Normally Saturday
brings happiness, since Saturday is outing Day for us as a Student at “New
Theological College” Deheradun. I was thinking, I wish I could go home up to
Mussoorie. I missed my friends, I missed those Oak trees, I missed the snow
caps Mountain’s view, I missed all kinds of colorful people from all over the
world, since it is a place where you will get an opportunity to smell all kinds
of arm’s pits. I picked up my mobile to
update my friend’s life in Mussoorie since winter is coming and people will
have whole different kinds of experience than in summer. In summer people want
to escape the heat and come up to Mussoorie that they can enjoy the cold brazed
and test the embraced the comfort of the “Queen Hill Mussoorie”. However, In
winter is completely different, people put on
as much as cloths they can put on, they wear caps and gloves, sometimes
you hardly could recognize your friends, since all you can see is their green,
blue, brown or black twinkling eyes. Some people who are skinny also get an
opportunity to become or act like a ‘FAT BIG’ person, since they are the one
who feel much cold, but at the same time you see people sitting on a bike while
snowing and enjoying ICE-Cream.
Landour is pretty much
located in the woods. People have houses
in the woods, which makes Landour as a unique and peaceful place to live,
learn, think and reflect on. There are international schools. Rokeby
Minor(HOTEL), which is also on the top on the Landour. So people they walk into
these woods all the time since they cannot drive their cars of bikes right into
their houses or they can ride on the back of Nepali Coolies if they do not have
enough strength to walk. Even in the mid night people walk with their tiny
flash light, sometimes, they hardly, can even see anything rather than their
own your footsteps.
As, winter approaches
temperature goes down but these BAG CATS (Leopards), comes up with full
assurance of getting prepared testy food(Dog). It is easy to get, because
someone has kept these foods (Dogs) for them from last year. It has ripe/cooked
well. These CATS are so much not scared with human beings sometimes they take
guts to appear and give looks to humans. They are bold enough to get into
people’s houses and take your pets (Dogs), from your very sight. But, I have
not heard not heard that they have killed any human beings though they have
just come across one or two feet away from human’s presence. I had one
encounter; I thought that’s at but that “BIG CAT” was decent enough to get away
from my road to disappear into woods. There are hundreds of stories, people
encountering with these “BIG CATS” all the time especially in the winter times.
Here are some stories written by various people about these beautiful “BIG
CATS”
Yesterday, Sunday, Vickey had gone for
a walk into the woods in his chappals. He walked down the back path to
Jabarkhet. He then cut down to Fairy Glen and then thot to keep going down into
the woods. It was all so quiet and peaceful. When he was way down, near the
stream, all of a sudden he noticed all the birds around were shouting and
chirping.
.
Then something moved in front of him
off the path. He looked down and there, barely 15 feet way was A LEOPARD in a
crouching position, it's long tail spread out behind it. They both looked into
each others eyes. Vickey's heart froze, he was so scared. The next moment
he just turned and raced STRAIGHT UP THE HILL, thru the bushes and all. He
got his hands all scratched up, but he said he had INCREDIBLE ENERGY AND SPEED.
.
Fortunately, the leopard must have been as surprised as Vickey and did not wish
to follow him, PRAISE THE LORD! Finally when he reached Fairy Glen he just
collapsed and realized what a miraculous escape he had had.
.
Probably the leopard was coming along the same bath and when he (or she) heard
Vickey, he/she jumped down OFF THE PATH, to about 10 feet below the path.
Vickey really feels that is he/she had BEEN ABOVE HIM, he/she would have jumped
on him.This was about the 4th time Vickey has had an encounter with this
species in the near past.
One night we heard it just below our balcony at the back of
the house. We knew it was there because it had a big clanging bell around
it’s neck. Tony dropped all kinds of things on it to chase it away but it
didn’t budge. Tiffany went out just after dark to see it and came back to
tell us to bring a torch. Tony shone it into a nearby bush, right into
the eyes of a huge cat. Its eyes were really far apart which told us how
big its head was. It stayed there for ages, looking into the
torchlight. We knew it could only have been a leopard. Someone
suggested it might have been a black one.
