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Some years ago, the Mahakali Caves area was suddenly prone to leopard attacks. Us morning walkers at the Aarey Milk Colony briefly discussed protective measures and then a friend interviewed a forest officer who matter-of-factly said, “Dogs are like dessert to leopards”. So, bolstered by courage we discarded the idea of sticks to ward off the lurking wild cats. In the early morning wintry gloom every passing dog looked like a monstrous creature of prey anyway.

The nip in the air brings back memories of huffing and puffing through the hills and dales of Aarey. And as all regulars there know, no wild animal could withstand the antics of wild humans. From 5 am, the dedicated start their rounds. By 7 am, there are traffic jams.

The sound of large middle-aged men laughing loudly, freakishly, falsely and frenetically early in the morning is enough to put the fear of the human species into any other creature, faster than evolution can do it. One burst of that manic ha-ha-ha and the silence of nature is ripped apart. Flocks of parakeets screech as they fly away in fear and mummy leopards tell their cubs to lie low.

Then there are the large groups of middle-aged men who must, when they meet other groups of middle-aged men, greet each other at the tops of their voices. Male walkers tend to travel in packs and can be quite a formidable sight, when they are preceded by their bellies by about two feet. The greeting is usually something like “Hari Om”. The idea of the silent introspection of the Surya Namaskar is clearly anathema to early morning group walkers.

My walking group was small: one or two or three females. Perversely, I refused to acknowledge this screaming greeting. Instead, I looked the leading wolf straight in the eye and said, Good Morning”. To their credit and good manners, the screaming stopped around me. They would turn the winding path, see me, become silent. The leader and I would nod and say ‘Good Morning’ and we went on our merry ways. The other day I went back after a five-year gap. We were all older and greyer (and fatter). But I was amused and touched to see that the old protocol was still followed.

Perhaps, for five minutes, some wild animal was not scared out of its wits.

Happy New Year.

b_ranjona@dnaindia.net