Hanumanth and I are in a tiny, non-descript village, along with PS Vijayshankar from Samaj Pragati Sahayog, on a learning journey. We discuss agriculture with the denizens and then I ask, "Has anyone had any encounters with wildlife?"
The answer is unanimous: I should, they all say, speak to Jowan Singh.
We walk a bit to reach his modest home and he comes out to greet us with a big smile (as you can see).
And then, with no pretensions whatsoever, he tells us the story.
Twenty odd years ago, on a warm summer night, the family was asleep outside their hut, in a little village about three hours from Indore.
Jowan Singh awoke to a rather odd sound- a stifled, yet terrified cry - and looking around, he saw a leopard taking his five-year old daughter away. The animal had moved silently among the sleeping family, picked up the little one with its mouth and was now dragging her over the hard wheat field.
With a yell, he began to chase the animal. He then did the unthinkable: he caught up with the leopard and held on to its tail, shouting all the while. (As he described this, my heart began thumping away and I got the goosebumps big time).
The leopard tried to pull away with a growl, but Jowan Singh would not let go. The animal dropped the girl and that was when Jowan Singh let go as well, half expecting the leopard to attack him but the now-frightened animal bounded off.
Jowan Singh then took his daughter - who was bleeding badly from the skull where the leopard had its grip - on a bullock cart to the nearest hospital (a Government one) four hours away in the middle of the night. The doctor on night duty examined the wounds and, with a shrug of indifference, said that they would have to wait for the day doctors to show up to do the needful.
And that was when Jowan Singh Alava, this man of incredible tenacity and courage, finally lost it. "I told him that, if my daughter did not survive, he wouldn't too. I had blood all over me and a frenzied look (like a paagal), so the doctor got really scared and treated her." he said, with a cheerful laugh.
She survived and is now in her twenties, though she carries the scars on her temple and face. What Jowan Singh carried on his face, when we met him, was a charming smile and a modest acceptance of our encomiums.
Yes, Jowan Singh Alava is a real hero