Aunty and Uncle, who lived in the small farmhouse next to
us, had a big dog called “Johnny” He reminded us of the dog in “The
Perisher’s” cartoon, except he wasn’t nice. They tied him up all day;
which was probably the cause of his aggression. Whatever it was, we were
glad he wasn’t off his chain during the day. We woke up one morning to find he
wasn’t there. Uncle told us a leopard had taken him. There were
signs of a struggle but no one had heard anything.
Sasha had a few more litters and a couple of her babies
were taken. She loved wandering off into the bush but always came back
late in the afternoon. There were times we were called to Woodstock
School to pick her up; quite a few times actually. She would wander onto
the grounds to play with the kids, hoping they would share their lunch with her.
One day we realised she hadn’t been home for while.
She just disappeared. We looked everywhere. After a few days
we had to tell the kids. “Sasha has been taken by a leopard.”
Incident
Written by Christian Rose
Ooooooohhhhh myyyyyyyyyy goooooddddddnesssssssss!!!!!!!! I
was just walking on my normal path I take every week near my house (11:00 in
the morning!!!) and saw a leopard sitting just above the road where I was. He
was hissing and growling and had a moaning, half dying dog in his mouth! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
I was so scared I was shaking. I started walking backwards as fast as I could
so I could still keep facing it. He was hissing louder and I wasn't sure if it
was because he saw me or the dog was fighting to get away. When I got a good
enough distance away, I started to run as fast as I could. I ran into a man and
was trying to tell him in Hindi what was ahead. I was breathless and shaking.
He kept saying, "ma'am you can speak English to me!" But I think I
was so scared I could barely even think of English words. Ahhhhh!
Tigers
may be on the way out, but leopards are still very much with us, as I know from
my own sightings and the experiences of others. Last summer, driving up from
Dehradun around midnight, I saw a mother and her three cubs reclining on the
parapet of the Mussoorie road, enjoying a cool breeze like any other visitor to
the hill station. Normally, leopards won’t bother humans, but they are fond of
dogs—not in the way we are fond of dogs, but as the main course for breakfast
or dinner. Mr Solomon was walking his pet retriever outside his Landour villa
when a leopard sprang out from the bushes, seized the dog (along with its
lead), and vanished down the hillside before the astonished owner could react.
Rajiv
Handa had a similar experience, but was able to save his dog. Late evening,
Rajiv was in his living room, enjoying a book, when he heard a scuffle outside
his front door. On opening the door, he found his mastiff struggling with a
huge leopard. Rajiv is a keen golfer. He didn’t have a gold club with him, but
he picked up a heavy walking stick and, flourishing it with a golfer’s swing,
struck the leopard a telling blow. The leopard dropped the dog and made off.
Rajiv
brought the dog inside (its injuries weren’t too bad), locked up, and returned
to his book. There is nothing like a good book to calm the nerves. An hour
later it was time for bed, so he put the lights out and went to the window to
make sure it was shut. He looked through the glass, and there was the leopard,
sitting on a flower-bed and waiting patiently for the dog to be let out again!
These beautiful CATS,
are often in Landour not to threaten human lives but to Beg “HOT DOGS”.
But, sometimes we are
so bold enough even to snatch our “HOT DOG” from the mouth of these BIG CAT’S
and bring them back into our homes. Actually, one of my friends Ashu, who lives
next to Callog Church, snatched his dog (BITSEE) and brought back into to home.
This definitely shows that they are not very dangerous to human beings. It is indeed a blessing to have a glimpse of these
beautiful CATS.
Winter not only brings
cold in Landour but “BIG CAT”, SNOW and many other things. It brings special time for some people to wonder to Hunt
these “BIG CATS” with camera and for some to just turn on BHUKARI, drink soup,
read books and enjoy life with new glorious views (Green hills turning in to
white), wild Lives, and new wives/Husbands.
As, I will be walking
on to these hills, Join me, through following this BLOG.
Green Mussoorie, Clean
Mussoorie,
Yehi hamari, Sab Se
Jaruari.
“Let’s keep Landour clean,
this is our home”
