"Please photograph the turtle with its carapace facing upwards and once with its belly upwards. Place a scale alongside it for reference. Please mail these photos to me, and release it into the sea.", said Dr Divya.
"All right madam... No its not a problem at all, I'll take care of it. Right ma'am.", said Adesh as he cut the call and stuffed the phone down his pocket.
"Is it a turtle or a tortoise? Is there a difference at all?" asked Pandey.
A quick look on wikipedia revealed to both the young civil engineers that turtles primarily habituated aquatic environs while tortoises were found in arid regions.
Adesh and Pandey had come to the worksite- situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, forty kilometers north of Chennai- in the morning to find their labourers and supervisors peering into a water tank. Upon closer inspection, they found that there was a turtle inside the tank. Apparently, Billu, one of the workmen had found the animal nearby and had brought it to the camp site.
"Maine road pe se uthaya sirji", said Billu in hindi. ("I lifted it off the road").
For the past couple of months, many Olive Ridley turtles' carcasses had turned up on the beach. Dr Divya, a retired professor from a Marine Fisheries Research Institute had been notified and had personally visited the site a few times to identify the species. She had advised the two engineers to take due care and report any findings of live or dead turtles or egg laying sites.
Upon finding the little turtle inside the tank, and that too alive, Adesh was ecstatic. He had been an avid watcher of documentaries featuring animals since childhood. The sight of so many dead creatures had made him call Dr Divya initially when the carcasses had been turning up. After feeling helpless for so many days, here was his chance at last to do his bit to help this ancient species. He was sure that the small turtle was an infant and had lost its way after hatching. He decided that he would release it into the sea much like the Steve Irwins on television.
Pandey on the other hand was ecstatic too, but for a different reason. His eyes came half out of their sockets, and his smile revealed most of his teeth; his canines shining brightly.
"Lets eat it!", cried Pandey.
"No!", cried Adesh and half the labourers.
"Yes!", cried the other half with glee.
"Its an endangered creature! Don't you have enough of chicken and fish as it is?", said Adesh.
"Look Adesh, I grew up working part time at a butcher's shop. When I look at goats or chickens, I only see the curry, not the animals. I've had a long unfulfilled wish to eat a tortoise, let me have this one." pleaded Pandey.
Kalu, one of the labourers, took up Pandey's case. He explained patiently to Adesh and the others opposed to eating the turtle that the best way to cook them would be to put them into a vessel containing boiling water while they are still alive. The vessel would have to be closed with a heavy lid, or a stone could be placed upon a lighter lid to prevent the turtle from escaping the vessel as it frantically rushes around inside it during its final death throes.
"Gud gud gud gud gud gud... Gud gud gud gud gud gud... Gud gud gud gud gud gud... Bhagega!", cried out Kalu while circling his arms horizontally indicating that the turtle would rush around in circles within the vessel while noises indicated by the onomatopoeic 'Gud gud gud gud gud gud...' would be generated.
Post the boiling procedure, the turtle would be relieved of its carapace and seasoned and cooked in a gravy.
"Please don't call that Divya lady! Let me have this thing!" cried out Pandey as if he were gasping for water in the heart of the Thar on a hot summer day. He had been quite inspired by Kalu's vivid description of the cooking procedure.
"DOCTOR Divya! She is a senior scientist who retired from a very high position from a national institute, at least have a little respect!" said Adesh as he fished out his phone and dialed the number.
The number turned out to be wrong, much to Pandey's amusement. But Adesh prevailed upon him to call Dr Divya.
"Fine, I'll call this Divya woman." said Pandey grumpily.
"The turtle seems to be a young one judging by its photographs. It is probably scared to venture out into the sea. After releasing it, please observe to see if it returns to the shore. Call me back if that happens, we will then have to rehabilitate it elsewhere." said Dr Divya.
Adesh and Pandey proceeded towards the shore followed by ten of their workmen.
"Fine, but if the damn thing comes back, it is mine!" cried out Pandey.
Standing a few feet from the water, Adesh freed the turtle on the sandy beach. Within seconds, it completely burrowed and buried itself into the soil.
Billu had been observing the two engineers. He intervened at this point and asked them what it was exactly that they planned to do. Adesh took it upon himself to explain the life cycle of Olive Ridleys and how the young ones needed to swim out to sea immediately upon hatching.
"Par yeh namak pani ka toh nahi hai sirji!", cried Billu. (But this isn't a sea water turtle sir)
Adesh and Pandey assured him that a highly learned person, recently retired from a premier institute had seen the photographs, and they were simply following her advice. Billu nodded his consent, although he had originally brought the turtle to the campsite with the hope of raising it.
