To the rescue of the Rhinos!

Musu couldn’t have been more annoyed with her younger brother Sontosh. The naughty boy, she thought angrily; gone off again without doing his share of chores. “Wait till I catch you”, she muttered, as she made her way through the jute fields. “I’ll give that boy a hiding he’ll never forget!”

The Asian Rhinoceros or the One-horned Rhinoceros is an endangered species in India, which has now been classified a grade lower, as a ‘vulnerable’ species, thanks to the extensive conservation efforts carried out to save it.

Rhinos have massive bodies, stumpy legs, and a rock-solid horn on their snout which is made of thick hair! They have poor eyesight, but have well-developed senses of hearing and smell. These peaceful and gentle creatures don’t attack unless aroused. It can move very quickly during an attack at 30 miles (48 kilometers) an hour.

They can also be nimble, can jump and change direction quickly, despite their weight. Rhinos eat vegetable matter, usually feeding on grasses, fruit, leaves and even farm crops! This is why the Rhinos have been targeted since many years, because of their nuisance as an agricultural pest.

However, this has occurred due to encroachment of forest land by humans. The Rhinos are also poached for their horn, which is used in traditional medicine in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Two-thirds of the total Rhino population in India is found in protected areas like National Parks. There are only about 2000 Rhinos left in the wild.

Musu and Sontosh lived with their grandparents in a small village in the state of Assam, in north-east India. The children’s parents had passed away, and their grandparents took care of them. Musu was already a hard worker in the fields, and also was in charge of majority of the household chores.

Sontosh, being the youngest, was quite pampered by the grandparents, making him a mischievous boy who shirked work. Musu resented this, but being a doting elder sister herself, she often forgot Sontosh’s faults and instead of scolding him, ended up laughing at his tricks.

“Sontosh!” she called out, her voice ringing through the empty fields. “Enough of your games! Come out now or I’ll tell Kokako all about you!” Kokako was the Assamese word for grandfather. But there was no answer. “Looks like he is not here after all”, she said to herself, and made her way to the rice fields that lay further.

It was getting darker, but in the light of the sun’s slanting rays, Musu could make out a dark figure some distance away in the field. “So this is where that silly boy is hiding”, thought Musu. “Sontosh, come home soon. Aita will be worried. You know your grandmother panics when she doesn’t have you around. Why do you have to get me into trouble too?” she called in a pleading voice.

The figure moved a little, but said nothing. With a cane held high, she approached the figure, which seemed unnaturally large as she drew closer. However, with the darkness setting in, and the state of mind she was in, Musu did not notice anything amiss. “How can you behave like this”, she asked, while giving a soft blow to the hooded figure behind the clump of plants. “You worry me so –”

Musu stopped mid-sentence as the sound that came in response to the blow was far from human. The loud grunts and heavy breathing that came from the creature suddenly made her realize what she had hit: It was a Rhinoceros!

Musu did not wait a moment longer. She took to her heels without as much as a glance back. But she could hear the Rhino stomping the ground and charging towards her, despite its heavy body. However, the Rhino seemed to have been lying down, and this gave Musu a head start. Musu screamed as she ran through the fields, fear and panic rising within her.

Rhinos were gentle creatures, unless aroused, and Musu had done exactly that! A Rhino on a rampage was not exactly pleasant to deal with! Musu hurried on, not stopping to take her breath even, for Rhinos were fast, and could also take turns easily, unlike other large and heavy animals. She was quite puzzled that she hadn’t already been knocked to the ground by the wild Rhino.

Musu ran on and on till she reached familiar ground, where a few people were still on their way back home from the fields. “Run!” she screamed. “Run for your life! A rhino’s behind me!” Everyone ran helter –skelter, trying to find shelter. However, the descending darkness seemed to have deterred the creature, and it was nowhere in sight.

Musu guessed that the Rhino must have decided not to pursue her, or she might have been dead or seriously injured by then! She stormed into her house, slamming the door shut, panting and sweating. Her grandparents and Sontosh who were already inside, looked up at her in surprise.

“Where were you all this while?” asked her grandfather. “What’s wrong, child?” cried her grandmother, seeing her sink to the floor, exhausted. “A… Rhino..in the fields”, she panted, “I.. hit it… by mistake… I had gone … in search of Sontosh…”
“But Sontosh has been here a long time now. But if there’s a Rhino here in the village, everyone needs to be careful. Especially since you’ve disturbed it now” said her grandfather gravely.

