One day, I was at the western side of the farm, which is at a height of 1,000 metres above the sea level. At exactly five minutes past noon, I was in the Nayakaman section. It was the lunch hour between noon and one in the afternoon, yet I was surprised to notice that not a single plucker was resting after lunch before commencing work. I walked until one o'clock and was even more surprised to find all the pluckers returning very quietly to pick tea. But their eyes were smiling, so I knew that something was afoot. Their unusual bustle at the end of the break was strange. I had to find out the reason for this, but no one would tell me.

So I met the Area Supervisor and asked him to find out. Later, he quietly informed me that the workers had disturbed a panther that had killed a wild boar. They had then taken the wild boar, hidden it, and had trooped off to the woods to share it among themselves during the lunch break. Ruplal, the Supervisor, was indeed very angry that he had not got a share of the wild boar. Jokingly, I asked him to circulate an ancient Gurkha superstition that whosoever stole the prey of a panther could expect a visit from it, so beware! Of course, the tale spread like wildfire.

Next morning, I was surprised to see two ladies from Nayakaman. They had come to me for advice.