Monkeys are curious animals. Stories about their antics amused me as a child. But I never had a chance to see one in its “element”, until recently. After a few “mysterious” disappearances from the refrigerator, I came face-to-face with the thief. A monkey perched on top of my fridge. Right foot on the door, left balancing her weight, left hand supporting her little one and the right rummaging through the booty. I tried to scare her away. She looked me in the eye, body taut, teeth bare. I couldn’t get her to leave while she was successful in scaring wits out of me. So I stayed frozen in my place for half-an-hour while she went on with her business. This incident turned me into quite an animal hater. A monkey had made me feel, literally, what it was to be pushed up against the wall. I was mortally scared of “them” and felt their presence was an intrusion. Perhaps not the perfect state-of-mind to read a book on wildlife, but the wilderness has its surprises for everyone.
Voices in the Wilderness opens with Five Encounters excerpted from Nature’s spokesman: M. Krishnan and Indian Wildlife. Of the brief encounters that follow one deals with photographing cheetals from a hidden spot. The author, M. Krishnan, wears a herb camouflage only to have it eaten up by the grazing cheetals. The writer also describes his close shave with death as he ran into wild elephants once and a sloth bear at another time. The final encounter where he is being caught in the middle of whirling dolphins, ends the chapter on a note of epiphany. The stories are remarkable, not only for their brief and pointed narration but also for the panoramic view. The pattern of variety, which emerges in the first chapter, is maintained throughout the book. The narratives that follow deal with birds, tigers, sea cows, snakes, turtles etc as seen or encountered by the writers. The range of the animals is equally matched with a variety of places and experiences.
“Curiosity in Animals”, excerpted from The Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow by F.W. Champion, is my favourite in the book. Quick stories about encounters with sambar hinds, tigers, elephants and monkeys reveal the inquisitiveness in animals. The author narrates how a mirror placed amidst a horde of monkeys produces amusing behaviour.
Having seen themselves in the mirror, the monkeys go behind the mirror in search of the reflection and finding nothing circle back again clawing and making faces at it.
Each article is preceded by a brief about the writer. Stepping beyond the usual awards and qualifications, the introductions bring out the devotion of the writers to various aspects of the wilderness. Valmik Thapar, for example, is described as tiger’s best-known supporter who at one point put his pen down having lost heart but later found faith at Ranathambore. The extract from Thapar’s Ranthambore: 10 Days in the Tiger Fortress describes how he rediscovered his lost hope at Ranthambore.
Unlike a lot of nature works, these writings are not alarmist. There is no attempt to tell you how your daily meal will affect the food-chain and ecology. They do not beg for compassion. Instead they make you feel what you are missing. The stories wake you up to the world to which you have stayed blind so far. On the one hand they point to animal-human coexistence, on the other they bring out how unfair the deal is for animals.
Meanwhile, I have made my peace with the visiting mammal. After all, it is the mother-monkey who’s back is against the wall, not mine.