Went to Corbett Tiger Park at the foothills of Ranikhet and have understood why the number of tigers are going down. I think tigers are committing suicide. A tiger is a perfect sanyasi. It lives in forests in solitude, does not talk unless looking for a mate, accepts heat, cold or rain with equanimity, is philosophical to the dangers offered by the forest, eats only what it can and does not indulge, does not accumulate treasure, has no enemies, is a good mother but is not possessive of its children. It is majestic, honest and has a dignity which humans cannot have. Imagine 30 jeeps entering the park at 6 AM everyday so that humans can invade its privacy and disturb its sleep. Imagine a typical north Indian family, dad with a tummy sticking out, a solid gold chain and the ubiquitous mobile phone which has a ring tone of the latest hindi movie. Mom at least 20 kilos overweight and a voice loud enough to frighten an elephant. Two revolting children eating masala flavoured potato crisps out of a large bag and loudly demanding to see a tiger because it has been promised. Is it not enough to drive anyone to suicide? At least the tiger which was brought out for Clinton was rendered unconscious by a cocktail of drugs so it was spared its life. Hard to imagine how the security goons of the US President would have reacted had it twitched its tail. Time we respected the privacy of animals and left them alone.