Dear readers, as a journalist we go through many incidents but there are some which stay closer to us forever. Recently, I heard the news of the death of the tigress 'collarwali'. She was a resident of Pench tiger reserve, Madhya Pradesh. She was the first one to get a GPS enabled collar in that reserve in 2008, hence she was named 'collarwali'. I remember her because,I encountered with her in 2016. She was royal, gorgeous and walking with her cubs. Speaking of cubs, she held the title of 'super mom' for being the mother of whooping 29 cubs! Among them, 25 survived, that's also a record for any tigress. She alone became photographed so many time, she made the lesser known reserve into now India's central tiger reservation. She headlined in many newspapers, even in my own newspaper. She was featured in BBC, Nat Geo and foreign wildlife magazines also. She brought many tourists, wildlife admirers, behavioural scientists that not only helped financially but also to build reputation of one of the greatest tiger reserve of this country. Even the officials here hailed her cause she successfully dominated other male tigers and produced so many stronger cubs that even her cubs are still helping other reserves to grow. That's why when she died at the age of 16 due to old age, all government officials, local villagers were in tears. She wasn't only a tigress, she was like a tree who held all together with her roots. She was burned beside the river inside reserve in the presence of all the people. You might be wondering, yeah so what, she was great, she was a star but why that matter to you etc. Definitely, I agree with you. The reason, I told you about her cause I want to remember you about her while I move to the next part. She is not the only 'collarwali' here,there are many others like her. I interviewed one of them in UP. Her name was Meera Bharti, she is from Chitrakoot, Bundelkhand. She belonged from 'chamar' community the same from which ex-chief minister Mayawati arose. She is an advocate and also a panchayet member. The local people call her tigress of Bundelkhand. Whenever there is any case of oppression,debate or any help she can provide, she will be there for them. People love her and stand with her. But it always wasn't the same scenario for her. She is a victim of child marriage at the age of eight. She told me her husband used to beat her cause she refused to pick up leaves from jungle instead of studying. She left her husband and now lives separately. She also said smiling those upper class people who used to mock her for studying now came to her for help. She held no grudges against them. She believes only political supremacy can help them to remove castism. She is a believer of Bhimrao Ambedkar and truly believes in 'be educated,be organised and be agitated.' She overcomes castism, social discrimination by raising the 'collar' of her law uniform and education. She also remembered how the same bramhin family congratulated her after her election win who threw her out of their house after 2 months when they found out she belonged to lower caste. She is a 'collarwali' for me and local people of Chitrakoot. She isn't the only one, Mangala Prasad a social worker in Anei,Varanasi;Pawan Choudhary from Varanasi; Madhu from Sivrampur all are 'Collarwali' for me. It's the face of the movement against any form of discrimination and oppression irrespective of gender,caste and religion. At the end,I just urge you all to be your own version of 'collarwali'.

*Collarwali- girl with a collar
Chamar- lower hindu community
Panchayat- Indian village council
Bhimrao Ambedkar- Indian jurist, economist and social reformer
Well, if you made this so far kindly leave your opinion in the comments,it will encourage me to bring more stuffs you never read before.Happy reading folks! #realwriting
© Soumyadip