Kalu dug the turtle out. It immediately receded into its carapace, Kalu started tapping on its shell while wearing a hungry smile on his face. "Gud gud gud gud gud gud...", cried he delightfully, making one last futile attempt to make Adesh see his point.
Pandey snatched the turtle from Kalu's hands, rushed out towards the sea and released it in waist deep water. Everyone sighed as they watched the turtle swim away in the turbulent rough sea, although half of them sighed with relief and the other half from disappointment.
"Kya fayda sirji, yeh to mar jayega!" cried a forlorn Kalu. (What's the use sir, it will surely die.)
Adesh had had enough of this rubbish and turned the full force of his ire towards Kalu and Billu who had persisted on having morbid thoughts despite being assured of Adesh's ten years of NGC watching experience and the qualifications of Dr Divya.
"The female turtles come onto the shore and dig a hole to lay their eggs. Once the hatch-ling digs itself out of the nest, it needs to move out towards the sea. This turtle must have lost its way, which is why you found it on the road behind our camp site-"
"Not the road behind out camp site sir! But the Chennai bye-pass highway near Ponneri!" cried out Billu cutting short Adesh's monologue.
"But that is 20 kilometers inland! Then this couldn't possibly be a sea turtle!" exclaimed Adesh while turning to look horror struck at the huge waves crashing onto the shore. The Bay of Bengal was not at all happy, and it showed! The swells could be seen breaking far before the inter-tidal zone, and the strong wind wasn't helping matters much.
Adesh ordered the entire group to get back to work while trying to mollify an irate Pandey.
"You brought the damn thing from twenty kilometers away and you tell us now! After its thrown into the bloody sea! Its not even endangered! I could have eaten it, if only you had opened your mouth earlier!" shouted Pandey at Billu.
A few hours later, Kalu came running towards Pandey. They could be seen whispering together much like conspirators planning a despot's demise.
"Don't stop me now, remember the deal, its mine if it returns!" said Pandey.
Adesh didn't try to stop Pandey and he tried not to get too perturbed by Kalu who was circling his arms wildly while repeatedly crying, "Gud gud gud gud gud gud..."
Dr Divya was informed about the successful release of the Olive Ridley hatchling, without too much of the details to prevent confusion.
"All right madam... No its not a problem at all, I'll take care of it. Right ma'am.", said Adesh as he cut the call and stuffed the phone down his pocket.
"Is it a turtle or a tortoise? Is there a difference at all?" asked Pandey.
A quick look on wikipedia revealed to both the young civil engineers that turtles primarily habituated aquatic environs while tortoises were found in arid regions.
Adesh and Pandey had come to the worksite- situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, forty kilometers north of Chennai- in the morning to find their labourers and supervisors peering into a water tank. Upon closer inspection, they found that there was a turtle inside the tank. Apparently, Billu, one of the workmen had found the animal nearby and had brought it to the camp site.
"Maine road pe se uthaya sirji", said Billu in hindi. ("I lifted it off the road").
For the past couple of months, many Olive Ridley turtles' carcasses had turned up on the beach. Dr Divya, a retired professor from a Marine Fisheries Research Institute had been notified and had personally visited the site a few times to identify the species. She had advised the two engineers to take due care and report any findings of live or dead turtles or egg laying sites.
Upon finding the little turtle inside the tank, and that too alive, Adesh was ecstatic. He had been an avid watcher of documentaries featuring animals since childhood. The sight of so many dead creatures had made him call Dr Divya initially when the carcasses had been turning up. After feeling helpless for so many days, here was his chance at last to do his bit to help this ancient species. He was sure that the small turtle was an infant and had lost its way after hatching. He decided that he would release it into the sea much like the Steve Irwins on television.
Pandey on the other hand was ecstatic too, but for a different reason. His eyes came half out of their sockets, and his smile revealed most of his teeth; his canines shining brightly.
"Lets eat it!", cried Pandey.
"No!", cried Adesh and half the labourers.
"Yes!", cried the other half with glee.
"Its an endangered creature! Don't you have enough of chicken and fish as it is?", said Adesh.
"Look Adesh, I grew up working part time at a butcher's shop. When I look at goats or chickens, I only see the curry, not the animals. I've had a long unfulfilled wish to eat a tortoise, let me have this one." pleaded Pandey.
