AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 6 – eConnect Reviews CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 208 of 237 Though it was not spelt out in so many words in the meeting today, the readers won’t be surprised to know that she is an ‘Armed Forces Brat’, so to speak. Her father served in the Army and no marks for guessing where her adventurous DNA came from. Be that as it may, in the light of the wondrous achievements of our nextgen of Armed Forces Brats all over, Dr Samuel Johnson, the lexicographer would probably want to redefine the word “Brat”! Are you listening, Oxford, Merriam Webster, Longmans and Macmillan? Ms Rathika took the audience on a whirlwind tour of all the wildlife parks – Jim Corbett, Bharatpur, Kaziranga, Ranthambore and many other, and made sure that we got the best out of these Parks in the comfort of our homes, without those long walks, crawls in those swampy stretches, without climbing trees /rocks, not having to carry heavy equipment along the way and most importantly, not waiting for those precious and most opportune moments. In retrospect, the theme of the meeting “In the wild” was indeed misleading. The audience got a feeling that they were looking at an assortment of family albums, only the subjects were not human beings this time. The intensity of their parental, tender loving care shown to their young, their commitment to feed them till the young ones are capable of looking after themselves, imparting of essential skills to protect themselves – were all there to see in those mesmerizing photographs. The entire slide show was a classic example of creative and candid photography. The unique gestures employed by animals and birds for showing empathy for each other came across brilliantly. Capturing these emotions clearly indicated that wildlife photography is not all about clicking at random of anything that moves. The amount of hard work that happens in the back office – in the nature of understanding their habitat, lifestyle, their highs and lows are very critical to be successful in this line. A picturesque comment posted by one of the attendees (Mrs Premila Rajan) sums up the nuances associated with wildlife photography in its right context - “Mesmerizing photographs, so evocative of the wonderful moods that we are able to interpret”. In cuteness, the young in the animal kingdom is no less than their human counterparts. A baby elephant, barely a month and half old, instantly falling asleep en route a long walk by the herd was a beautiful exhibition of such involuntary cuteness. A classic “Cho Chweet” moment! The legendary Howard Hawks and John Wayne team, surely will not miss this absorbing event if the famous movie ‘Hatari’ is to be re-made. The adults are no less in this department. A case in point is an incident narrated by the Speaker. An adult lion detailed for a look-out duty by the head of the pride, perched on top of a tree, while the whole pride was taking a post-prandial nap below, itself falling asleep but soon gathers its wits and resumes the guard duty with a guilty look on its face!