Kupwara is a jewel of the Kashmir valley. From crystal clear rivers streaming round the year to the bright vast and open sunny sky, from the beautiful landscape to the weather, it looks like this place on Earth has been carved by some of Almighty’s own and trusted craftsmen, under his own supervision. My First tenure at Kupwara was something that even I looked up for. Closely associated to flora and wildlife since I was a boy, I was expecting to witness a lot here and I was not at all wrong. I clearly remember it was bright sunny day and I was on my routine check of all posts under my command. As I walked past one of the posts I saw Mr Rashid, a defence porter who was assigned with my Post. He had been around for almost over eight years with the Army helping us with our routine activities. He informed me of a bear who lives near the unmistakeable Yellow Tree and that he regularly visits the location scavenging for food. I decided to witness the act in person as the description suggested of a Brown Himalayan Bear, a real exotic species declared endangered in the early 1980s. We homed on to the location where he was usually seen and plotted an anticipated route from Yellow Tree to the Food Pit from where my friend was feeding himself. The wait was not long and the very next night the bear appeared and yes it was a Himalayan Brown Bear standing tall over eight feet on his hind legs, desperately looking for his meal. But, while I was still in awe, he took a big chunk of rice and leftover food and started moving towards the Yellow tree. Now this was something unexpected as this species of bears are extremely passive and have a sense of strength in themselves thus they feed at the same place they get their food unlike other bear species like Pandas and Asiatic Black Bears who take it to the den and then feast. We followed the bear for about 200 metres and then saw the bear approaching the Yellow Tree where three chubby Cubs were waiting for their supper. This scene left us all in awe and we were only praising the magnanimity of the older bear while we were returning. What happened that night was something really touching and it made me think that yes parenthood is the biggest battle one could face. The bear despite all odds, everyday made an endeavour to get food for its cubs despite the food being fetched from a place inhabited by an even dangerous animal, man. Between all this I suddenly saw Mr Rashid and I knew I was a fool to travel this far and while away an entire night waiting to see the spectacle of sacrifice and love as it was right in front of me all the time. Yes, Mr Rashid was a parallel to the bear. He also walked over 4km every day on foot to reach our location, completed his tasks and made it back to his home with the aim of feeding his children. Be it snow or showers, hot days or humid ones, he was always there at 7 am in the morning with a broad smile on his face asking for more work to be sent his way. It’s true that no warrior is greater than a parent and I just found two befitting examples to endear in my memory.
