It was a surreal experience. Right in the midst of one of Lahore’s smelliest, dirtiest and most congested localities (Shalmi chowk) is a whitewashed office with a huge Mobilink board outside.  The office’s location might seem somewhat incongruous given the socio-economic milieu in which it sits, but considering the mobile phone invasion, truck drivers who constitute a large percentage of Shalmi’s residents are as much part of the cell phone culture as those sitting behind desks in air-conditioned offices in more upmarket locales, and hence as important a target audience for the phone company’s newest offer as the latter.  More incongruous, however, is what exists behind the office building. 

            In its rear lies a huge truck adda.  As I walked into this expanse, a rather ugly, mottled dog crossed my path.  Even with my limited knowledge of animals, I sensed this was a fighter dog – the kind that would devour you for dinner and then look for dessert.  Usually these dogs are harnessed and kept in cages, but here it was strutting around nonchalantly, baring its fangs at a young child who appeared from nowhere and attempted to pet it.  As I watched the child crawl closer to the dog, I felt my trachea start to constrict.  There was nothing I could do; screaming might have set the dog’s sights on me.  Much as I wanted to grab the child and run, I wasn’t about to offer my self as a replacement meal.  But as I watched, the scene acquired a completely different hue.  The child reached out to the dog, who gingerly sat down and allowed himself to be petted.  If dogs smile, I can honestly say that’s what he was doing.

            A miracle? A one-off situation?  Not quite.  “This is our achievement,” claimed Chand Butt, for whom, along with his elder brother, Bhai Pehelwan, taming wild beasts is a passion.  “Lots of people keep ferocious animals, but none have been able to instill this sort of trust in them.  Due to the love we shower on these animals, they end up trusting even strangers.”

            While their hobby is unusual enough in itself to merit attention, what catapulted these brothers to international fame is some pets in particular, namely Raja 1, (late) Raja 2 and Raja 3.  For these animals are not of the canine variety, but in fact the kings of the jungle:  lions.

            Raja 3 originally came from Iran and just celebrated his fifth birthday with Bhai Pehelwan.  In the intervening years he has adapted to domestic life, eating one meal of 8-10 kilos of meat each night, which he washes down with a few litres of water.  Milk comprises his breakfast meal.  Had he been living in the jungle, he would probably have had a different diet and larger appetite, but since here foraging for food is not required, and consequently there is less activity, he appears satisfied with his regimented diet.

            Of all the lions the two brothers have tamed, Raja 3 remains their favourite.  “Genetics play an important role in determining a lion’s temperament.  We have had Raja 3 for only five years, and have no qualms whatsoever about letting him run loose in the adda. Raja 1 (who has come from Africa) has been with us for more than 11 years, and though he is very loving towards us, we know better than to let him out of his cage at night. Both of them receive the same amount of attention and care from us.  In fact, if anything, Raja 1 is probably the more pampered of the two, yet the latter has still not been tamed to the extent of Raja 3.  The only explanation for this lies in their respective genes,” said Chand Butt.

            As for Raja 2, the brothers stated that they miss him a great deal. “How could we forget him?  He came from Brazil and stayed with us for a full year before the heat got to him and he fell ill.  He subsequently expired.  For us, these lions are like our own children, we are just as attached to them.”

            The brothers contended that lions reciprocate love.  Said Chand Butt, “Whenever we have to go out of town for a couple of days, Raja 3 starts mourning.  He skimps on his meals and doesn’t really eat properly until we come back and feed him ourselves.”

            As we were talking, there was a disturbance.  Some passerby threw a small rock at Raja 3, which agitated the animal.  Chand Butt rushed to his aid and tried to calm him down.  Caressing his pet’s mane and massaging his back, he whispered a continuous stream of endearments into his ear: “My chand! My life! My star!”

            Mollified, the beast snuggled up to his master and lay his head down in the man’s ample lap.  “Yes, you’re a true star,” said Chand Butt.

            Looking at the two of them, Bhai Pehelwan maintained, “Raja 3 has always wanted to be a star and now, he is well on his way to becoming one.  He has worked with Syed Noor in the film Daku Rani, done a dance with Saima and even appeared in an ad campaign for Lawrencepur.  The producer of another film, Shikari Haseena, recently approached me requesting us to allow Raja 3 to appear in his movie, but he refused.”

            “What do you mean he refused?” I asked.

            With a throaty laugh, he went on to relate an amusing anecdote: “You see ever since he was a year old, he has been a big fan of Baba kulfi-wala’s ice-cream.  Every summer day, he happily consumes a good dozen kulfis.  When the Walls people came to us, they handed us samples of their ice cream and asked us to feed him these.  We tried all varieties ranging from Cornetto to Feast, and even their kulfi, but Raja refused to eat any of them.”  as if to say “what rubbish are you Interestingly, the brothers have refused to accept any money for the assignments Raja 3 has done to date.

