I have never been angrier at tigers and other big cats than I was in the first week of April this year. Until then, I had looked upon them with much awe and a great deal of respect. I was upset about their dwindling numbers, and hoped they would thrive in the decades to come. What soured these feelings towards them were reports that the honourable prime minister had travelled to Mysuru to take part in a commemorative event marking 50 years of Project Tiger. Apparently, after a two-hour safari in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, all he saw were a few pawprints.

Think about this for a minute: the hardest-working man in our country takes two hours off to try and spot a tiger, and not a single animal can be bothered to show up. Not even to stand before a jeep and yawn. I was livid and thought of the wildlife officials responsible for that tiger reserve. Why could they not have planned this better and thought of something simple to make a sighting possible? Why was it so hard for them to corral a few animals into a tight circle of two kilometres or so, and then restrict the honourable prime minister to a tour of that circle? That something this easy to pull off was ignored showed the lack of interest with which they did their jobs. It’s why I was gratified to read reports in the foreign press of how the security team and driver had allegedly been pulled up for their incompetence.