Family

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LIFE IN THE JUNGLE

I had retired from my job as the Vice Principal of a large Christian school in the Indian state of Maharashtra in 2006, and we moved to a house in the Mudumalai reserve forest in South India. This house had been built partly with the money I had sent my step son, Noel and partly with what he had saved.

My wife Esther and I had worked in Barnes school for about twenty five years and she felt that it was time for a change. We had lived in the boarding school and life was comfortable with our friends and the children around us. Moreover, the town of Devlali was just a twenty minute drive away on our scooter. Now it was time to leave that phase of our lives behind.

Our new home is on a hillside, away from other houses in the area. It is colored red with grey windows. There are two large clumps of bamboo in the yard and lantana bushes all around. We have planted mayflower, jacaranda, glaryseria, sandalwood, yellow poinsettia, oleander and some other plants which we cannot identify. There is thick jungle around the property. The wild animals have free access as the barbed wire fence had been trampled down by the wild elephants. We tell people that we don’t need a fence as Jesus is our best defense. Quite often, Esther and I have watched the elephants through the window, at night. Some have come within eight feet from where we stood. We just pray and switch on the outdoor lights and they go away. Black bears and leopards have paid us nocturnal visits and we hear the roaring of tigers in the distance.

Esther tried to grow a garden around the property but we found that the wild boar and the spotted deer love the plants. On some days we have found whole herds of spotted deer grazing in the place where the garden should have been. We just admire them, especially the stags with their spreading antlers. Esther prowls around with a digital camera and shoots as many pictures as she can. My PC is filled to bursting point with her pictures.

The other animals that visit us are the porcupine, Langur, rhesus monkeys and the mongooses. Strangely, the snakes don’t come too often although they are plentiful

Most evenings, we sit among the potted plants in the verandah and watch the birds, butterflies and the small creatures that come into the yard. Noel has placed a hollow granite rock, in front of the house, which we fill with water, and watch the babblers, bulbuls, pipits, jungle pigeons, and other small birds as they bathe.

Esther scatters bird feed in a particular spot. Jungle fowl and spur fowl visit the spot every evening and we watch them feed. At first they were timid, but now they have grown used to our presence. The peafowl visit us occasionally.

Although life is lonely, it is never dull. There is so much to do and so much to see. Late in the evening we sing hymns and pray to our savior and watch TV till it is time for bed.

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