You will not believe what this tiger in Ranthambore was up to. Or would you?

These astonishing photographs of a tiger in the famous Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve peeking into a staff chowki (Jharokha chowki) were taken by Sawai Madhopur-based naturalist and photographer Hemraj Meena. The tiger is identified as T-24, nicknamed "Ustaad", being the dominant male around these parts. In a park where every single move of the tiger - from the flick of a tail to the routine act of defecating is dissected minutely, if not obsessively, by the online "tiger" community, these photographs have gone viral. The question of the hour (though thankfully it has not yet sparked Arnab Goswami's interest for Newshour) is what motivated the tiger to inspect the chowki.

Here are my two, er three bits: 

1. It was a routine patrol on the part of the tiger. To check if his guards are on duty. To call on the forest staff that protect him, and do a general inspection if the chowki had all basic facilities and the staff well-looked after.

If this is the case, I must say here that the tiger is doing a better job of concerning itself with staff welfare, than the government. Forest staff are at the frontline of wildlife protection, and are arguably the most marganalised work force, and rarely recognised for the vital task they do of protecting endangered wildlife, and eco-systems. Their duty is tough, demanding, and risky, and they serve in remote forests - many a time without even the most basic of facilities such as decent housing, clean drinking water, toilets, protective clothing, medical aid etc.

We, however, have no report on what T-24 had to say in this matter. He refused to comment, and no one wanted to press the issue.

2. Well, it could just be the case of a curious cat. Tigers, in fact most animals, are curious creatures - so vouch those who observe them. Way back in 1934, forest officer, FW Champion writes about an inquisitive tiger, who, surprised to see a car (they were a rarity then!) and wondering what the hell it was, walked all around it, sniffed it, put its fore paws on the bonnet, looked into the window, shook the car - much to the horror of the orderly inside, who had hidden under the seat! The orderly lived to tell the tale - the predator had walked off in disgust - and narrated it to the sportsman who came back to find him quaking in terror, and dusty pugmarks on the bonnet! More recently, Dr Bivash Pandav, a biologist with the Wildlife Institute of India reports of a tiger at Rajaji National Park who had probably "seen" Pandav and a colleague fiddling with the camera trap. They saw very fresh pugmarks on the spot as they replaced the memory card. Soon as they left, the tiger came back and thoroughly sniffed the camera and around, probably wondering if it had something to do with the annoying light which went off every time he sauntered past! The camera trap, which is activated by infrared sensors when it detects body heat or movement, had captured the tiger minutes before - and minutes after - Pandav and his colleague left the spot.

3. This is a serious one... I was asked if the tiger had come looking for food: And I say no. Tigers do not kill people as routine, we are not on the menu - and very rare is the tiger who will actively seek people out as "prey". Though very occasionally, usually due to stress of circumstances: be it incapacity to kill natural prey due to injury or old age, or being cornered and harassed by a crowd, tigers may kill people. . 

Now, our T-24 has a history. He is believed to have killed three people between 2010-2012, and at the time, there were efforts to establish the fact, and then trap it and take it to a zoo. But as time moved on, there were no further killings. In fact, T-24 was seen frequently by guards and photographed by tourists, naturalists. He was pugnacious - but not a threat. And then, as the story goes, Ustaadji sat regally in the middle of the road that runs through the park and to the Ganesh temple, on the last day of the Ganesh festival, when lakhs of pilgrims come on foot to pay homage. The pilgrims were terrified, but our T-24 was the archetypal cool cat. Not batting an eye, not budging an inch, as forests guards maneuvered thousands of people past him in groups.

T-24 had plenty of chance to kill, but he didn't.

On the morning of March 19, 6.40am to be precise, Hemraj Meena caught Ustaad peering into the forest chowki, sniffing around, before he walked out. The chowkidar, Shivraj, standing just a little away, hopped into the photographer's gypsy and waited it out till the tiger had made his visit. Before going back into the chowki, minutes after the tiger.

All in a day's work in the tiger forests of India...