I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me; dawn disrupts me, all-day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.
I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the colour of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.
I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,
and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.
-Pablo Neruda
A couple of months ago, I was travelling in the forests for a brand film shoot along with a crew who specialised in forest shoots.
What stayed with me were the fascinating stories from the director and the crew over cigarettes and Old Monk after tirings days of the trek. The conversations would meander from the film shoot to often the hunting habits of animals and ghost stories.
One such story that remained with me was how tigers hunt.
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I was told they would often hunt for prey, which even included even some fearsome predators such as crocodiles, leopards and pythons. They had knacks and tactics, which gave them an edge even in front of mighty opponents. For example, they'd blind the crocodile first. Because tigers are solitary animals, each specimen has to be able to hunt and kill prey for its survival, since there is not a pack to support them.
When hunting, the tiger will conceal itself in bushes, or long grasses close to their intended preys rear or side. They will gradually, silently sneak forward; stalking the animal, which is unaware of the hunter's proximity.
When it is approximately 20 to 30 feet (between six and nine metres) away from its victim, it will lunge out from its hiding place in an impressive display of power and agility.
They can make jumps of more than 30 feet (nine metres), giving them a considerable advantage over an animal that needs to escape this fierce enemy.
They pounce on their victim, using their strong hind legs to support the struggle with the prey and their front legs to pull the victim to the ground.
Once under control, the tiger will snap the spinal cord just behind the head (for smaller catches) or grab the throat with its jaws (for larger prey) to ensure a speedy death.
I am coming back to the point of the post. In the episodes 197, 198, the camera pans out to a dark room with a poker game and Bajaj looking with the gaze of a hunter in his prey's eyes. Despite having a terrible FATE of cards, he wins, not by fluke but the CONFIDENCE he exudes. The discussion further LINGERS on, and he teaches the same to the seminar students. What is required to win is not TWIST OF FATE but meticulous planning, identification of the prey's weakness and then going for the kill? Later on the show, Rishabh defines himself as the 'HUNTER OR SHIKARI'.
These scenes, in particular, reminded me of the Tiger's kill so seamlessly as if he was INSPIRED by the preying skills of a tiger itself.
Like a tiger, he did observe his opponent carefully; later on, he identified the weakness as well.
As he carefully pointed out in this episode: Find out the one reason that he is afraid to lose and go for the kill even if you aren't equipped well.
It is also riveting to see how well his explanations match hunting habits. Rishabh talks about blinding the opponent; tigers do the same with crocodiles too. Bajaj talks about dominance and display of power; a tiger does that also, in fact, that helps them survive even a pack of attacking wolves.
Later on, in the Swiss track too, there's a spine chilling snap with which Bajaj makes Ronit unconscious before finally trapping him just as a tiger would snap the head first and the carry the prey away.
A tiger also drags the kill sometimes to an isolated spot in which it can enjoy it in peace. What a tiger isn't able to finish, it will likely cover; returning to these leftovers later or the following day.
Reminded me of Rishabh Bajaj's unforgettable quest for revenge. He would leave no mercy.
These stories had left an indelible impression on my mind. Now, when I write in retrospection, I am jotting down my thoughts precisely when the episodes had aired. I wonder how anomalistically similar was Rishabh's moves with the tiger.
Well, well, the mighty hunter later was dragged down to Basu bari to indulge in 'Sauce throwing on his jacket' and dancing that weird Dhunuchi dance sequence with his wife's ex-boyfriend. What a waste CV's. Feel like giving someone two kicks!😡
https://twitter.com/PrerishVideos/status/1181948401593790469
Anyway, coming back to the purpose of the post.
“The impact of an attacking tiger can be compared to that of a piano falling on you from a second-story window. But unlike the piano, the tiger is designed to do this, and the impact is only the beginning.”
― John Vaillant
With the poker and the conference scene, the close analogy of a tiger's hunt and Rishabh Bajaj was brilliantly drawn.
P.S-Oppo, this one is for you.🤗
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