Here’s a love paragraph on tigers (That’s right, there is no such thing as a ‘love para’ but what the heck!):
I developed this irreplaceable obsession with tigers a long time back, as I was growing up with The Man-Eaters of Kumaon, The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, the Rhiju da stories of Buddhadeb Guha, and Valmik Thapar’s documentaries of late.
Corbett, Guha, and Thapar’s accounts convinced me that I was undoubtedly useless, without any real talent for anything at all. Why couldn’t I track these wonderful animals, write a few things about them, and make myself useful? (In these sad, bad, and mad times, an alternative career is quite enviable) The following blog is a meek attempt, but attempt nevertheless, to share with you all, my tiger dreams…
Thursday, 9th April: Amitava and I had to leave our respective offices by 2pm at the most (ambitious, to put it mildly)…every aspiring holiday-maker in Chennai would otherwise clog the highway, and we would reach Bangalore in the middle of the night, like last time…a situation we wanted to avoid.
Therefore we hit the roads by a realistic 4.10pm, armed with Marry Brown burgers, chicken nuggets, and 4 cans of Red Bull (This was after Amitava changed t-shirts thrice, shaved twice, bathed once, harangued me for packing too many clothes for three days, and I shouted back saying he never missed a single opportunity to harass me…MEN!!!).
Overcoming mutual repulsion, we reached Bangalore at dinner time…a 5-hour drive, punctuated with burger breaks, red-bull breaks, loo breaks, give-me-a-light-massage breaks, toll breaks, and so on.
Once at Debu and Sara’s place in B’lore, things started to warm up…we were ready for the tiger trail. Nagarhole, here we come!!!
Note: We have been trying to catch a glimpse of this elusive big cat since April last year. The Bandipur trip went without any notable sightings. We were hoping Nagarhole would not disappoint us this time.
The night was still young…so we decided on a quick inspection of our bag packs, Woodland hunters, sunshades, binoculars, and cameras for one last time. By the time we were done, it was already past midnight…and in spite of the fabulous dinner, Debashish’s tricks with his DSLR, and Saradwati’s goosebumpy ghost stories in between, all I could think of was a yellow four-legged beast with black stripes roaming around the greens of Nagarhole…is such obsession good for health?
Note: Basic jungle dos and don’ts:
1. Read up on the flora, the fauna, and the topography
2. Don’t wear a deodorant or a perfume on a safari
3. Don’t smoke…cigars, cigarettes, bidis, and cannabis completely banned
4. Wear earthy colours
5. Listen to your guide
6. Carry shades and binoculars
7. Shut the hell up while on a safari
Friday, 10th April: We started our journey pretty early by our standards…11.00 AM…Christ had just been crucified (no religious snide intended) and there were marathon Good Friday processions, blocking our way till Kanakpura.
After an uneventful lunch halt at MacDonald’s, and an I-am-feeling-sleepy-can’t drive-anymore break near Ranganathitthu, Jungle Inn Nagarhole had arrived. At 4.30 PM we had already got our room keys and were eager to take a quick safari before darkness fell.
For interested travelers, here’s the route from Bangalore to Nagarhole:
Bangalore ------Ramanagaram ------- Mandya --------Shrirangapattana ---------Honsur (turn left from Honsur bus stand) -------Nagarhole!!! (220 kms)
The forest department guards at the check post found it rather funny that we, the four idiots, wanted to venture out into the jungle at dusk. ‘What nitwits!’ They must have thought. After much hackling, it was decided that we would drive in and out of the jungle (as far as we could go) within 20 minutes flat.
Deep anticipation of the striped cat and the fear of the unknown gripped us, as our car drove past the check post. The uniformed guards gradually became tiny specks in the orange horizon and finally disappeared by the bent of the road…we were on our own in tiger territory. Watching with bated breath and straining our eyes to detect the slightest movement between bushes, we went deeper and deeper into the forest. Sometimes it was a herd of deer…sometimes a silent wild boar…but no tigers.
Time was running out and we had to return. Staying beyond the stipulated time would mean that those morons would lock the check post, and we’d have to spend the rest of the night in the forest. Although the idea was too thrilling to ignore, we decided to go back anyway.
The adrenalin rushed back when suddenly while returning to our bungalow we saw a huge tusker coming our way. This is the one thing that our driver was scared of. I began to wonder whether any of us would ever again see the light of day when we noticed the mahout on top…Gosh! A pet elephant after all.
The rest of the evening went by without further hiccups. The Kodagu tribals danced by the campfire as we sat around and clicked away to glory. The magic of the evening was further enhanced by the full moon. Have you ever experienced the unimaginable beauty of a forest drenched in silver? If you haven’t, come to Nagarhole on a moonlit night. You won’t be disappointed.
