MAYA-AN ENIGMA
Aishwarya Sridhar
YOUNG NATURALIST AWARD WINNER - 2011
Writer, poet and passionate conservationist
Once upon a time, deep inside the tangled heart of a Central Indian forest, under the gnarled bamboo bows a tigress had littered.
The foliage was so dense that the blue sky appeared like broken bits of
some jigsaw puzzle. As sunlight streaked through the green canopies in
shadowy beams, she was licking the four cubs she had just painstakingly
delivered- three females and one male. As if to celebrate the jungle too
resounded with an enchanting orchestra of melodious sounds…leaves
dancing to an unheard beat as the wind carried the birdsongs across the
forest as if they knew that among them a Queen was born!!
The tigress kept her cubs safe at a place well-endowed with both prey
and water. The four cubs were a riot. They played on the jagged rocks
and swam in the gurgling streams and as they trampled the leafy floor
the dried leaves sounded as if some hungry kid was chomping on a cereal.
Days passed and the 4 siblings grew up enjoying themselves under the
tall trees whose leaves formed a carpet upon which they lay after their
meal staring up at the clouds that went sailing by, enjoying the
gingerbread fragrance of the rotting logs. Tiny marble eyes wondering
what those huge balls of cotton were. As the birdsongs came in waves,
often sliced by the alarm call of a lone chital strolling nearby, the
tiny eyes closed as slumber draped them.
Among the 4 cubs, one was special- Maya. She had everything in her to be the next Queen of the lake. Her beautiful sunrise orange furry body had patterns that seemed like flames dancing from burning coal…Independent, detached and powerful like her mother; she was the naughtiest of the litter. Her mom, was fed up of warning her about the dangers that lurked in the shadows, but Maya was adventurous, and undeterred.
One day the mother tigress was relaxing at a waterhole. Suddenly she saw a movement in the grass. That must be a jungle fowl she thought…the hot summer sun had worn her out and she just wanted to sleep…she lay her head on the dry grass and drifted into dreamland. A few feet away Nagina had spotted her. She had to pass her to enter her home where her eggs were safely tucked away…she hissed…once.. twice thrice…but the tigress was lying like a stone…Nagina came closer ..suddenly the jungle came awake ..A loud roar followed by a hiss and then a stony silence…Nagina had ensured her safe passage. The tigress was now writhing as the venom did its job.
A hundred yards away Maya was waiting for her mother to arrive…her amber eyes laced with hunger… Her siblings were not around.. She loved to wander alone and as often she was now separated from them...
‘’Mommy when will you bring my dinner?’’ she thought to herself. Her mother’s words kept ringing in her ears... ‘’Remember cubs,’’ she had said, ‘’The Tiger is the supreme Lord of the jungle; we are free to roam and capture a prey of our choice, but there is only one animal against whom you must always beware of. He is the only one; more powerful and cunning than the Tiger and that animal is Man. Never go near him or try to hunt or kill him. Many of our tribe have fallen victims to their devious minds.” Maya was scared. Did her mother too become a victim of man?
As the hours passed and the sun began to set…Maya was forlorn. Her mother was nowhere in sight. she continued to search for her mother, expecting her to return with a kill, but other than a wild boar who was running with her kids trailing behind the jungle was still. Darkness soon began to spread like a shroud as Maya whimpered. The tall Triassic trees cast black shadows as she made her way through the bamboo thicket and finally cried herself to sleep.
Next day Maya walked the muddy trails that snaked their way deep into the forest…Her tiny eyes kept searching for one glimpse of her mom…but alas! She was nowhere in sight. She decided to stay close to the lake where there were so many memories of her childhood … That was safer she felt. She had to learn to fend for herself and also satiate her hunger.
As if nature too mourned her mother’s absence, dark grey clouds that had blanketed the forest the earlier night had eventually crashed down on the parched earth. As Maya awoke the rain had just stopped…but the mist sailed through the forest like a witch’s veil… The water in the streams cascaded like a hammer on the rocks… Maya was alone, hungry and thirsty…It had been four days since her last meal. …She had to hunt. She walked on the same tracks that she had travelled with her mother to the same water hole; where countless times she had frolicked with her sisters. How badly she missed her mother’s presence ..the hugs.. the licks ..the love...life without her was so terrible. With tear filled eyes she lay in wait…She had watched her mother bring down a chital at the same spot. Hours later, a wild boar appeared and unaware of her presence went down to drink water. Maya knew this was the only chance...It was now or never. The images of her mother hunting flashed through her fevered mind and in a blur of a second she was on top of the boar. Her retractile claws sprung from the chubby furry paws and after a long struggle, she managed to bring down the beast. Phew! She had done it!! She felt elated and famished. As her canines tore into the flesh she wished her mother was there to see her accomplishment but sadly this was not so. She stared into the bushes as if to spot her mom and get her approval ..Then she sat down and gorged on her meal little realizing that her journey to stardom had just begun.
