A series of short and hurried alarm calls ringing through the air, brought the otherwise chaotic and decadent forests of Ranthambore to sudden hushed silence- a Chital somewhere nearby had noticed someone, I had not.

New Beginnings

Immediately, as if taking a cue from the alert deer, a langur perched on a huge looming Ficus tree above me, dropped his antics with his cousins and turning his head sharply to the right joined the chital in raising the alarm, with short bursts of deep, raspy grunts. The Rufous treepies had, by now, huddled in the shadows- thanks to the shroud of foliage around, trying to merge with the darkness.

And, as the nature around me hastily brought itself to order- from amidst dense thickets of dry grass, she stepped out the brown bundle of sticks, slowly bending to her will, stepping aside, for her, as she glided through.

Sharp and fearless gait, matched by the pin-drop silence of the surroundings spoke of the dominance she possessed over these parts of Ranthambore. And, as she stepped out of the dry yellow foliage, a slight rustle of grass behind her, revealed the two new additions to the long-stretched lineage of Machhli.

A skittish little female, wary of the swarm of humans looming over her, was busy scurrying around and under her mother seeking security and confidence, while he contrastingly enthused sister, pranced right in front of her mother, walking two steps ahead of her as if leading the way.

Famed to be ferocious, belligerent, and rough in her demeanor, the Arrowhead (T-84) that had walked out in front of me somehow did not seem the same. For someone who was known for ousting her mother (T-19, also known as Jhalra Female) from the territory, was not the same that walked in front of me- cause here I saw an Arrowhead who was wearing a face of calm and grace- licking her cubs clean, a patient audience to their antics, exploring the new ways to the newly found motherhood herself.

As I continued to observe them, I could see that even at an age that would barely amount to being months old- both had started developing their own individual personalities.

While, one female looked beyond my frame, determined to follow her mother on a long journey- one that might someday lead her to become one of the biggest contenders to the coveted lake area of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, one that is the legacy owned by her great grandmother- Machhli and her mother Arrowhead- the other was a few feet away busy in her own frolics, fighting with a dead tree branch, testing her jaws on its tapering bark- as if revising the newly taught lessons.

This story was published on the WWF-India website in 2019 and later in 2022 in the book Stories of India: Volume 4 by Ukiyoto Publishing House