Nahid Raza

My father Syed Yusuf Raza, told us many stories from his childhood days. Most of them were about our grandfather, Syed Mohammad Razi who was a forest ranger officer near Dhamoh in Madhya Pradesh. Grandfather often brought wild animals home to keep until they were given away to the proper authorities.

One day, grandfather brought home a pair of lion cubs and alerted the entire family not to go near the backyard storage room where he had secured them. My dad and his little sister being inquisitive little kids decided to visit the cubs secretly. The two intended to befriend the wild cubs on their own and if all went well, maybe convince their dad to keep them.

The kids at first were able to successfully Pet the cubs but after a little while the wild animals started to become aggressive and began using their claws on the kids to express themselves. The siblings got scared and ran out screaming for help calling out to their parents. My grandfather was more upset than ever but thanked God that nothing happened to his careless children.