Martin mourns for Mount Abu

Tall, lanky and gaunt and highly articulate, septuagenarian Leslie Martin, frantically gesticulating to drive home his point, "What has happened to the beautiful Mount? He studied at St Mary's school from 1938 to 1948 and he was back on a short visit from Ajmer.
Like a child he was recounting the glory of this sacred hill station. With great affection and contentment he remembered the Maharajas of Bikaner and Jodhpur, who would bring along with them, in summers, their pet cheetahs.It was always a strikingly, splendid site; the majestic cheetahs walking with their masters with leather blinds over their eyes. He rued, "Where those days have disappeared!"
"You know how all that could be maintained?" He answered his own question, "Because of the just law and order."
He went on to offer an example of the same. "Do you know, once the Maharaja of Gwalior sauntered in the town in his car? No one would dare to do that; either you walked or used a bullock cart instead. Soon order was passed to debar the Maharaja from ever entering Mount Abu! That was the law, irrespective of who you were! And today? The lesser said the better!" He had become some what bitter. According to him then the rain fall used to average 168 inches a year and whenever there was sunshine in between there used to be sunshine holiday, which were never more than three per year!
The reason according to him for the sad plight of Mount Abu to which it has been brought to started just after Independence. Several merchants got the law enforcers to join hands with them, hired tribal and sent them up the mountains to burn trees, mostly the massive deciduous, hard wood trees so that they turned into charcoal, which they exported from Mount Abu in wagons daily. Many a time there could be more than five to six wagons being loaded.
The burning off of the massive trees led to the loss of the ridges on the top of the mountains, leading to soil erosion and loss of innumerable, small water bodies, which were not only responsible for the perennial river in the plains but for the picturesque waterfalls all over the hills, leading to the wondrous presence of otters. Alas, all have gone, together with innumerable species of birds too.