News spread like wildfire that a Rhino was now in the village precincts. Musu’s grandfather, being the oldest among all the villagers, was also the village head or Chief. All the villagers assembled at the “Nam Ghar” or the prayer hall that very night, and everyone discussed the matter.

The village had no electricity, and everyone brought lanterns instead. With a rhino on the loose, no one wanted to venture out during the day into their fields. “This is all because you did not chant the ‘Nam Kirtan’ properly”, sniggered Sontosh while Musu gave him a tap on the head for teasing her.

The village elders were serious. Musu wore a sheepish look for having brought such trouble upon the entire village.
“Let’s wait till it goes away of its own accord”, said one. “But my crop will suffer!” cried another. “How do we know how long we have to wait?”

Debu, a young man, stood by, watching the proceedings. He was the only literate man in the village, as he had dared to venture towards the capital city and get himself an education. However, he was somewhat of an outcast in the village, for his parents had died while he was away, and he was held responsible for it.

Debu’s parents had taken several loans to pay for their son’s education, and they had to toil away till their death, trying to repay the loan. Though Debu had tried to set up a local school in the village, nobody co-operated with him. However, he could no longer remain a mute spectator to the goings-on at the meeting.

“I think we should inform the government officials”, he said. “Maybe the forest department can help us.” Nobody paid any attention to him. A few of the villagers glared at him, and the rest turned to Musu’s grandfather again. “Tell us what to do”, they said to him. Just then, the sinister ‘Shehri Babu’, a man from the city, gestured to the Village Head.

“I have a solution for you”, he said in a quiet voice, so that only Musu’s grandfather could hear him. “Kill the Rhino, and give me its horn. I shall pay you enough for all your villagers to pay off their debts.” “Kill? Never!” said the Chief, horrified. Those creatures are gentle and peaceful. There may be stray incidents, but we never kill them.”

“Think about your family”, said the Babu, his tone becoming persuasive. “Think of all the hardships you have to endure just because every family here is indebted to some landlords! Do you people always want to be slaves? And isn’t it your duty, as the Village Head, to help your people out?”

Musu’s grandfather was confused. Here was a city-bred man, offering him an amount of money he couldn’t even dream of! Just for a rhinoceros horn! A hairy growth above its snout! But how could they kill a Rhino?

“I must think”, he said, hesitating. But the man wasn’t discouraged, and continued persuading the Chief. “I’ll give you the guns”, he said, eager and excited. “Your people need not even kill it. I’ll kill it myself. Just trap it for me if possible.” At last, the Chief gave in.

The rest of the village was convinced that if the Chief had decided something, it must be for their good. They all went home, dreaming of being free of their debts overnight. A day passed, but there was no sign of the Rhino. But the morning after that, Musu came screaming from the cow shed.

The Rhino was lying comfortably in an empty part of the shed! All the villagers gathered around, and Musu’s grandfather went in to check. But what did he see? It was a female Rhino, and it was giving birth to a calf! And when he saw the calf, there was a sea change in him.

The ‘Babu’ came in hurriedly, holding a gun, pushing aside the villagers rudely. “Where is it? Ah! This is an added bonus! An adult and a calf!” he said greedily, aiming his gun at the Rhino. But the Chief pushed him out. “You will not hurt them!” he cried. “They have a right to roam on the Earth as much as we do!”

But the man shoved aside the Chief. “I thought I would pay you silly villagers, but now I won’t even do that!” he shouted. “The Rhino’s mine! All mine!” But a strong arm wrenched away the rifle from his hand. He turned around to find himself facing a policeman and a forest official. “There is no place for poachers here”, said the officer firmly, as he dragged away the criminal.

The Chief was dumbstruck. Who had called the officials? Debu spoke up. “I called them”, he said. “It is against the law to kill or hurt these endangered animals. They will now take the Rhinos safely to Kaziranga National Park. All this happened because of us humans taking over the forest lands that rightly belong to these animals. But why did you change your mind, Chief?”

“I remembered my own grandchildren who are growing up without their parents”, said the Chief, with tears in his eyes. “Then how can I let the brute kill that poor animal?”