Days passed and Maya grew up to be bold and beautiful, capturing the hearts of every tourist who came to the forest. The very species her mother had warned her about were today admiring her wherever she went and surprisingly she seemed to enjoy their presence and attention. A showstopper she was and would be and the most prominent territories of the jungle were now hers.
In another part of the forest Tyson, a dominant male was looking out for a mate, and Maya captured his roving eye, at the lake one chilly morning. After some repeated encounters between them, the game of love began.
Three months later Maya was a mother of 2. She was just enjoying the pleasures of motherhood when tragedy struck again. Scarface, a new male who had conquered the Lake as part of his territory, spotted the cubs and decided that his future would be better without them. Maya lost her first litter. She wondered why her mother had never warned her of the male species of her own tribe.
This incident remained etched in her memory, as a lesson she would use later on in her life. She decided that if she had to survive, she better mate with Scarface. He was strong and the King now. But within months, 3 new males entered the territory and a badly wounded Scarface had no option but to retreat. As danger lurked again, Maya played her cards extremely well. She realized that if she had to ensure the survival of her future cubs she would have to woo all the 3 new males. Her strategy worked and she soon became a mother to a joyous bundle of three. Each male believed it was their litter and thus spared the cubs. Maya’s strategy had paid off.
She was not just a loving and doting mother but an intelligent one too. She wanted to equip her cubs so that the lessons that life had taught her in a hard way would not be repeated with them. She had to train and teach them to kill as soon as possible. They were around 9 months old when the training sessions began. `
On a blazing summer afternoon Maya spotted a barking deer at the far end, wanting to come to the water but too scared by her presence. Sensing this Maya retreated back into the bushes. Taking this opportunity, the deer quenched its thirst. Suddenly the silence of the jungle was broken by a sambhar alarm call as the cubs made their way to Maya . The call was enough to send the barking deer scurrying for shelter. A lone cub plodded its way to the water’s edge and sat panting. Suddenly Maya emerged from the bushes chasing the same barking deer towards her cubs. As if on cue the three cubs cordoned the deer from different angles..a bit clumsy but yet ferocious enough to deal the fatal blow…their first kill under the watchful eyes of their proud mother…This was the beginning of the cubs battle for survival. Something which she had learnt with difficulty.
As days passed one morning Matkasur, a young male, in his prime entered her territory. With rippling muscles, he strode confidently. Maya smelt hazard for her cubs as soon as she spotted him. Her heart pounded against her ribs. He was making his way towards her. She had to act fast. Through the bamboo thicket the cubs saw him menacingly advance towards them. The silence of the jungle was sliced by Maya’s warning growl sending the cubs scurrying in different directions as if they knew that their mother wanted them to flee as fast as they could.
Maya then stepped forward out of the bamboo clump. Her cubs’ safety was of prime importance to her and her intuition coupled with her intelligence provoked her to strategize again. She stood her ground as Matkasur pranced menacingly. Her body language conveyed the message, ‘’Leave me alone.’’ After hours of growling and mock charges, Maya had still not given in. Leaving her, he walked away, indicating that this affair had not ended.
Maya needed to act fast if the cubs had to survive. She walked to another waterbody. The cubs required their mother and without her, their survival would be tough. She approached their father, an elderly male, but he seemed reluctant to fight for them. Disgusted by his cowardice, she searched out her former paramour; Scarface. He was her only hope. After two days of scanning the dense bamboo thickets and the vast expanse of the placid lake one fine morning as the mist swirled like a phantom, she reunited with Scarface.
The following day the jungle echoed with the horrifying sounds of war between- Scarface and Matkasur. The battle for love had begun. Scarface had taken on the mantle of The Protector and finally he triumphed. Matkasur left defeated. The threat was over. Maya’s strategy had won again. Maya continued to be with Scarface for the next few days, until he left.
