3,4 and 5

The smile of a rhinoceros 

WhatsApp chat on 4th (Sunday) continued for over one hour and about 15 minutes. Pilku/Ruchi/Babloo/Neha/Abhishree/Amolikaa and Akhat participated. Venita dominated the conversation. Discussions centered round Covid and its Delta plus variant. Pilku invoked us to go out taking precautions as all of us had taken both the vaccine doses. In UK use of masks is made optional as a large chunk population is already vaccinated.

We were travelling by jeep from Silchar to Dergaon (headquarters of Assam Armed police training institutions near Jorhat) to join in Annual State Sports-cum-Police Duty meet in 1969. As we were crossing AT road near the Kaziranga single horned rhinoceros sanctuary, we noticed a pregnant rhinoceros crossing it. Driver was a local Bengali from Silchar. He shouted,"Sir  can i kill the rino by dashing the vehicle against it for its meat?" We said an emphatic, "No." He reluctantly slowed down the vehicle. The rino trudged on and crossed the road. I told the driver to stop the vehicle. After crossing the road, the rino had stopped on the sidelines. When we looked towards it, it was looking towards us. For a while we looked towards each other. There was an expression of gratitude on its face. It smiled and went inside the forest. I have not been able to forget its smile even after over 30 years.

Quotable Quotes :"Courage is knowing what not to fear."Plato .