The will to survive

They survived for 40 days in the dense Amazon jungle, home to highly  venomous snakes, jaguars and all sorts of deadly creatures, rendering it one of the most dangerous forests of the world. Making matters worse for the four siblings was the 15-16 hours of nonstop rainfall every day.

The courageous 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, eldest of the four siblings, took charge of the situation against all odds. She carefully picked
edible seeds and fruits, guided  her siblings to water and ensured that all four of them hid in tree trunks to save themselves from predators.

Move over Bear Grylls and Hazen Audel! Lesley’s determination to live and do all it takes to keep her siblings alive has given a whole new dimension to jungle survival. Her resourcefulness displayed that being well connected to Nature right from birth can do wonders in life, which can throw up some serious, unforeseen challenges.

Are we prepared? Or, to rephrase, with technology penetration and dependence, are we connected with Nature at all? Especially kids?

Pranad Patil, a naturalist once got lost for a few hours in Tungareshwar Wildlife
Sanctuary north of Mumbai. “We were careful not to drink stagnant water, and drank only from a flowing stream even as we were searching for a way out,”
he recalls. And that was not all. He had another terrifying experience in the buffer area of Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala.

“It was getting dark, and there were a lot of leeches in the forest. We found our way to a village eventually, and I discovered 36 leeches on me,” he says. He feels urban children are getting disconnected from Nature.

“They are forced to play indoors, to keep them safe from dust and germs. But this only ends up weakening their immune system. A little exposure to nature is essential at a young age,” says Pranad, who is of the opinion that government and policy makers should make arrangements to ensure that everyone has outdoor time to soak in Nature.

SURVIVAL INSTINCTS

Surviving in hostile conditions like those prevailing in the Amazon is tough, but every child is a born survivor, feels Mehz Khan of the Jungle Survival Academy in Bandhavgarh. “We are born survivors; however we need to reconnect with our inherent skills and we never voluntarily put ourselves in hostile situations,” she says.

Creating fire, finding water and food, keeping safe and making a shelter are a few areas that Mehz and her team train people in, while exposing them to the wild, inhabited by creatures ranging from the ant to the tiger. They ensure that people develop muscle memory while doing this too.

“At the end of the course, every person comes out with a feeling that they can survive any hostile situation if the need arises,” she says.