An early winter morning somewhere near the very heart of India, the sunlight getting so scattered in the mist as to become a luminous haze that seems to make time stop. The twitter of birds is soft, melodic, mostly collegial. Somewhere in the tall, straw-colored grass, set high on a compact, pale buff face, a pair of topaz eyes burn with an inner glow. Held up by two dark teardrop-like streaks running down the face, as if by a pair of tongs, and powered by a bionic set of optic nerves, they are scanning a landscape that could well have been set anywhere from 72,000 years ago to early last century. On the far horizon, somewhere within its 210-degree vision, it spots action. Perhaps a chital doe, five kilometres away. Even at that distance, its laser-sharp eyes can pick out a magical pictorial symmetry-the spots that cover the deer's body, just like its own. And then begins what could be about the most thrilling of motion pictures in the history of life. The crouch going into a canter that softly eats up the miles in between, and then... at last...the full throttle, the unbelievable torque as it twists and turns, the scapula flowing back and forth on the few occasions that the four limbs touch the ground for this magnificent beast is almost fully in the air as it devours the last bit of savannah left between itself and prey at 120 kmph. A scene that can be enacted by only one land animal: the cheetah.
Denne historien er fra September 26, 2022-utgaven av India Today.
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Denne historien er fra September 26, 2022-utgaven av India Today.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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TEXT AND THE CITY
International Booker Prize winner Geetanjali Shree is back with a newly translated book-Our City That Year
Theatre of the People
This biography pays fulsome tribute to Indian street theatre pioneer Safdar Hashmi, whose life was tragically cut short in 1989
A DRAMATIC LIFE
Written by his daughter, this biography humanises the towering cultural figure that was Ebrahim Alkazi
Contemporary CREATIONS
BARODA BUZZ AT DELHT’S GALLERY ART POSITIVE PLUGS INTO CURRENT TRENDS IN THE BARODA SCHOOL OF ART
A LIFETIME ART OF SCULPTURES
An exhibition at Triveni KalaSangam, Delhi, showcases five decades of veteran sculptor Biman B. Das's oeuvre
Hitting a Winning Streak
OTT roles, anew music album and part of Lollapalooza India’s line-up, it seems like American artiste Lisa Mishra is here to stay
Made in India
RIDING THE WAVE OF INTEREST IN ARTISTES FROM THE SUBCONTINENT, SINGER-SONGWRITER ASHA PUTHLI IS FINALLY HAVING A MOMENT
VOICE OF THE YOUTH
Insightful discussions, pulsating concerts and more...Youth Summit 2024 was brimming with energy as over 5,000 students converged in Bengaluru to meet their icons
The Lost SPARKLE
India's diamond industry is undergoing a seismic shift as demand for natural stones declines and lab-grown alternatives rise, leaving skilled artisans grappling with dwindling incomes and uncertain futures
ONE POLL, MANY CONCERNS
DESPITE OPPOSITION, THE BJP-LED CENTRE IS DETERMINED TO PURSUE THE ONE NATION, ONE POLL’ PLAN. IF IT DOES HAPPEN, QUESTIONS WILL BE ASKED ON WHETHER IT STRENGTHENS OR WEAKENS OUR DEMOCRACY