ROARS OF KISHAN

 I was 7 years old when i moved from a small village to the capital city, Bhubaneswar and visiting India's 2nd largest zoo, Nandankanan zoo is an obvious. Back then, in 2005, there were no battery operated vehicles or any transport facilities, so we had to walk for an hour or two to visit all enclosure which was not possible for us.

It was quite exciting at first, not being familiar with anything, we walked along a group of visitors from West Bengal, leaded by a guide. The guide was telling about each animals, how much food is served to them and of what kind, as we moved from enclosure to enclosure.

We were looking somewhere else when the guide, at top of his voice called out "kishan" and there came a roar that could be heard from miles away. He called the name again, and again came another roar in reply.  Everyone around or near, were drawn towards the sound. With excitement and an unknown fear, i too ran towards the fence of the enclosure and never aware of their existence, was a magnificent white tiger ,walking back and forth along the water shed. A rare event to witness because usually you won't see them in action. lucky me? !

 

Meet Kishan! Such a cute handsome beast. He was born to a white tigress named Shreya and the Royal Bengal tiger Ram on December 28, 1999. A few months back i somehow found an article that he died of asthma and pneumonia in 2014 when he was 15years old.click here to read the article

 i've visited the zoo later a few times after the first the encounter and would get excited to see him. A feeling of familiarity.

Yet after all these years,his roars are still ingrained in my mind.

Monalisha Subudhiray