A Tiger's Letter- Must Read

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Hi, I am a Tiger. Yup, one of the 1411 that are left in India. Normally, I would not make such a bold move of writing on a blog but frankly I am pissed with you humans. I am not pissed with you guys because my race is dying, because lets be honest, you humans haven't done anything for us in a while, so why should we expect it now? I AM however pissed that there are several of you useless humans who actually think you are doing something but in reality you aren't helping at all. That my friends is something that I will not tolerate. Everyday I read some nonsense in the paper about what a great effort you guys are taking. All this news and hype is rubbish. Here is why.

Let me start of by saying that I have watched the "saveourtigers.com" commercials on TV. You guys have put one of your heroes MS Dhoni in the ad to get some attention. Oh great people, you got attention, thanks a ton (note the sarcastic roar in that). I went to the website. IT HAD NOTHING. Nothing for you guys to do, no direction on how YOU can help, nowhere to contribute, no plan of action, nothing about efforts being taken, nothing at all of any value. The website has a counter that says "192104 people have pledged their support have you?" Let me ask you guys who run this website, where is that support? What has that support done for me and my fellow tigers who are dying? The answer- NOTHING.

If your aim was awareness, I think everyone in India knows Tigers are suffering so whats the big deal. If your aim is to channel this "new" awareness in to something good, please please please share your plan with me.

The commercial also says, blog, speak up etc. etc. Let me tell you something, speaking up and blogging about it is not something that has led to any support for me or my family. The bottom line is, you guys found a good cause and started to advertise about it. PRG told me that he has tons of friends who are on board to help out but don't know where to start. Does your website tell them what they can do? NO

PRG asked me to mention here that if any of you saveourtigers.com people are reading this, and you actually believe you are doing some good, please comment on this blog and share you plan with PRG and me. Nothing would make us happier than to be set straight on this one. If we are wrong.

Another example which has pissed me off is on facebook. Like most of you I log on to facebook 2-3 times a day and have it on my blackberry too. The other day I got a request to become a fan of Stripey the Cub. I checked in to it and was shocked. Firstly, this cub has 211,076 fans. You know how much being a fan of Stripey teaches you on how you can help? Yup, ZERO. The cub just updates you on some drawings by kids and some pictures of my cousins. Thanks Stripey page creators, that did a lot.

Pledging support on savourtigers.com doesn't save me

Becoming a fan of Stripey doesn't save me.

Seeing you humans do all these useless things to make yourselves feel better about contributing to Tigers made me sick. So I called my pal PRG who has become a close friend since we met in Kanha (that is me in the picture above). He suggested I write on his blog and see if any of his intelligent readers come up with some REAL suggestions on how he and his friends can help.

The main aim of this blog post is to find some REAL information. So if you have ideas, organizations that do good work, and places where PRG can go and help, please put the names and information in the comments section. I know that me and my family will definitely appreciate it.

Thanks

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 14, 2010 at 8:37 PM

    Dude, I LOVE THIS POST. I couldnt agree with you more. Those websites u mentioned are useless. Its the same old shit in our country that never leads to anything. I wish I had some leads to contribute, but I don't I will post something if I do. Well Done and Well Written..

    ReplyDelete
  2. STMarch 14, 2010 at 8:38 PM

    PRG, you are brilliant. I have not checked out these websites but was skeptical on them from the start. I am glad you brought this too my notice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. HarshMarch 14, 2010 at 8:40 PM

    Same old India....We never change. Most of these initiatives are useless anyway. Aircel just wants publicity to show they are doing some CSR. I want to know

    how many tigers have they saved?
    What is their game plan?
    what is their 5 year strategy and 10 year strategy?

    While I konw that your intention from this blog was not to attack them but rather to find some real solutions, If they are interested then may be they can get us all started. After all they do seem to have the money to get this going.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 14, 2010 at 9:31 PM

    Pranav, definitely one of your best posts to date.

    The Aircel / Stripey the Cub campaigns haven't done much except make a few people go "aawww that cub is soooo cute, where can i get one!!??!!"....not "what the hell can i do to HELP!!!"...interestingly enough Aircel has picked up the infamous "1411" from a report called The Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey which was published in 2008 by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India. This figure is a mere estimation of the number of tigers that may have roamed the country at the time and openly states that numerous areas were not assessed. So surprise, surprise....we probably have less than 1000 tigers left.

    Honestly, the answer lies in educating the villagers who slash and burn the forest under the misconception that it is fertile land, ideal for growing crops (which it is not), thereby encroaching upon the tigers' territory. If Aircel really wanted to make a difference may be they should sponsor education/awareness camps in the villages and help provide employment to the villagers...

    I could go on about the various other F-ups but this is your blog and not my book :)...we're talking about tigers not pussy cats and the bottom line is people and tigers cannot co-exist.

    ReplyDelete
  5. VineetMarch 15, 2010 at 1:03 AM

    Brilliant post PG.

    ReplyDelete
  6. ChiggsMarch 15, 2010 at 3:13 PM

    Brilliant article mate... Count me in for any REAL plan that you may have on how to help...

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMarch 15, 2010 at 4:47 PM

    Absolutely Brilliant...hopefully people will wake up and actually find solutions

    ReplyDelete
  8. Shraddha Vora SanghaviMarch 21, 2010 at 6:57 PM

    Loved it... :) :)
    Would love to help but really dont know how.... Do let us know if any help is needed...!!!

    ReplyDelete

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