Adventures in the Jungle

It was the month of June in the year 1979, I was close to 10 years in age, and I had this dangerous encounter with.............  My family had close to eighty cows and buffaloes, the highest number of cattle raised in a single household in our area. My father used to care for them by taking into the dense jungle, where fodder was easily available. In the cowshed there were 20 calves. They were fed with grass fetched by my father. The work was more than a day's job unless he collected 4 to 5 bundles a day. No time for laziness!!!

That particular summer, my father partnered with another cattle raising relative who had only a few cows and buffalos. They decided to move their combined cattle raising operation to a place called Malatay, about 5 hours walk from home. The neighbour, my father and I herded all the animals, calves and adult beasts. We had to pass through a dense jungle via "Dhap Deorali" the north east end of the village. In the monsoon season, Malatay was considered a dangerous place because of the presence of wild animals especially black bears, which were found in numbers on that particular area. This was one of the reasons for looking a friend to take the cattle together in the jungle. They decided to share the same hut which my father had constructed earlier that winter. They were happy together. They could talked to each other, otherwise human voice can only be heard when someone visited from home in a week's or fifteen days time as they came to bring them ration.

It was the season for transplanting rice in the field. My father had to come home to help other family members in the plantation work. It was my summer break, as well the school break. He decided with his partner to take care of cattle in a shift system. It was agreed I would be the helper in the cowshed during his absence. He brought me to the cowshed and returned home for the work.

 I was a student of class II that time, about 10 years old.  It is my first time in the dense jungle during summer where I should be staying for two weeks. I was happy, as it is an adventure, to be in the jungle where we don't see any human beings except the two of us.  We have to spend our time with our cattle, and with different species of wild animals we met occasionally. I was very excited, at the same time nervous to get adapted to the life in the jungle; I would be staying two weeks. The only assignment I was given by the uncle was to fetch water from the stream that was quite far away. My job was to feed the calves and fetch water for us. I had to carry water at least 15 times in a plastic jerry-can to make all the calves quench their thirst, and then two containers full for us, which roughly was 15 liters. He spent hardly anytime in the cowshed. He needed to fetch bundles of grass for the calves and also had to look after the cattle in the jungles for their safety from wild animals. Tigers and leopards were regular visitors of that area and we needed to be very vigilant all the time to save our cattle from their attack.

My first day on the job was quite interesting. Uncle showed me the way to the water-collecting pond. We were together almost for the whole day as our cattle were sent to that particular site for grazing. I did my job well and managed to do what he expected from me. The next day uncle decided to send the cattle to other site of the grazing area and he went with the cattle. I was asked to perform my duty well. Though I was scared to go to the water source alone, there was no other alternative but to put all my energy together and do the assigned job. I started hesitantly, reached the source, filled my container, and was returning. As I was climbing up hill around five minutes away from the cowshed, I heard the cracking sound of the branches. Something was running into the jungle at a fast speed. My leg started shivering and heart pumping. I tried to run but couldn't move a step. I froze in fear. I just stared and stood in the same place. I looked around, very scared from inside. I saw a wild animal staring at me. I had never seen an animal like this one earlier. I took it for a leopard's cub and started shivering more out of the fear. I happened to scream which made the animal frightened and it ran away. I immediately ran at my heels to the cowshed, my heart beating very fast. I waited for uncle to come and fetch water by himself. As he returned I explained the whole story, the shape, size and the colour of the animal. He just shook his head and said “You’re hopeless! That cannot be leopard's cub! It could be some harmless wild animal”. We went together to fetch water again. Luckily we saw the same type of animal on our way. The uncle convinced me that it is not a leopard's cub but is a family of jackal called "Malsapro" in Nepali. It is harmless to big human beings but is a carnivore; it feeds on the jungle fowl, and small animals, said my uncle. This was a big relief for me and I carried water calmly for the whole day.

I carried on with my work quite well; uncle was satisfied with my performance and was happy to be with me. In the evening he recited poems, read the Nepali literature. I tried to learn catching his sing-sung rhythm + tone. The rhythm he used was difficult for me to catch. He tried to show me the techniques in reading them, but I was a child, who knew the hardly alphabet and the pronunciation of the words; still, I tried to learn them. We were happy together and I was enjoying my stay with him. I still remember a few poems that I learnt from him.

