The Clash of Titans…

One had the fury of a tempest, the other a mountain's strength...
one came on and on untiring; and the other kept him at length

One must have had an inferno that fired him in his rage's vice:
one fought with cool deliberation, as if his veins were filled with ice...

Of all who watched the struggle, there was nary a single one
who could deign to meddle with how this fight was won:

For in camps of both the heroes, these were men both proud and brave
this was a contest of champions, with no place for craven knaves...

yore, two hosts stood ready, to charge boldly across the field
and bathe the claws and horns; till one of them would yield

It had been an awe-inspiring sight - to see such mighty bristling hoards
prepare resolutely to go do battle - to march fearlessly on death's road

- "The Clash of Titans" by Lifescholar -

Bamerason, the erstwhile late warrior of Magdhi – the prodigal son of two legends of Bandhavgarh, of a gene pool that made Bandhavgarh, what it is today; once on a sunny afternoon - found us on the road as we entered first, lazily driving towards where we believed Dotty’s family was.

He was almost his father’s build then, mightily walking on the road, with the same aura of his parentage. He had begun establishing himself quite well, making parts of the land his forefathers ruled - his own. He had had a steady run with the ladies, all established well in their territories. He particularly spent time then with the new Kankati female, one of the Rajbehra progeny; who had established herself on the fringes of Solo’s territory towards Magdhi. At the time, she was seen regularly by the artificial waterhole by the road, other-wise called the saucer, and sometimes called the Tadoba waterhole, owing to Tadoba’s notoriety in producing tiger sightings by building waterholes by the road-side.

After he walked a bit, he entered the thick forest to our left, since we were before him, coming out on the small meadows near Bodha Talab, where a herd of Gaur, the Indian Bison were grazing. He didn’t look hungry and seemed well fed. However, as most tigers do, he instinctively took a hunting stance and started making his way towards the herd.

His challenge was the muscularly built bull, that was at the front. He seemed interested in the sub-adult calves behind the bull. Probably due to his lack of appetite, he wasn’t as agile as a tiger should be while hunting. As a result, a cow in the herd spotted him and rang the grunting sneeze that gaurs produce on sighting a striped predator.

At this moment, one titan turned to face the other. The bull shook with all his might threatening the predator, as Bamerason broke cover and slowly, yet boldly stepped ahead. Although, both seemed fearful of the other, knowing their prowess - the will to face-off seemed resolute….

The titans were ready to clash… One - taking the stance of nature’s foremost predator and the other – an aggressive protector of one of nature’s most powerful herbivores.

Glory to the days of Bandhavgarh’s yore….

06 Jan 2019, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Umaria, Madhya Pradesh