Each day Maya relentlessly searched for her cubs but they were nowhere to be seen. One chilly winter morning, she at last found one of her them. As she licked him furiously her amber eyes shone like marbles after a long time. She was happy that her cub was alive. Her strategy had paid off. She walked with him across the shady glades often staring into the leafy bowers hoping to spot the other two but in vain.
Time passed, and the cub separated forging a new home for himself. Matkasur returned even more powerful and Maya accepted his dominance. The game of seduction began again and each passing dawn saw Maya and Matkasur frolicking in the meadows and mossy mattresses of the forest floor. The sepulchral silence of the forest often detonated with their roars amidst the symphony of bird songs.
A king or queen would perhaps soon be born to the enigmatic queen.
Among the 4 cubs, one was special- Maya. She had everything in her to be the next Queen of the lake. Her beautiful sunrise orange furry body had patterns that seemed like flames dancing from burning coal…Independent, detached and powerful like her mother; she was the naughtiest of the litter. Her mom, was fed up of warning her about the dangers that lurked in the shadows, but Maya was adventurous, and undeterred.
One day the mother tigress was relaxing at a waterhole. Suddenly she saw a movement in the grass. That must be a jungle fowl she thought…the hot summer sun had worn her out and she just wanted to sleep…she lay her head on the dry grass and drifted into dreamland. A few feet away Nagina had spotted her. She had to pass her to enter her home where her eggs were safely tucked away…she hissed…once.. twice thrice…but the tigress was lying like a stone…Nagina came closer ..suddenly the jungle came awake ..A loud roar followed by a hiss and then a stony silence…Nagina had ensured her safe passage. The tigress was now writhing as the venom did its job.
A hundred yards away Maya was waiting for her mother to arrive…her amber eyes laced with hunger… Her siblings were not around.. She loved to wander alone and as often she was now separated from them...
‘’Mommy when will you bring my dinner?’’ she thought to herself. Her mother’s words kept ringing in her ears... ‘’Remember cubs,’’ she had said, ‘’The Tiger is the supreme Lord of the jungle; we are free to roam and capture a prey of our choice, but there is only one animal against whom you must always beware of. He is the only one; more powerful and cunning than the Tiger and that animal is Man. Never go near him or try to hunt or kill him. Many of our tribe have fallen victims to their devious minds.” Maya was scared. Did her mother too become a victim of man?
As the hours passed and the sun began to set…Maya was forlorn. Her mother was nowhere in sight. she continued to search for her mother, expecting her to return with a kill, but other than a wild boar who was running with her kids trailing behind the jungle was still. Darkness soon began to spread like a shroud as Maya whimpered. The tall Triassic trees cast black shadows as she made her way through the bamboo thicket and finally cried herself to sleep.
Next day Maya walked the muddy trails that snaked their way deep into the forest…Her tiny eyes kept searching for one glimpse of her mom…but alas! She was nowhere in sight. She decided to stay close to the lake where there were so many memories of her childhood … That was safer she felt. She had to learn to fend for herself and also satiate her hunger.
As if nature too mourned her mother’s absence, dark grey clouds that had blanketed the forest the earlier night had eventually crashed down on the parched earth. As Maya awoke the rain had just stopped…but the mist sailed through the forest like a witch’s veil… The water in the streams cascaded like a hammer on the rocks… Maya was alone, hungry and thirsty…It had been four days since her last meal. …She had to hunt. She walked on the same tracks that she had travelled with her mother to the same water hole; where countless times she had frolicked with her sisters. How badly she missed her mother’s presence ..the hugs.. the licks ..the love...life without her was so terrible. With tear filled eyes she lay in wait…She had watched her mother bring down a chital at the same spot. Hours later, a wild boar appeared and unaware of her presence went down to drink water. Maya knew this was the only chance...It was now or never. The images of her mother hunting flashed through her fevered mind and in a blur of a second she was on top of the boar. Her retractile claws sprung from the chubby furry paws and after a long struggle, she managed to bring down the beast. Phew! She had done it!! She felt elated and famished. As her canines tore into the flesh she wished her mother was there to see her accomplishment but sadly this was not so. She stared into the bushes as if to spot her mom and get her approval ..Then she sat down and gorged on her meal little realizing that her journey to stardom had just begun.
Days passed and Maya grew up to be bold and beautiful, capturing the hearts of every tourist who came to the forest. The very species her mother had warned her about were today admiring her wherever she went and surprisingly she seemed to enjoy their presence and attention. A showstopper she was and would be and the most prominent territories of the jungle were now hers.