It was the seventh day of my stay in the cowshed at Malatay. Uncle said to me early in the morning, our buffalos didn't come to the cowshed for the last 2 days. He will go in search of them. I was asked to stay back. He advised me not to go far from the shed and take care of the shed well for the day.  He might take him hours to return, since buffaloes can travel long distances, and he may not be able to find them in time. Usually they go to the previously stayed places if they are not happy in a particular place. I said okay. I was already adjusted and was not scared to be alone any more. Uncle left in search of the buffaloes and I started fetching water and feeding the calves. The day started quite well and everything was going on well. It was close to 3 0clock in the evening; uncle has not yet returned. I was resting in the shed watching the small calf feeding on the grass.

I suddenly heard a noise with an echo so loud that whole jungle started vibrating. It was a one-way cry like that of a human noise. It was so loud I nearly turned deaf. I have heard from my grandmother many stories of a Yeti. She would say that Yeti will make a sound similar to that of humans making calling noises to one another in the jungle. In the case of humans calling one another, the voice has a variety of pitch. In the case of Yeti calling there is only one pitch like a howl. A Yeti is a mysterious being, may be like a wild human, very dangerous because it target the human and eat only eyes. The Yeti walks with “heels pointing forward and “toes pointing towards to the rear; if you see yeti foot steps, be careful to not be deceived as to the direction in which it is walking. There are stories of its appearances, as my village had its settlement towards the beginning of the 20th century. Whatever I have heard from my grandmother about Yeti started becoming true in my heart! The noise I heard resembled with that of a Yeti in Grandmother’s stories. The loud noise sent an electric wave through my spine, and I started shivering with my heart pumping harder, than I could control it. I looked around; there was no place to hide. I thought this might be the end. I closed my eyes. I tried to recollect what people were supposed do save themselves. She used to tell me we have to burn sheep wool; the smell of burning wool will send the Yeti away. As I looked around I saw a nice woolen sleeping mat woven by my grandmother. Sheep wool sleeping mat is considered pure and precious by Nepali society. It is used in the important religious ceremonies. This woolen sleeping mat was sent to the cowshed particularly to be used, if we have important visitors. I took out my knife and cut the side of it and put it into the fire. Uncle had put big logs in the fireplace to avoid the fire from getting extinguished. It is also  important to keep the fire burning day and night as the smell of the smoke keeps wild animals away from the cowshed. The smell of the burning wool was making me suffocate. I covered myself with the quilt and tried my best to control my breath to calm my fast pumping heart. I struggled for hours, just peeping from the side of the quilt with the hope to seeing uncle coming to my rescue.

Rather than my uncle coming for my rescue, I heard only voice getting louder and louder coming closer to the cowshed. The voice was loud enough to convince me, it was nothing other than Yeti. As the sound echoed from the opposite mountain, the fear that went through me was becoming more and more uncontrollable. I prayed and prayed, but nothing was helping me. I held a knife tight in my hand for psychological comfort. My shivering body was telling me all these things I am doing are useless to help me, if Yeti arrives. As I was undergoing this trauma, I heard the protection fencing of the cowshed being pulled and that almost left me unconscious. I shaped myself almost like a ball, putting my legs together, and I tried to control my breath as well. I felt something was pulling me, leaving me almost half dead, with no voice left to shout, so great was my fear. The quilt was pulled off me and I screamed for the help. The moment I opened my eyes I saw a big monster standing in front of me. I did not remember anything after that. I came to my senses when I received a big slap on my cheek. I was surprised to see that the dangerous monster standing in front of me was none other than my uncle. He has returned with the buffaloes.

I narrated the whole story that happened after he left. He explained me it is not the Yeti but was he himself who made that loud noise. He made that one-sided big shout to frighten the wild animals, if they are around. The following day he took me to an open landslide area called Dhap Pairo where the whole mountainside had come sliding down. Here echoes are easily produced because sound echoes off the unforested steep slope.

            The following day he took me to the same spot and shouted, facing the open landslide. The echo produced was so large that I was convinced; it was not a Yeti but my uncle who made that terrible noise. It was a big relief for me that I need not fear Yeti in that particular place any more. He said to me, "You are very lucky you didn't have heart attack and die".

My fifteen days of service with the uncle in helping him in the cowshed were over. My school had started after the half yearly break. Once again hard life in the school was starting that was making me sad. I was thinking all these things as my father came to take me home. I liked the jungle life, as it is very peaceful, clean, and beautiful to be alone. Animals are your friends, they cannot talk but the honesty, obedience and respect shown to their master can be judged from their innocent look that they show you. By this time my attachments to them had become very strong. I didn't want to leave them in the jungle alone and go to the school. I had very strong feelings for them but I would not speak out, as I know it very well that my father would not support to my love for animals at cost of my schooling. Though it was a sad moment, there was no other alternative then to follow my father to reach home in time. I looked back a couple of times at my cattle and said good-bye in my heart. I left the place almost with tears in my eyes. I could see my cattle from their look that they were going to miss me too.

