Baghera

Baghera is the word for Panther in the Garhwali language. Garhwali is a Central Pahari language belonging to the Northern Zone of Indo-Aryan languages. It is primarily spoken by over 2.5 million Garhwali people who are from the Garhwal Division of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand in the Indian Himalayas. Panthers and other fascinating wildlife are found in Mussoorie, where I lived and worked for sixteen years.

Baghera lurked beyond the hill
The night was black, the air was still,
She walked the “Eye-brow” path with stealth
Cared not for much except her wealth,
Her cubs who followed in perfect line
They were her pride, the fear was mine,
Be warned they say for she’s a mother
That will make her like none other.

Then she moved beyond the fence
Deep in the jungle all was tense,
Down in the valley, the Barking deer
Signaled clearly a panther was near,
To awake the forest with her growl
Sheer magnificence on the prowl.

Once she was heard below the house
The world turned quiet like a mouse,
The dogs choked up and could not bark
Could feel them quiver in the dark,
Shaking the water tank she made a leap
Was gone forever into the deep,
Sending shivers down my spine
The story’s true, the poem mine.

Many a night I hear her still
It merely is an act of will,
To wipe her from my memory
Yet immortalize her in History.

I know she is a glorious beast
To get a glimpse, not be her feast,
That would be Oh! So divine
I’m sure she’s from a royal line.
The Leopard, the Bear and Baghera still roam
In a place I was proud to call my home
For natural beauty none could surpass
Of panthers lurking in the grass.

(From my ongoing collection “Once Upon a Mountain Town)