The Men And The Shikaar

March 14, 2011











Can you locate the man sitting in this picture of so many tiger skins??


The pictures tell the horrifying tales of shikaar ie., hunting of wild animals (here tiger) enjoyed as a hobby or pass time by Britishers and the Nawabs of British Era of India.  How can someone derive pleasure by killing another living being, just for fun?

Pic credit - Raja Deen Dayal Photo Exhibition, IGNCA, New Delhi



RESTLESS


24 comments:

Shilpi said...

OMG! The pics r so disturbing..i too cant undrstnd whts the pleasure behind killing the animals?

Sarah malik said...

frankly speaking....shikaar sounds adventurous to me. yes! killing of animals is unethical but then in those days they had no means of entertainment and showing off their pride and power so it somehow came natural! dont u think so?



sarah

Harish P I said...

Horrible pics.

Alka Gurha said...

The last one is awesome....wow.

Prateek Bagri said...

If hunting down the wild animals would had been a punishable crime under British rule; then I'm sure Britishers would have been much richer than they actually were. :P

Anonymous said...

yeah,exactly
glad that u are a vegetarian
although i don't exactly believe in the concept of being completely veg,I'd kill you if you killed an animal:)

BookWorm said...

I remember what Rudyard Kipling said in his book...that Providence created Maharajas to offer Mankind a Spectacle...

Hunting and Sex were their favorite pastimes as is evident from these pictures...the marble palaces, concubines, gold and jewels, hunted down animals completed their world...

but having said that.. how different is the India of today...? Look at the Opulence of 'Antilla'... just to match that structure...the brother is building another one.... look at the opulence and glitz of the lives of bollywood big-wigs... have we come a full circle...??

Zephyr said...

Chilling indeed!

Arti said...

Very brutal indeed.

Jack said...

Restless,

Those days there were lots of large JUNGLES and thus wild animals. What started as killing some maneater wild animal became a sport in later times. English are famous for such kind of brutal games like fox hunting using hunting dogs and horses. Culling of wild animals is still practiced in many countries due to lack of living space but to kill just for fun is definitely very brutal. And that too tame ones like rabbit, deer or black buck. Last picture shows ego of the man having killed so many wild animals including Deer. Sad.

Take care

Subhrashis Adhikari said...

It is brutal...isn't it?
But this instinct of getting pleasure out of hunting is very primitive and very natural...remember our ancestors? they were all hunters and gatherers...killing animals was a matter of pride as it meant that the hunter was able to provide food for his/her family...no hunting meant no food, and thus no family...
But yes times have changed now, and we have already caused so much damage to nature (mostly by methods other than hunting) that we can atleast spare the few that is left...if not for them, at least for ourselves...

rocksea said...

it is these hunters who made the cheetah extinct.

sm said...

classic pics
man is left side at the foot.

Vee said...

In some of the states in US, hunting deers is legal. Apparently the number of deers around have become uncontrollable and they lead to road accidents when these animals make their way on to high speed lanes of highways. i know a couple of friends who met with accidents due to deers. Scientists in the country do some kind of research to make sure hunting doesn't effect their numbers drastically. that said hunting is allowed only in certain areas and during certain time in the year.

At that time it is either the case that these wild animals are abundant and the then people might have not realised that the wild life is going to an extinction.

I have mixed opinions about what you say. Deriving pleasure by killing animals for fun is definitely a bad thing. But if we think killing animals for food is also bad then the entire world has to go vegetarian. And that won't happen.

Nethra said...

Horrible people! They should have been killed the same way.

Arpana said...

Actually in already devastated fauna and bio diversity your images are really making a poignant impact.

A Restless Mind With A Sensitive Heart! said...

Dear blogger pals, it's heartening to see that so many of you feel for this cause... shall be replying to all soon.

take care

RESTLESS

S.R.Ayyangar said...

I remember, even the sadhus and sanyasis used to sit on tiger's skin while preaching!

Ranj said...

It's a pity to know that man had actually contributed so much for the devastations on earth!!

Vivek said...

Looking @ the pics give me glimpses of skin of tiger one of my uncle have in his drawing-room.

I asked him that time why you do this they said its a game.

I was like how one hv got right to take life of others (inside thought).
I couldn't argue as he used to scold too much ..so didn't asked all that.

But this is really a serious threat to the national animal in the country we must act to preserve it.

I can see the man in the left of the pic.

Anu said...

Atleast if we are hurt we try to shout, cry and express our emotions..poor animals..they can't even do that!!
It's already a sin to kill these animals, and they call it as Hobby and leisure activity! Seesh!
And today they crib that we have only 1000 tigers and it's nearing extinction!! What a shame on these people!

Reema S said...

so so very sad :( 

Nevin Thomas said...

Great blog post. This should be shared in fb to let the world know the truth. You have a new follower now

RESTLESS said...

Thanks. Welcome Nevin Thomas :)

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