Dinner was good…paratha, chicken, eggs, vegetables, gulam jamun…All of us overate.
Saturday, 11th April: Off to Irupu Falls. From the way the locals were describing it, we expected to find a Niagara. Found a bathroom tap instead. Need I elaborate on the collective disgust?
Came back after lunch, lamenting big time over Irupu’s dwindling water flow.
Note: Had fabulous buttermilk on the way back…with onions, carrots and real butter. Will note the recipe and make it at home sometime.
Went on the second safari inside Nagarhole in the afternoon, in a KFDC mini van.
We spotted deer and wild elephants. No tiger still. Further disappointment after Irupu. What made matters worse was the fact that our van was full of tourists who had no aptitude for appreciating wildlife. They couldn’t for nuts differentiate between a deer and a tiger. God help us!
The evening was rather lazy. Amitava and Debashish went around the resort in their hired bicycles. We finished a 750 ml Bacardi Green Apple with every possible snack known to mankind. Added a fat tyre to my waist. But what the heck again!
Sunday, 12th April: This was the big safari day. We were off to Waynad, as early as 6 in the morning. Our gypsy driver drove at supernatural speed a la Heath Ledger, and for a moment we thought we’d be thrown off the vehicle. Good sense prevailed as he slowed down gradually. Within one and a half hours, we were at Waynad Sanctuary.
We went in with a lot of anticipation, with a blind belief that we would be able to see the cats. However, we spotted peacocks, wild dogs (Dhole), serpent eagles, Malabar squirrels and other such low-thrill animals.
Our trip at Nagarhole was over, and we were dejected at not being able to see the wild cat. But more than disappointment, what we felt was deep reverence for the tiger...for its capacity to maintain its privacy, for making itself so sought-after...How lucky and blessed the people are, who catch a glimpse of this magnificent beast!
Note: Awareness is lacking in people, regarding tiger behaviour, tiger conservation procedures, government initiatives, and tiger habitat. The day all this will be achieved, I’ll be a happy animal lover.
P.S. On the way back to Bangalore, we spotted giant crocodiles at Ranganathitthu. Some consolation in a trip that had promised to be an adventure. In the meantime, the tiger trail continues. We plan to go to Bandhavgarh next. It's an addiction.
I developed this irreplaceable obsession with tigers a long time back, as I was growing up with The Man-Eaters of Kumaon, The Man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, the Rhiju da stories of Buddhadeb Guha, and Valmik Thapar’s documentaries of late.
Corbett, Guha, and Thapar’s accounts convinced me that I was undoubtedly useless, without any real talent for anything at all. Why couldn’t I track these wonderful animals, write a few things about them, and make myself useful? (In these sad, bad, and mad times, an alternative career is quite enviable) The following blog is a meek attempt, but attempt nevertheless, to share with you all, my tiger dreams…
Thursday, 9th April: Amitava and I had to leave our respective offices by 2pm at the most (ambitious, to put it mildly)…every aspiring holiday-maker in Chennai would otherwise clog the highway, and we would reach Bangalore in the middle of the night, like last time…a situation we wanted to avoid.
Therefore we hit the roads by a realistic 4.10pm, armed with Marry Brown burgers, chicken nuggets, and 4 cans of Red Bull (This was after Amitava changed t-shirts thrice, shaved twice, bathed once, harangued me for packing too many clothes for three days, and I shouted back saying he never missed a single opportunity to harass me…MEN!!!).
Overcoming mutual repulsion, we reached Bangalore at dinner time…a 5-hour drive, punctuated with burger breaks, red-bull breaks, loo breaks, give-me-a-light-massage breaks, toll breaks, and so on.
Once at Debu and Sara’s place in B’lore, things started to warm up…we were ready for the tiger trail. Nagarhole, here we come!!!
Note: We have been trying to catch a glimpse of this elusive big cat since April last year. The Bandipur trip went without any notable sightings. We were hoping Nagarhole would not disappoint us this time.
The night was still young…so we decided on a quick inspection of our bag packs, Woodland hunters, sunshades, binoculars, and cameras for one last time. By the time we were done, it was already past midnight…and in spite of the fabulous dinner, Debashish’s tricks with his DSLR, and Saradwati’s goosebumpy ghost stories in between, all I could think of was a yellow four-legged beast with black stripes roaming around the greens of Nagarhole…is such obsession good for health?
