The Book of Life

INSIGHTS OF THE WISE That is what is called high spirit and magnanimity. Without this spirit and magnanimity, it is impossible to bring any great plan to completion in this world. A NATURAL SHIELD I n 1973, there were about 1,800 tigers in India’s forests. Later, Project Tiger was launched to increase their numbers. The project succeeded, and now the number of tigers has risen to over 4,000. But with the increase in tigers, the danger also increased. In Uttar Pradesh’s Terai region lies Dudhwa National Park, and between India and Bangladesh are the Sundarbans. In these places, tigers often come out and kill villagers’ cattle. However, it is rare for a tiger to attack a human. Even when it does, the attack usually comes from behind. The reason is that the tiger fears the human face. A report states that in the Sundarbans forest, people who enter the tiger’s territory out of necessity put a mask on the back of their heads, so that a human face can be seen both from the front and from behind. The reason for this tactic is that tigers rarely attack a person from the front. “Those that do enter the buffer zone of the Sundarbans wear masks on the back of their heads because a tiger seldom attacks a man from the front.” (The Times of India, 11 December 1988)