Reason to live.
Myra’s black laced dress fluttered in
the wind. The grey clouds have devoured the sky entirely. “It’ll rain today”,
thought the 23 year old zookeeper. Myra was the only female zookeeper in and
around that town. Her father was a forest ranger and at the tender age of 3 she
was introduced to the animal world. To her father’s surprise, she instantly
bonded with the animals; her favourite being Elan, the baby elephant.
The rugged terrain of her
country-land had always enticed Myra. As a little girl she was very fond of
trekking in the forest with Elan. School was always boring for her. “Father,
why can’t I learn from nature?” she asked her father, one day. Smiling, the
ranger said, “You have the whole life left to learn from nature. For now learn
from the books.” Myra was not satisfied with the answer. She was never satisfied by any worldly rules.
For her, life belonged to the wild and with the wild. Boundaries could never
restrict Myra because her spirit took her beyond any limitations.
When she first met Elan, the baby
elephant was 10 months old. It was love at first site, for the kids took to
each other instantly. The emancipated baby elephant was abandoned by his group
and was brought to the ranger’s notice. It was Myra’s unbridled love that
nurtured Elan into a healthy baby in few days and she decided to keep him
forever. Slowly Elan became an important part of the ranger’s family. Though he
spent much of his time in the wild, he would come back every evening to play
with Myra and have dinner with his new family. With each passing day, their
bond grew to become stronger after the arrival of Myra’s baby brother.
Mojo was a bundle of joy for the
ranger’s family. Every little action that he did was celebrated by the family.
Slowly, Mojo became the pivot on which the family rotated and somehow, Myra
felt herself moving farther away from all of them. Her gleeful laughter now
goes unnoticed against her brother’s gurgling. She took solace from nature and
Elan, her constant companion. Her rendezvous with the forest land increased and
she experienced the overwhelming love that prevailed in the animal world, where
there is place for all. She felt included.
However, there seemed to be an unbreakable
string between Mojo and Myra that somehow brought the two closer as they grew
old Myra felt a strong sibling love towards Mojo. She experienced the same love
as she did when Elan came into her life. The more she interacted with her
brother, the stronger her affinity grew. What Myra failed to notice is that she
was slowly drifting away from her best friend Elan. Her morning walks,
afternoon trysts with the forest and the elephant were frequently skipped for
her brother.
-------------------------------------------
Myra was 16 when she lost her mother and
suddenly felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulders. Her father
completely engrossed himself in work, to find solace. Myra left her schooling
and joined the local NGO fighting for animal rights, something she really believed
in. Her brother was a bright student and continued his studies. The kind soul
that Myra was, often felt sad for her brother who seemed oblivious to finer
things in life. For Mojo, the forest or the animal world meant nothing. What he
wanted was to earn quick money in less time. Meanwhile, Elan had found his
life-partner and was a proud dad to a little baby elephant. He was busy with
his new family; Myra could now spend some time with the three of them. She was
happy for him.
The rustic land around Mojo never attracted
him. For him, life belonged to the tinsel town and to reach there he needed
money. Easy money never comes easy and that’s what Mojo failed to understand.
His growing proximity to the local goons alarmed Myra. She tried telling her
father, but he did not give it much importance thinking it to be another
instance of over-protective sisterly concern.
Mojo had joined the goons who worked
for the poachers and the reason they selected him in their team was anybody’s
guess. The area was suddenly struck by rising cases of poaching which was very
surprising. The ranger was suddenly
facing fury from the locals and the government. Little did he know that those
friendly banters between father and son, at the dinner table were nothing but
medium to siphon important information related to the security of the forest.
They promised Mojo a good
remuneration to gather information and help them in avoiding the ranger’s sharp
eyes. And he did really well. What came
next was a golden opportunity for him. This time, the poachers had planned for
the big mammal, as ivory pays off well and Mojo would get a fair share too.
On the night of execution, Mojo did
not return home. Myra was suspicious of his brother’s activities, lately. His
sudden love for long walks into the forest or spending time with his family;
everything seemed fake to Myra. She waited till 10 in the night and had her dinner;
her father was still at work as night time required extra security, given the
regular attacks by the poachers. She was
restless; the fear rendered her completely cold, depriving her from sleep. The
sudden pang of emptiness was too much to bear and she made the call to the
ranger’s office, “Dad, I am scared for Elan.” And this one time, the fear ran
down the ranger’s spine. “Don’t worry Myra, I’ll check.” Taking his troop with
him, he set out in the night.
Gunshots broke the brooding silence.
What ensued in the forest was no less than a battle. Every bullet fired, burnt
a hole into Myra’s soul. She was shivering with fear. The sense of loss was too
strong and she knew it was true. After a while, an ominous silence came down.
----------------
Myra woke up to the calling-bell,
surprised that she felt asleep. Her father’s office boy had come to take her to
the ranger’s office.
With trepid steps she proceeded towards a huge
crowd that had gathered around her father’s office. Surprisingly, everybody
made way for her. She was suddenly brought to a halt with the scene in front of
her. 3 bodies, lying next to each other; Mojo, Elan and Elan’s partner. Sitting
next to them is her father, still holding his rifle. The police had arrived by
then and to Myra’s surprise they came to take her father. She run and hugged
him, “Daddy, why are they taking you away?” The ranger was crying, “Myra, I
didn’t know it was Mojo. It was night time, I couldn’t see properly. They had
killed Elan and were escaping; I had to shoot.” Myra stood still, incapable of
thinking anything. “Myra, I love you my girl. Please don’t hate me. Please.”
With that the ranger was taken away by the police. For hours Myra sat there
speechless. Finally she walked back home.
-----------------------
Today, as she stands with Elan, she
realized that had it not been for the orphan baby elephant, Myra’s life would
have been meaningless. She got back her old days with Elan and a
purpose to live. In her role as a zookeeper, she feels close to nature with all
the beautiful animals around and with Elan by her side, always.