Note: Basic jungle dos and don’ts:
1. Read up on the flora, the fauna, and the topography
2. Don’t wear a deodorant or a perfume on a safari
3. Don’t smoke…cigars, cigarettes, bidis, and cannabis completely banned
4. Wear earthy colours
5. Listen to your guide
6. Carry shades and binoculars
7. Shut the hell up while on a safari
Friday, 10th April: We started our journey pretty early by our standards…11.00 AM…Christ had just been crucified (no religious snide intended) and there were marathon Good Friday processions, blocking our way till Kanakpura.
After an uneventful lunch halt at MacDonald’s, and an I-am-feeling-sleepy-can’t drive-anymore break near Ranganathitthu, Jungle Inn Nagarhole had arrived. At 4.30 PM we had already got our room keys and were eager to take a quick safari before darkness fell.
For interested travelers, here’s the route from Bangalore to Nagarhole:
Bangalore ------Ramanagaram ------- Mandya --------Shrirangapattana ---------Honsur (turn left from Honsur bus stand) -------Nagarhole!!! (220 kms)
The forest department guards at the check post found it rather funny that we, the four idiots, wanted to venture out into the jungle at dusk. ‘What nitwits!’ They must have thought. After much hackling, it was decided that we would drive in and out of the jungle (as far as we could go) within 20 minutes flat.
Deep anticipation of the striped cat and the fear of the unknown gripped us, as our car drove past the check post. The uniformed guards gradually became tiny specks in the orange horizon and finally disappeared by the bent of the road…we were on our own in tiger territory. Watching with bated breath and straining our eyes to detect the slightest movement between bushes, we went deeper and deeper into the forest. Sometimes it was a herd of deer…sometimes a silent wild boar…but no tigers.
Time was running out and we had to return. Staying beyond the stipulated time would mean that those morons would lock the check post, and we’d have to spend the rest of the night in the forest. Although the idea was too thrilling to ignore, we decided to go back anyway.
The adrenalin rushed back when suddenly while returning to our bungalow we saw a huge tusker coming our way. This is the one thing that our driver was scared of. I began to wonder whether any of us would ever again see the light of day when we noticed the mahout on top…Gosh! A pet elephant after all.
The rest of the evening went by without further hiccups. The Kodagu tribals danced by the campfire as we sat around and clicked away to glory. The magic of the evening was further enhanced by the full moon. Have you ever experienced the unimaginable beauty of a forest drenched in silver? If you haven’t, come to Nagarhole on a moonlit night. You won’t be disappointed.
Dinner was good…paratha, chicken, eggs, vegetables, gulam jamun…All of us overate.
Saturday, 11th April: Off to Irupu Falls. From the way the locals were describing it, we expected to find a Niagara. Found a bathroom tap instead. Need I elaborate on the collective disgust?
Came back after lunch, lamenting big time over Irupu’s dwindling water flow.
Note: Had fabulous buttermilk on the way back…with onions, carrots and real butter. Will note the recipe and make it at home sometime.
Went on the second safari inside Nagarhole in the afternoon, in a KFDC mini van.
We spotted deer and wild elephants. No tiger still. Further disappointment after Irupu. What made matters worse was the fact that our van was full of tourists who had no aptitude for appreciating wildlife. They couldn’t for nuts differentiate between a deer and a tiger. God help us!
The evening was rather lazy. Amitava and Debashish went around the resort in their hired bicycles. We finished a 750 ml Bacardi Green Apple with every possible snack known to mankind. Added a fat tyre to my waist. But what the heck again!
Sunday, 12th April: This was the big safari day. We were off to Waynad, as early as 6 in the morning. Our gypsy driver drove at supernatural speed a la Heath Ledger, and for a moment we thought we’d be thrown off the vehicle. Good sense prevailed as he slowed down gradually. Within one and a half hours, we were at Waynad Sanctuary.
We went in with a lot of anticipation, with a blind belief that we would be able to see the cats. However, we spotted peacocks, wild dogs (Dhole), serpent eagles, Malabar squirrels and other such low-thrill animals.
Our trip at Nagarhole was over, and we were dejected at not being able to see the wild cat. But more than disappointment, what we felt was deep reverence for the tiger...for its capacity to maintain its privacy, for making itself so sought-after...How lucky and blessed the people are, who catch a glimpse of this magnificent beast!
Note: Awareness is lacking in people, regarding tiger behaviour, tiger conservation procedures, government initiatives, and tiger habitat. The day all this will be achieved, I’ll be a happy animal lover.
P.S. On the way back to Bangalore, we spotted giant crocodiles at Ranganathitthu. Some consolation in a trip that had promised to be an adventure. In the meantime, the tiger trail continues. We plan to go to Bandhavgarh next. It's an addiction.
