THIRUNELLY : While surviving a tiger attack can take a lot of good fortune, the mental trauma associated with it can haunt a survivor for life. Venkata Das, a watcher with Tholpetty forest station in Thirunelly, Wayanad, still shudders at the rustling of leaves and howling of the wind. Two months after he had a close shave with death, Das is still in the process of regaining life skills on the road to recovery.
But, the Lok Sabha election has been a wake-up call. “I was secretary of CPM Chekudy branch when the incident happened. Considering my health condition, I handed over charge to my friend Sunil Kumar. But how can I sit back and relax when the party if fighting a crucial election? Though I get exhausted after walking a few steps, I could not skip the election fervour. I join comrades for door-to-door campaigning for Annie Raja,” says Das, sitting on the courtyard of the party office at Chekudy.
“On February 8, a herd of wild elephants had entered the village at Vakeri and the deputy range officer deployed eight forest watchers, including me, to patrol the area on February 9. We divided ourselves into four teams and reached the area. I and forest watcher C R Chandran sat on a culvert close to the elephant trench. At 8pm Chandran went for a walk to check the presence of elephants. Around 8.30pm I heard a rustling sound behind my back, but before I could respond something heavy fell on me and I passed out,” recounts Das.
“I was returning to the spot where Das was when I heard something fall. Using the torch light I saw Das lying on the ground just a few metres away with a huge tiger standing over him. I hollered and the other watchers came running towards us. On hearing out shouts, the tiger moved away from Das. We pulled him to the road and he was bleeding profusely,” says Chandran.
“I regained consciousness after a few minutes but felt a severe pain on my head. As Chandran and Raghavan lifted me, I felt the back of my head and realised the skull had been exposed. Realising that I may not survive, I asked my friends to take me to hospital. Though I walked for around 100 metres, I felt dizzy and everything turned dark. When I woke up, I was at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital,” remembers Das.
Though Das recovered fast, he was bed-ridden for a month. “Elephants, wild boar and deer roam around our house. I was not afraid of wild animals before the accident. Now I shiver when I feel the presence of elephants near the house. I have conveyed my willingness to rejoin duty as a forest watcher next week. The forest department and local residents helped me with funds to meet the treatment cost,” said Das.
Though Das is a farmer, he says the family cannot survive on agriculture.
“After night fall wild animals including elephants enter the village and destroy crops. In another 10 years people will be forced to vacate the village,” he said.
Willing to rejoin duty
Venkata Das has conveyed his willingness to rejoin duty as a forest watcher next week. Two months after he had a close shave with death following a tiger attack, Das, who is a watcher with Tholpetty forest station in Thirunelly, is still in the process of regaining life skills on the road to recovery