for lionesses.

A lioness is 'in heat' when she's ready to mate.

Character’s referred from ‘The Lion King’-

Simba- The lion king

Nala- Simba’s mate

Kiara- Simba and Nala’s daughter

Kopa- Simba and Nala’s son

I am Seven, Orphaned and Homeless

I am seven, orphaned and homeless but I’m not alone. I have a brother who is four. We come from a beggar who soon after my brother’s birth, fell prey to drugs. Eventually she died on a footpath and bereaved us of mother’s love forever. We don’t know who our father is.

We do not have a home, we do not have relatives, but we have a family. We are each other’s family. We have many friends of our own kind. Their parents let them play with us but never invite us home, never let us enter their shacks and we are always left to fend for ourselves at night. They occasionally give us a roti and we happily share it between us. I’m always very hungry but I usually give a piece or two extra from my share to my brother; he is just a child.

We live off the streets. We beg.

My friend’s family is a balloon seller. Her dad said, “I’ll let you help me with work as soon as you’re old enough for it and if you’re good at it I’ll give you thirty rupees every day.”

I really want to be good at blowing balloons, making colourful toy animals by tying various shaped balloons to one another and even at selling them so that Uncle gives me forty rupees and not just thirty!

We are poor. No one takes care of us but us. We often go hungry and sleep on hard footpath with just a single blanket to protect us from the wind and cold, sun and rain. We are happy. Our joy lies in small things.

Our joy lies in tasting that first piece of roti in days. Our joy lies in counting that one coin that we earn extra than the previous day. We enjoy the smell of food that wafts out of restaurants. Lying beside each other, hand in hand hearing the cars zoom by, gives us a thrill. When we see a child as old as us, belonging to a rich family, begging its mother to buy a balloon, it sets us giggling. All that crying just for a balloon! Hahaha!

We are poor but at peace with ourselves. We are wanderers. We are free souls.

Picture courtesy: Shivangi Shah