Man-Eaters of Kumaon – Jim Corbett (Book).

Book: 3/52.
Man-Eaters of Kumaon – Jim Corbett.
My Rating: 5/5.

I have read suspense and thriller novels, and then I got this one from our little library in Pune, which beats them all without any doubt. Unbelievable true stories from the world’s best wildlife sportsmen (when killing wild animals, especially man-eaters, was considered a sport), his own account of ten choicest tiger killings was totally terrific to read. Jim Corbett, a British-origin hunter-naturalist and colonel in the then British Indian Army, was born in Nainital, was known for tracking down and hunting man-eating tigers and leopards in the Garhwal and Kumaon region of the Indian Himalayas in the early twentieth century. All the instances of such killings in this book take place between year 1930-1938 because he called it quits and completely moved out of this sport and stopped taking Govt requests for such killings. Few of the tigers that he was forced to kill had not only killed but also eaten, at times more than 450+ people back then, let alone cattle and harmed so many more during their crossing into human colonies. My timing of reading this book couldn’t be perfect, as a few weeks ago, a wild Leopard was recorded in our neighbouring society’s CCTV, and people from nearby National Forests were on the lookout in the surrounding areas to capture and rehabilitate him/her to the right place. We were indeed forced to remain indoors for almost a weekend while it was on a wild hunt in the area, which gave me a glimpse of the real-life accounts from the book, how those people back then remained terror-stricken for days, weeks and months at a time to wait for the Shikaris to kill the wild animals. No doubt why they have named one of the best wildlife sanctuaries in our part of the world aptly as “Jim Corbett National Park” (I’m yet to visit it though). 

 

What I loved about this book is that it is written with great detail, every step of his journey, personal thoughts while he killed those much-loved tigers to save humanity, and reasons why they turned man-eating in the first place. His theories were always so unbelievably correct, even his predictions that the animal he was chasing has his own flaws, which all turned out to be correct by the time he hunted them. And it’s always not the tigers or lions that he came across, there was no dearth of Snakes, Bears and even Leopards on the prowl while he kept hunting with or without any support from anyone. Another thing I loved about his narration was that he always called India as our country and our people and never like he was a visitor. The way he was hosted by poor villagers and always loved what he was offered was heartening to read; such a gentleman he was. He himself was not a very religious man, going by his texts, and he didn’t believe in many superstitions, but still, he respected all that whenever he came across such beliefs by people of the Garhwal or Kumaon region. The entire book was so thrilling at times that it made me hold my breath to read further while he was chasing a ten-foot tiger or being chased by the same animal without his knowledge, and at times, he was as close as a few feet before saving himself from a tragedy. Hilarious was the account of villager’s accounts when they exaggerated his stories in narrating the same in front of other people, much to his amusement in front of him, but being a gentleman, he would let them enjoy their moments of glory, totally amazing to read. There are two dedicated chapters to other than his love of Tigers and Leopards in the book. One dedicated to his much-loved dog, a spaniel – Robin, who saved his life multiple times and another one to his favourite hobby of fishing, which he was able to do on and off while hunting. 

 

Have you read the Man-Eaters of Kumaon or any other book by Jim Corbett? Do let me know, as I will certainly be looking forward to his other works at the earliest.