            “How can we? In this city, we have a certain prestige and everyone looks up to us. What would they say if they found out we’re earning money from our pets?” stated Chand Butt.  “Besides,” added Bhai Pehelwan, “this is not our profession. We are a family of wrestlers and if you trace our family tree, you will see that our family has produced many a renowned wrestler.  These include Yunas Pehelwan (who was awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz) and Billa Pehelwan who became a World Champion, among others. Since the government stopped patronising wrestling, Chand and I had no choice but to adopt an alternative profession. This is why we launched a transport business, which is, by the grace of God, doing extremely well. Taming lions, dogs, and horses is our hobby and this is how we want it to remain.”

            But how does one go about taming an animal that by is, by its very nature, predatory?

            “There is only one way – you have to win its trust. Most animals are very simple and it isn’t that difficult to do. All you have to do is be honest with them and they will be honest with you,” said Bhai Pehelwan.  He continued, “The one thing I’d like to make clear to everybody is that no animal ever attacks until and unless it has been provoked.  The reason why one often hears stories of lions attacking humans is because the minute a human being sees a lion, he/she instantly starts to tremble with fear.  The lion senses these signals and reacts to them.  If people just learn to remain calm and stand still in such situations, no lion will ever attack them.”

            As for the brothers’ lions, they contend they have an excellent track record.  According to Chand Butt, “there has not even been one instance of any of our lions attacking anyone.  This is what the government and the media fail to understand.  They keep harping on about how we should hand our animals over to the zoo because they present a potential threat to the safety of this area, but if this was so, would there not have been at least one such incident till now?”

            There was however the Heera Mandi incident, I reminded him. 

            “That was more comical than dangerous,” he retorted.  “Every night when the markets in this area have closed down, I take these two out for a walk.  That night we were walking as usual and I was about to turn back from the chowk when Raja 3 insisted we go further.  I consented, and we continued walking.  Without realising it, we landed in the red light area. The sight of the two lions caused complete chaos over there. Everyone rushed towards their homes; the musicians stopped playing, the prostitutes hid themselves in the bushes and the entire area was in an uproar. No one was hurt but a journalist who happened to be present wrote about it, because of which the WWF people started bothering us.”

            It is true, judging by what I gleaned from the residents of the area, that the people of Shalmi are generally more amused and curious about the lions in their midst than frightened.  “As long as they don’t hurt anyone, we’re fine with them living in our midst,” stated 60-year-old Baba Fareed.

            There are, nonetheless, some like Safiya Begum who continually worries about letting her children out of the house without a chaperone.  “To be honest, I find these lions a big nuisance. I live just two houses away from them and my children are forever playing in Bhai Pehelwan’s godown.  With those creatures over there, I’m always afraid that any day, when Chand Butt isn’t keeping a close eye on them, they will attack my kids. Plus, I hate going out at night because you never know when you might run into these animals. This is hardly the way civilised people should live,” she said.

            And the WWF officials are even more critical.  Richard Garstang, Conservation Advisor to the WWF, Pakistan, feels that the two brothers are literally playing with fire.  “Let’s look at it logically. I know of the lions in question and contrary to what the brothers or anyone else might say, these lions have come from Africa. Since African lions are neither indigenous to Pakistan nor are they in any danger of extinction, keeping them in this way is just not justified,” he maintained.  He added: “Furthermore, one must realise that lions are not particularly intelligent animals. There have been several reported cases in different parts of the world where supposedly tamed lions have inadvertently attacked children.  Then there is the scientifically proven data: the difference between a wild animal and an animal that can be tamed lies in the size of its adrenal glands – the larger have very large adrenal glands as compared to other smaller animals such as rabbits, for example.

            “A true story that has literally become a legend in South Africa is that of Joy Adamson and her husband George Adamson.  Both of them were involved with the rehabilitation of lions and the very lions they were rehabilitating ended up attacking both of them at different times in their lives.

            “Additionally, such large animals are ideal breeding grounds for parasites like tapeworms. In another case in Africa, a vet’s son died because of a tapeworm infection acquired from a leopard.  In the face of all these risks, nothing can justify the keeping of lions as pets.”

            The brothers Butt and Bhai Pehelwan, are, however, clearly either unaware of the inherent dangers of breeding wild animals, or wish to ignore them.

            And dangerous or otherwise, an encounter with them and their animals proved an unforgettable experience.