While walking, we came to a lake called Pokhari; this was the winter grazing land. The place was called Bhalayo Kharkha. My father asked me to wait there for some time, while he said he would go and collect cane. Cane is used for making baskets in the house, and also is used for tying different things like fencing, making roof of the house etc. He advised me not to get scared of anything and not to go anywhere, as he will return in less than one hour time. The place looked very deserted and scary. The lake below was almost dry. Thick bushes had grown all around the lake and made this particular place scary.  This was the only source of water for the wild animals. They might come for water any time, I was thinking inside.

To provide me some comfort my father would shout sometimes using the vocal signals humans use to communicate the presence of each other. This shout is also made to scare away the wild animals if they are around. Every time I heard my father's shout, I was feeling more and more comfortable. I was telling to myself, "You will reach home safely, your father is around". Internally, I was getting more and more scared. Every minute was becoming longer for me to wait. I was feeling like I had been waited for days. I was praying for the early return of my father. The sound produced by the birds, moving branches, falling of the leaves was sending currents of fear through my spine. I was very cautious, as I was scared of wild animals’ attack any time. I was yelling at very close intervals, time and time again to boost confidence within me. My father was replying to my yell, and assuring me that he was still at work.

I felt very thirsty and wanted to drink water. I walked down to the lake, leaving our things on the same spot my father told me to wait. It took me less than five minutes to reach the lake. The lake was very shallow and the water dirty. I was left with no other options than to drink the same water. I pulled a big leaf from the tree, collected water from the side of the lake and drank it to my satisfaction. I wanted to see the sloppy area on the other side of the lake. I walked some distance away and reached to the top of the hill. I felt tired and sat down to rest at the base of a tree. The open landslide made by "Dhap Pairo" was clearly visible from the place I was sitting. The beauty provided by the slide is enormous; one will not get satisfied even if he stays there for days and looks at it continuously. I was getting more and more involved with the scenery and was enjoying the beauty. To my surprise I heard the cracking sound of the branches some distance away. It felt like a herd of the cattle is moving. I immediately climbed a small tree to see what this really was. To my surprise and fear, I saw a mother bear with two cubs feeding on a banana tree. They had torn open the banana tree and were eating the inner part, I saw clearly from the distance. The mother was cutting open the stem and the cubs were rushing to get their share first, and were enjoying themselves. Seeing this I nearly collapsed. I could neither shout nor climb down the tree. I only watched them feed. My breath was getting shorter than normal and I was trying to control my shivering and to calm myself but nothing was helping me.

My father had arrived at the spot where I was supposed to waiting. Not seeing me there he shouted for me. I replied I will not be able to come there as I am trapped. I told him there is a bear with the cubs. Immediately hearing this he started running towards me yelling with whatever voice he had. He knew the danger that was awaiting me if he didn't tackle the matter in time. A mother with cubs is very dangerous. They will attack anything that they meet on their way. My father reached the spot where I was trapped and climbed the same tree. He patted me and said there is nothing to worry about; he will drive the bear away. We were left with no other options; they were so close the path leading towards our home. My father looked around advised me to hold the tree tight and not to get afraid even if the bear came towards us and shouted. The mother bear ran straight to the base of the tree we were sitting in and started looking to us. The scary look of the bear at the base of the tree was making me more nervous and I was losing control over my body. My hands, body, legs every thing started shivering and was ready to collapse. I remember father telling me again and again not to worry. "This is a ground bear; it cannot climb trees”, he assured again, which gave little comfort to my bursting heart. My father tried all type of his shouts and yells, but nothing was helping him to chase the bear away. He was losing hope; I could see from his face. As nothing had helped, out of frustration, he took out his knife and he started slashing the branches of the tree we had climbed. The branches started falling one after another. I saw one of the branches hit the bear hard on the back. In pain she ran fast down the hill, the cubs following her. The fear that I was undergoing melted as the bears ran away. We climb down the tree took our things and reached home safely.

This few incidents I shall never forget in my life. I am reminded of the incidents sometimes. These situations have given me confidence to tackle difficult things encountered in our lives. Life is a series of ups and downs. When someone models for us at a young age to be patient and to find solutions to difficult situations, it gives us courage to tackle other inevitable obstacles throughout our lives.