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| Leopards of Mumbai |
UG chose middle-class households in
India for his portals.
The Parekhs in Bombay or the
Babus in Bangalore who hosted UG for several decades ensured that the portals
remained warm, friendly and open to every eager visitor seeking to meet UG. Any
fears or inhibitions were put to rest in no time, letting people feel at home
and participate in free-wheeling discussions with UG and friends.
During the 90s, on many occasions,
UG chose Bombay as his first port of call. We were fortunate to spend several
days with the ‘raging sage’ on such visits.
On one such occasion, in 1998, after
a hectic morning session with a large group of people, UG decided to take a
break, suggesting a ride away from the crowds (UG termed this as his ‘constitutional’).
The ever-ready Kamal, near at hand, proposed
a drive to the nearby Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a 150 square mile reserve (at
the time) next to the bustling metro.
The National Park, a thickly
wooded reserve is the habitat for some rare species of birds and animals including
leopards. Located deep within the forest hills are the famous Kanheri Caves, the
ancient Buddhist seminary-complex of rock-cut monuments dating back to the
first century BC.
Kamal,
a great nature enthusiast and an avid trekker suggested to UG, “Sir, we should visit
the National Park, a beautiful place, thickly wooded, very scenic. Suresh stays
next to the Park, his house overlooks the jungle.”
UG, “Kamal, where I live in the Swiss Alps,
I keep my windows closed and curtains drawn. I am not particularly fond of nature
or trees or hills. We should rather visit his home. I want to see his family.”
I
was overjoyed. That was to be UG’s first visit to our place. I felt honoured to
receive him in my humble, middle-class abode. In the half- dozen years that I had known him, it had never
even remotely occurred to me that he would come over to my place!
UG, self and Neeraj Mehta set out
to our place in Kamal’s car.
Initially I thought of reaching
out to my wife and letting her know of UG’s visit. But I let that be. I
wanted to give her a surprise. More importantly, I felt that the meeting
between the ‘sage and the housewife’ should be a direct affair, stripped of any
formalities!
On entering our home, first thing
UG wanted to know was whether I owned the place. When I replied in the
negative, he inquired about the rental. When I gave the figure, he exclaimed
that I was shelling out a huge amount and that I should instead go for an
outright purchase. I was about to blurt out that it was beyond my means at the time, but I checked myself, and meekly replied, “OK sir!” Within a few months, I ended up owning the
place. Everything happened quickly, smoothly and effortlessly!
In
those days, our little apartment had a balcony that overlooked the National
Park. There was an abandoned construction plot, right in front, built up to the stilt level, standing
between our apartment and the fencing of the jungle. This gave us an open, unrestricted
view of the thickly wooded reserve.
My
little son was swinging in a hammock in the balcony and UG played with him for
a little while. I joined him at the balcony and pointed to the jungle outside and
said that there was a lot of wild life there including leopards. According to a
survey at the time, there were about forty big cats roaming freely in the woods and the
surrounding hills.
On
learning about the big cats, UG remarked, “Don’t be surprised if the leopards start visiting
you if I am going to stay in your place. Can you see the big tree there on that
side of the jungle? The leopards will first climb onto that tree and then jump
over to the tree on this side and jump to this tree branch inside your compound.”
Of
course, the security guards in our sprawling residential complex spoke of occasional sightings of leopards but none of the residents had seen anything!
Call
it coincidence, soon after UG’s first trip to the complex, leopards suddenly seemed
to cut loose and started to appear all over the place, even during broad
daylight!
In
what was one of the very first sightings, it was my immediate neighbor who ran into the big cats. He was returning home after a late night flight. As he reached our
building, he heard some noises in the darkness, alerting him to the danger. He was shocked to see three little cubs playing on the grass just a
few feet away from the gate, right in front of our balcony. He immediately jumped
inside the gate and secured himself. Suspecting that there could be some adult
leopards in the vicinity, he pulled out his new digital video recorder with night
vision. As he peered into the darkness around the half-constructed plot, he was
shocked to discover three adult leopards perched on top of the eave keeping a watch on
the cubs playing below.
Next
day morning, the whole community was abuzz with the big leopard story.
The
leopard video footage was played in our Club House to alert all residents to
the dangers of nocturnal visitors. The real estate developers of our complex were
alerted. Soon the jungle fencing was raised another ten feet, bolstered and barbed.
But
nothing was high enough for the agile cats!
Not
long after, the leopard sightings began to make headlines.
Some
of the daylight visits by the creatures took residents by surprise and in some
unfortunate incidents people were attacked. An army of forest rangers were
on call and pressed into service round the clock. They shot the beasts with
tranquilisers, captured and removed them to distant jungles across India.
Our residential complex, Raheja
Estate, had become the favourite destination for TV crew who shot live captures
of leopards.
UG always held that we have no right to complain about animals or snakes as we are the ones encroaching into their territory and not the other way round.
****
Today incidentally is UG’s Death Anniversary!
Mahesh Bhatt was the first one to wish UG “Happy Death Day” in Vallecrosia, on the final morning of his earthly sojourn.
“How could you bring yourself to say
such a thing to UG?”, I once queried Mahesh.
Mahesh, “This is what UG wanted! Remember, I was just doing what my master wanted me to do! UG wanted to
go, I was summoned to pack him off, and I was just doing his bidding. I consider
his wish as the mission of my life!”
“ Also remember UG wanted me to dispose off the corpse without any song or
ceremony. If he really wanted an elaborate funeral service or rituals or
ceremonies, he could easily summon an army of priests from India or could even choose
to die there. He wanted none of these.
Why did he choose me of all people to do the job? I really don't know! I am not a
Brahmin. I know nothing about Hindu rituals or ceremonies. UG just signed a
piece of paper and handed over his body to a ‘mlechcha’ like me!
My mission was
to ensure that he died the way he wanted, silently and peacefully.”
****