Kalu, one of the labourers, took up Pandey's case. He explained patiently to Adesh and the others opposed to eating the turtle that the best way to cook them would be to put them into a vessel containing boiling water while they are still alive. The vessel would have to be closed with a heavy lid, or a stone could be placed upon a lighter lid to prevent the turtle from escaping the vessel as it frantically rushes around inside it during its final death throes.
"Gud gud gud gud gud gud... Gud gud gud gud gud gud... Gud gud gud gud gud gud... Bhagega!", cried out Kalu while circling his arms horizontally indicating that the turtle would rush around in circles within the vessel while noises indicated by the onomatopoeic 'Gud gud gud gud gud gud...' would be generated.
Post the boiling procedure, the turtle would be relieved of its carapace and seasoned and cooked in a gravy.
"Please don't call that Divya lady! Let me have this thing!" cried out Pandey as if he were gasping for water in the heart of the Thar on a hot summer day. He had been quite inspired by Kalu's vivid description of the cooking procedure.
"DOCTOR Divya! She is a senior scientist who retired from a very high position from a national institute, at least have a little respect!" said Adesh as he fished out his phone and dialed the number.
The number turned out to be wrong, much to Pandey's amusement. But Adesh prevailed upon him to call Dr Divya.
"Fine, I'll call this Divya woman." said Pandey grumpily.
"The turtle seems to be a young one judging by its photographs. It is probably scared to venture out into the sea. After releasing it, please observe to see if it returns to the shore. Call me back if that happens, we will then have to rehabilitate it elsewhere." said Dr Divya.
Adesh and Pandey proceeded towards the shore followed by ten of their workmen.
"Fine, but if the damn thing comes back, it is mine!" cried out Pandey.
Standing a few feet from the water, Adesh freed the turtle on the sandy beach. Within seconds, it completely burrowed and buried itself into the soil.
Billu had been observing the two engineers. He intervened at this point and asked them what it was exactly that they planned to do. Adesh took it upon himself to explain the life cycle of Olive Ridleys and how the young ones needed to swim out to sea immediately upon hatching.
"Par yeh namak pani ka toh nahi hai sirji!", cried Billu. (But this isn't a sea water turtle sir)
Adesh and Pandey assured him that a highly learned person, recently retired from a premier institute had seen the photographs, and they were simply following her advice. Billu nodded his consent, although he had originally brought the turtle to the campsite with the hope of raising it.
Kalu dug the turtle out. It immediately receded into its carapace, Kalu started tapping on its shell while wearing a hungry smile on his face. "Gud gud gud gud gud gud...", cried he delightfully, making one last futile attempt to make Adesh see his point.
Pandey snatched the turtle from Kalu's hands, rushed out towards the sea and released it in waist deep water. Everyone sighed as they watched the turtle swim away in the turbulent rough sea, although half of them sighed with relief and the other half from disappointment.
"Kya fayda sirji, yeh to mar jayega!" cried a forlorn Kalu. (What's the use sir, it will surely die.)
Adesh had had enough of this rubbish and turned the full force of his ire towards Kalu and Billu who had persisted on having morbid thoughts despite being assured of Adesh's ten years of NGC watching experience and the qualifications of Dr Divya.
"The female turtles come onto the shore and dig a hole to lay their eggs. Once the hatch-ling digs itself out of the nest, it needs to move out towards the sea. This turtle must have lost its way, which is why you found it on the road behind our camp site-"
"Not the road behind out camp site sir! But the Chennai bye-pass highway near Ponneri!" cried out Billu cutting short Adesh's monologue.
"But that is 20 kilometers inland! Then this couldn't possibly be a sea turtle!" exclaimed Adesh while turning to look horror struck at the huge waves crashing onto the shore. The Bay of Bengal was not at all happy, and it showed! The swells could be seen breaking far before the inter-tidal zone, and the strong wind wasn't helping matters much.
Adesh ordered the entire group to get back to work while trying to mollify an irate Pandey.
"You brought the damn thing from twenty kilometers away and you tell us now! After its thrown into the bloody sea! Its not even endangered! I could have eaten it, if only you had opened your mouth earlier!" shouted Pandey at Billu.
A few hours later, Kalu came running towards Pandey. They could be seen whispering together much like conspirators planning a despot's demise.
"Don't stop me now, remember the deal, its mine if it returns!" said Pandey.
Adesh didn't try to stop Pandey and he tried not to get too perturbed by Kalu who was circling his arms wildly while repeatedly crying, "Gud gud gud gud gud gud..."
Dr Divya was informed about the successful release of the Olive Ridley hatchling, without too much of the details to prevent confusion.
