Anicca, Tigger and the Night at Addo National Elephant Park
Naturally, I was devastated with Tigger's passing.
The strange thing was that, while I thought I've been preparing for this day to come, I wasn't really ready at all.
For many nights, over the years, I would look at him as Tigger lay asleep.
I would think of the eventual day that he would leave me.
An indescribable emotion would descend upon me every time - it was a mixture of grief, forlornness, resignation and understanding.
Those were brief moments of tenderness before I would fall into slumber myself.
Then that day came.
I realised that no mental preparation could ready me for how I would feel;
A basin overflowing with emotions deep within me.
******
Anicca.
T replied this to me when I shared that it was too early for Tigger to go.
It was the reply that I needed.
******
That evening, at Addo National Elephant Park, during the night safari drive
I had the rare opportunity to see a pack of hyenas
Encircling a buffalo calf and his mother.
The calf has lost his tail to the clan of hyenas
He was bleeding from the back
The mother tried desperately to fend away the hyenas
As they closed in for the kill.
It was a terrible thing to watch
Especially when the scene was unfolding right in front of me
And I could not, and should not act
For this was the law of nature.
Fortunately, a bull buffalo, and then another one, heeded the call for help
And formed a protective circle around the calf
We drove away, without knowing the final outcome
******
Anicca.
Impermanence was what Tigger taught me
And reinforced by my encounter at Addo
Change is constant, and nothing is permanent
And I continue to learn and appreciate the transience of existence
The calf may live to see another day
The hyenas may get to nourish themselves for their survival
The cycle of birth, life and death repeats.