In another part of the forest Tyson, a dominant male was looking out for a mate, and Maya captured his roving eye, at the lake one chilly morning. After some repeated encounters between them, the game of love began.
Three months later Maya was a mother of 2. She was just enjoying the pleasures of motherhood when tragedy struck again. Scarface, a new male who had conquered the Lake as part of his territory, spotted the cubs and decided that his future would be better without them. Maya lost her first litter. She wondered why her mother had never warned her of the male species of her own tribe.
This incident remained etched in her memory, as a lesson she would use later on in her life. She decided that if she had to survive, she better mate with Scarface. He was strong and the King now. But within months, 3 new males entered the territory and a badly wounded Scarface had no option but to retreat. As danger lurked again, Maya played her cards extremely well. She realized that if she had to ensure the survival of her future cubs she would have to woo all the 3 new males. Her strategy worked and she soon became a mother to a joyous bundle of three. Each male believed it was their litter and thus spared the cubs. Maya’s strategy had paid off.
She was not just a loving and doting mother but an intelligent one too. She wanted to equip her cubs so that the lessons that life had taught her in a hard way would not be repeated with them. She had to train and teach them to kill as soon as possible. They were around 9 months old when the training sessions began. `
On a blazing summer afternoon Maya spotted a barking deer at the far end, wanting to come to the water but too scared by her presence. Sensing this Maya retreated back into the bushes. Taking this opportunity, the deer quenched its thirst. Suddenly the silence of the jungle was broken by a sambhar alarm call as the cubs made their way to Maya . The call was enough to send the barking deer scurrying for shelter. A lone cub plodded its way to the water’s edge and sat panting. Suddenly Maya emerged from the bushes chasing the same barking deer towards her cubs. As if on cue the three cubs cordoned the deer from different angles..a bit clumsy but yet ferocious enough to deal the fatal blow…their first kill under the watchful eyes of their proud mother…This was the beginning of the cubs battle for survival. Something which she had learnt with difficulty.
As days passed one morning Matkasur, a young male, in his prime entered her territory. With rippling muscles, he strode confidently. Maya smelt hazard for her cubs as soon as she spotted him. Her heart pounded against her ribs. He was making his way towards her. She had to act fast. Through the bamboo thicket the cubs saw him menacingly advance towards them. The silence of the jungle was sliced by Maya’s warning growl sending the cubs scurrying in different directions as if they knew that their mother wanted them to flee as fast as they could.
Maya then stepped forward out of the bamboo clump. Her cubs’ safety was of prime importance to her and her intuition coupled with her intelligence provoked her to strategize again. She stood her ground as Matkasur pranced menacingly. Her body language conveyed the message, ‘’Leave me alone.’’ After hours of growling and mock charges, Maya had still not given in. Leaving her, he walked away, indicating that this affair had not ended.
Maya needed to act fast if the cubs had to survive. She walked to another waterbody. The cubs required their mother and without her, their survival would be tough. She approached their father, an elderly male, but he seemed reluctant to fight for them. Disgusted by his cowardice, she searched out her former paramour; Scarface. He was her only hope. After two days of scanning the dense bamboo thickets and the vast expanse of the placid lake one fine morning as the mist swirled like a phantom, she reunited with Scarface.
The following day the jungle echoed with the horrifying sounds of war between- Scarface and Matkasur. The battle for love had begun. Scarface had taken on the mantle of The Protector and finally he triumphed. Matkasur left defeated. The threat was over. Maya’s strategy had won again. Maya continued to be with Scarface for the next few days, until he left.
Each day Maya relentlessly searched for her cubs but they were nowhere to be seen. One chilly winter morning, she at last found one of her them. As she licked him furiously her amber eyes shone like marbles after a long time. She was happy that her cub was alive. Her strategy had paid off. She walked with him across the shady glades often staring into the leafy bowers hoping to spot the other two but in vain.
Time passed, and the cub separated forging a new home for himself. Matkasur returned even more powerful and Maya accepted his dominance. The game of seduction began again and each passing dawn saw Maya and Matkasur frolicking in the meadows and mossy mattresses of the forest floor. The sepulchral silence of the forest often detonated with their roars amidst the symphony of bird songs.
A king or queen would perhaps soon be born to the enigmatic queen.
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