Rare black panther spotted with leopard pals in Nilgiris sparks ‘Jungle Book' nostalgia online: ‘Bagheera is looking for Sher Khan'
A rare video from Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris has gone viral, showing a black panther—often likened to Bagheera from The Jungle Book—walking alongside two spotted leopards. Shared by IFS officer Parveen Kaswan, the sighting left netizens amazed, sparking nostalgia and wonder. (Screenshots: X/ @ParveenKaswan )
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A Scene Rarer Than Fiction
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'They're Looking for Sher Khan!'
The Panther's Perilous Path
In the shadowed forests of the Nilgiris, a scene straight out of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book came alive—leaving wildlife lovers spellbound and the internet abuzz with emotion and awe. A majestic black panther, reminiscent of the beloved Bagheera, was caught on camera taking a moonlit stroll alongside two spotted leopards , evoking both wonder and nostalgia.The 29-second clip was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan, who aptly captioned it, 'Bagheera and other friends for a night walk on the roads of Nilgiris. What a rare thing.' Within hours, the video began doing the rounds on social media, drawing parallels with the animated world of Mowgli and his jungle companions.In the wild, leopards are solitary by nature. Catching even one on camera is often a matter of luck, patience, and persistence. But this brief sighting—showing not one, but three leopards walking together, one of them melanistic—is a wildlife rarity.The black panther, known scientifically as a melanistic leopard , is not a separate species but a genetic variation of the Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca). As IFS officer Kaswan explained in a follow-up post, 'These animals appear black due to a genetic condition called melanism, which results in excess dark pigmentation. Despite their dark coats, their characteristic leopard rosettes are often visible under certain lighting conditions.'What makes this particular video stand out is the rare documentation of a melanistic leopard moving in sync with two regular-patterned leopards. Such visual harmony among these elusive cats in the same frame, and in the open, is almost unheard of.For many netizens, the video was more than just a wildlife moment—it stirred up memories from childhood. One user commented, 'I remember Baghira from Mowgli. Such a cute character.' Another wrote with a mix of humour and imagination, 'They are looking for Sher Khan.' Others were in awe of the animal's natural grace, calling it the 'ultimate nocturnal predator.'In a digital world often saturated with chaos, this fleeting glimpse into the tranquil, untamed wild offered a moment of pure connection—between nature, memory, and wonder.While the internet marvelled, Kaswan didn't let the moment pass without a reminder of the growing threats to these magnificent creatures. 'Conservation efforts are vital for their survival,' he noted. 'They face threats like habitat loss and poaching.'The Indian leopard, agile and fiercely adaptable, has often been a silent survivor amidst urban expansion and shrinking forests. Capable of leaping over 6 meters, running at speeds over 58 km/h, and even swimming when necessary, it is the smallest of the four 'big cats' under the Panthera genus—yet arguably the most mysterious.Now, with viral moments like this one, the silent grace of these animals may no longer remain unseen. Perhaps, like Kipling's stories, this moment too can inspire a deeper sense of wonder and responsibility toward our shared wild heritage.
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A haze of memories Ramachandran writes about her own rebel phase like it were the most natural thing to happen. And indeed it was. The freedom of the new millennium was for everyone to enjoy. To aid this was Bollywood, alongside the Internet. Ramachandran grew up during a time when Bollywood could still create big cultural moments and influence trends. The most notorious of which was Kareena Kapoor's size-zero figure for the 2008 dud, Tashan. The movie was a flop at the box office but the frenzy of the size-zero era is felt to this day. All of this seems quite silly in retrospect, but Ramachandran considers how it worsened body image issues among Indian women, including young girls such as herself. Here, too, this becomes a gateway into examining the national preoccupation with women's bodies and how class and caste figure into the politics of fashion and appearance. In her memoir-cum-reportage, Ramachandran reinforces the humbling realisation: 'I'm special, not unique.' Her knife cuts deep into her emotional wounds, and while the grief of her personal life is debilitating, what is worse is carrying it around. Her reckoning with faith and spirituality (Buddhism, in this case) was especially fascinating to read. She takes Vipassana seriously and leans into it to let go. Faith, regardless of its many shortcomings, becomes a helpful refuge when nothing else seems to work. Frankly speaking, Ramachandran has guts. It's not easy to write about how much you despise your parents or speak freely of the hurt they have caused you. (She calls them 'devourers' at one point.) In fact, it's terribly difficult to even admit it to yourself. (Finally, a truth that is universally acknowledged.) The shame of failing to love your parents is perhaps greater than the shame of being a failed parent, and it is uniquely heartbreaking to step away from the toxicity and acknowledge that you have been hurting too. She is witty when she looks back on those difficult years, but the pain hides in plain sight. Thankfully for the reader, Ramachandran doesn't attempt to downplay the seriousness of the mess that she (and other Indian millennials) has landed in. Famous Last Questions does not offer famous last answers. It appears as though Ramachandran still has a long way to go – but she is beginning to see that her parents loved her in their own, broken ways, that they too were victims of repressive regimes and a lifelong curse of shame and guilt. If there's one way out of this madness, it is perhaps to let the small things go. What the book did for me was unravel my own memories – my dual life during my teenage years, the lies I have told over the years to spare my parents from truly knowing me, the hypocrisy of my father's 'feminism', my mother's eagerness to see me married while ruing it unproductive… And of course, the severe disgust I felt about my body as a 12-year-old when I saw a skinny Kareena Kapoor in sparkling swimsuits. It is not easy to see some of your most private indignities reflected in a stranger's memoir. Read it at your own risk.
