They say that forests are essential and support life on Earth. They are even great for tourism and other adventurous sports. However, I seem to oppose that fact.
Since an early age, I have an irrational fear of animals. The street dogs always haunted me when I was a preschooler. I really don't know why but I never liked animals.
And lucky me, my family frequently planned trips to national parks. I do not know whether that was to help me overcome my fear or just simply annoy me.
My motto, when it comes to nature is " Let them live, let me live." Wilderness is not my cup of tea.
The brown branches, rustling autumn leaves, sudden drizzles, roads that lead to places beyond imagination and then there is me with tension in my eyes, and a vein popping out of my head.
When I was eleven, I fondly remember my experience at one such park, Rajaji National Park.
It was somewhere near Rishikesh, a beautiful hill station with mesmerizing temples and statues. The weather changed every now and then but the breeze was chilly and relaxing.
The park was fully secured and our ride was an open jeep. I spotted some leopard paw marks on a bark and kept looking up, assuring myself that no animal will jump on me. The only thing that could protect us was a gun. We were advised to wear light-coloured clothes and not to wear fragrance. The first half of the journey was very enjoyable and we saw a handful of animals. A herd of elephants came to a clear water hole to hydrate themselves. It was pretty humid that day, hence we didn't need any pullovers. The mother elephants sprinkled water on their little ones and others, simply licked their children.
It is amazing that nature has it's own way of things. Nobody ever taught these animals how to take care of themeselves. Even though they have it all figured out. We encountered some peacocks, a variety of birds, deers and lastly, two cheetahs.
That was a fine moment for me, although I didn't feel anything maybe because my heart stopped beating for a while. There were two of them, hidden by the bushes. Thinking that either of them could ambush me. The jeeps applied a sudden brake and asked us to remain quiet. I gladly obeyed that because I had my tongue in a knot. The duo was gawking at us and everyone had their cameras ready. We remained silent and stood in awe for a couple of minutes. It was dusk by then, and the sky looked brilliant with spasms of red and orange.
We slowly departed and made it to the main gate by six.
The experience was almost good, if the cheetah did not appear in the story. I would like to visit zoos where animals are kept in certain cages and cannot harm me. It sounds very odd and weird that I dislike animals, but that is true.
I await for a day when animals will come to visit us in cages...
Since an early age, I have an irrational fear of animals. The street dogs always haunted me when I was a preschooler. I really don't know why but I never liked animals.
And lucky me, my family frequently planned trips to national parks. I do not know whether that was to help me overcome my fear or just simply annoy me.
My motto, when it comes to nature is " Let them live, let me live." Wilderness is not my cup of tea.
The brown branches, rustling autumn leaves, sudden drizzles, roads that lead to places beyond imagination and then there is me with tension in my eyes, and a vein popping out of my head.
When I was eleven, I fondly remember my experience at one such park, Rajaji National Park.
It was somewhere near Rishikesh, a beautiful hill station with mesmerizing temples and statues. The weather changed every now and then but the breeze was chilly and relaxing.
The park was fully secured and our ride was an open jeep. I spotted some leopard paw marks on a bark and kept looking up, assuring myself that no animal will jump on me. The only thing that could protect us was a gun. We were advised to wear light-coloured clothes and not to wear fragrance. The first half of the journey was very enjoyable and we saw a handful of animals. A herd of elephants came to a clear water hole to hydrate themselves. It was pretty humid that day, hence we didn't need any pullovers. The mother elephants sprinkled water on their little ones and others, simply licked their children.
It is amazing that nature has it's own way of things. Nobody ever taught these animals how to take care of themeselves. Even though they have it all figured out. We encountered some peacocks, a variety of birds, deers and lastly, two cheetahs.
That was a fine moment for me, although I didn't feel anything maybe because my heart stopped beating for a while. There were two of them, hidden by the bushes. Thinking that either of them could ambush me. The jeeps applied a sudden brake and asked us to remain quiet. I gladly obeyed that because I had my tongue in a knot. The duo was gawking at us and everyone had their cameras ready. We remained silent and stood in awe for a couple of minutes. It was dusk by then, and the sky looked brilliant with spasms of red and orange.
We slowly departed and made it to the main gate by six.
The experience was almost good, if the cheetah did not appear in the story. I would like to visit zoos where animals are kept in certain cages and cannot harm me. It sounds very odd and weird that I dislike animals, but that is true.
I await for a day when animals will come to visit us in cages...
