Not so very long ago a dashing prince, much loved for his cricketing talent, and his beautiful actress wife, much admired for her dimples, were bored. Very bored. Even those suiting ads they did together no longer gave them any pleasure; movies, especially those starring their only son, were a pain; and polo was so passe. So they decided to do what true-blue nawabs did in the good old days before the privy purses were abolished and the science of ecology, mere fantasy. There is, after all, nothing quite like a spot of shikar to get the blood flowing, what? Remember the time when a royal ancestor brought back a bag of a thousand fowls, which the royal cooks despatched to the royal spits and placed, duly braised, on Wedgwood crockery to the delectation of a palace full of palates?Since nawabs, even former ones, still have formidable connections it wasn't long before the State of Jammu and Kashmir was placed at their service for their exclusive hunting pleasure. The obliging Chief Minister, ever the generous host, pulled out all stops to ensure that nothing would come in the way of their little trip to the Hokera wetland reserve, the favoured habitat for birds, including at least ten rare bird species from Central Asia, Europe and Siberia. In keeping with the royal status of the guests, which included another royal from the House of Patiala, two senior ministers of the Abdullah cabinet danced attendance. Hospitality evidently demanded that matters of state be put on hold to ensure that royal feathers remained unruffled. The Wildlife Department of J&K waived an eight-year moratorium on the issuing of hunting licences to accommodate these VVIPs. For that extra touch of exclusivity, the whole area was cordoned off so that nothing could intrude in their air space. Pesky journalists were kept at bay by police officers on the pretext that there was an anti-militancy operation going on at that very spot. It was for the first time in human history, without a doubt, that birds were found guilty of militancy, but then anything can happen in fairy tales, as is well known.But the ways of the world are cruel. Reality intrudes, in fact reality is often known to bite. In an unexpected twist to the tale, the hunters became the hunted, as the various ``Thou shalt nots'' of wildlife conservation were flung at them. The royals were reminded that though the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act doesn't apply to the state of J&K, it represents a certain national consensus on conservation. That the Act covers all animals, be they amphibians, mammals, reptiles or birds. That it is precisely such a selfish pursuit of pleasure that is partly responsible for the sorry state that Indian wildlife is in today. What was particularly galling were angry interviews that a former Union minister for environment and acknowledged Guardian Angel of Little Creatures gave to the media, screaming that ``this Pataudi creature has no business shooting birds''. It was truly a nightmarish ending to a dream excursion. Fairy tales do not usually have a moral, but this one does: two birds in a bush is clearly better than one in hand.
