PEDRO MEETS JUMBO

I and Pedro are now good friends and his wild imagination leaves me amazed! We have found a way to communicate regularly and I must tell you, my friend Pedro is really good at it! Each morning, I am greeted with an sms from Pedro – Yes! He has been successful in coaxing his parents to buy him a mobile phone and my friend is now busy discovering it and satiating his knowledge-thirsty mind! One rainy monsoon morning, I receive a text from Pedro which says – Hd gn cyclin wid frens 2 d forest & guess wht? We cm across n elephant, huge & starin at us! Sleep leaves me and I am all agog! “What the hell?” my mind remarks! I call him up and instead of a petrified Pedro, giggles greet me from the other end. Then he relates the instance to me. My curious friend Pedro is always inviting mischief and ‘antsy’ is how I would describe him. So Curious, Mischievous, Antsy Pedro called up his gang of equally hyperactive friends one fine evening and decided to go cycling the next morning, to the nearby Baikunthapur forest. They set off early next morning, equipped with sandwiches, a flask of tea and ‘aloo dum’, hoping to enjoy their breakfast in the wilderness. They first cycled for about six kilometers on the NH31A, listening to the early morning rendition of birds, joining them at times. They then deviated from the highway and took the cobbled path which leads to the Baikunthapur forest. I must tell you here that Baikunthapur forest is a part of the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary – home to variety of flora and fauna. Pedro and his army penetrated deeper into the forest, enjoying the lukewarm sun on their backs, filtering in through the thick foliage. Water drops glistened on the leaves and as they rode deeper into the forest, the shrill call of the cicada grew louder and almost deafening at some points. They could hear the peacock’s cry and the chirping of birds echoed in the vast expanse. The boys enjoyed every sight and sound and stopped at places to capture a picture or two. Finally, after about an hour and a half of pedaling, they reached a Kali temple built on a clearing. The gang decided to rest there but not before exploring the place. Pedro, the leader, led the expedition and the rest trailed behind him. They came across an old well on the right hand side of the temple. The area around the well had soft, lush green grass so the boys decided to settle down there and enjoy their breakfast. Pedro caught a cicada and decided to dangle it between his fingers. Poor cicada had no option to scream louder for its life! The boys laughed their hearts out on the poor cicada’s plight! They laughed so much they ended up all snotty and red – nosed! (You should’ve seen the light in his eyes when he narrated this part of the story to me!) GrowwwL! Amidst all the laughing growled Pedro’s tummy and that’s when they settled down with their breakfast packs. Just as they opened up their boxes and were pouring tea into paper cups, they heard a rustle in the nearby grove. They all turned towards the sound and saw the leaves move. Out came a grey trunk from the bush first and before they could react, a huge elephant appeared like an apparition in front of them! Luckily, the elephant did not see them as it appeared so the boys gathered up their wits and one by one slid behind the well. The boys forgot to breathe as the elephant turned to the place where their breakfast was laid out. The elephant sniffed around, tumbled the flask of tea, and picked up a banana from one of the boxes, shaking his head in excitement as he did that, stamped his huge feet on the ground and turned to leave, fanning away with his tail, the dragonflies hovering around it. “Ruuuuuun” – the forest echoed! And who made this brave cry? Our brave leader of the pack, Pedro! The boys hustled into their bicycles and rode as fast they could! Beep, beep “I m nvr goin 2 venture into the forest agn! To c one wild jumbo in a lifetime is ok, nt more: P”, Pedro wrote to me this morning 