The Lonely King…
Where are you going, my red-haired lady
This bright & beautiful day
Out to the meadow, to see the world
Out to the world far away..
Oh! where are you going, my flame eyed woman
This cold & lonely night
To watch the stars laughing with the moon
To brood under the blazing star-light..
Don't go, don't go, my fair skinned gal
Stay here, be safe with me
The world is cruel, and fraught with woe
And I am afraid for thee..
Let go, let go, my lover dear
For this you must believe
Love never dies, it's the bind that ties
Is stronger, lasts longer than grief..
Let go, let go, my only man
Let go the image of ruin,
Love cannot be killed, love binds until
The time of the great re-union..
Where did you go, my precious one?
How can I live like this?
I crept into your heart, we never will part
I'm in every remembered kiss..
What if you come, and I don't exist
What will become of you?
Of benches and greens, will a life be left
With my death will you live through?
- I.K. Rigel -
A glorious male he was, handsome, powerfully built, born of the erstwhile king & queen of the meadows had spent long hours brooding over his queen. Bamerason, with glorious parentage, was never quite himself after the death of New Kankati, with whom he had spent long hours and sired a litter. After a season full of delight of the family together the year before, she chose to one day walk into land of humans to prey on the most gullible, cattle. Easy to pick, bring down, little do tigers know that their easy prey is wealth to us beings who walk on twos, and we do not tolerate their impudence to cause us loss.
She was poisoned, or so is believed. When she was found, it is said her face and paws were missing, taken to be sold in the illegal trade of tiger-parts, notorious for its quick & rapid smuggling to avoid detection.
The forest department while took time to act, while initially feigning ignorance; started an investigation after a considerable outrage on social media on the tigress not being seen for over twenty. The cubs, those twenty days, were being raised by the male, who diligently spent time with the little ones, tending to their needs.
Sometime later, news started trickling of a tiger’s remains being found in a village adjoining Magdhi. While initially it seemed like a rumor, it became increasingly clear that the news is true as the incident started trending in social media platforms.
Who was to blame for her loss? - Men deprived of land now wanting their revenge, traders immorally making the most of every cat available to bag, lethargic personnel who never have answers & only find alibi to defend their position. Or the king himself – of having made her wander those lands where humans rule, of making her taste easy prey when she was comfortable living off wild prey, of constantly wandering off himself & killing easily driving the fear of his breed into humans making them want to retaliate.
Yes – it is the king, he always is the culprit. If we listen to our deepest beliefs and rise beyond our metaphorical and lyrical selves, we will realize that beyond forces that we don’t control, downfall is generally caused by forces that make us drop our guard. Kings take down empires, so do they their own their world and every other world that comes with it.
Today, son of Bamera, that prodigal son carrying the genetic mix of two legendary tigers, is himself no more. While he recovered from this incident and was seen with in Solo’s company often, another of the Rajbehra progeny, he led her to the same fate. She was smitten by him and was tending to the future of the famed family, when she passed, identical to the same fate as New Kankati. Her road, once she had made a pact with the king, was fraught with risks with her heading towards human civilization often, just as New Kankati did.
Hence the king is the cause – brooding his lover’s loss, crooning his life’s failures, missing his beloved forever on, he passed too one day - not aging, but weak, injured, unable to cope with his destiny…
07 Jan 2018, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Umaria, Madhya Pradesh