“The book of forest has no beginning, as it has
no end. Open this book where you will, and at any period of your life, and if
you have the desire to acquire knowledge you will find it of intense interest,
and no matter how long or how intently you study the pages, your interest will
not flag, for in nature there is no finality.” … Jim Corbett.
These are the words I read when I have never ever been in a
forest but its these & many such words from the greatest wild-life lover,
conservator, writer whatever you call him, (I never liked calling Jim as
hunter, not even man eater hunter) which made me to visit the forests
& there is no end to this passion!
Every time I visit forests something new I get to see & when I get out of
the forest I am a better man is what I feel by myself. Though of late I avoid
forests in winters as the age is catching up & hecticness of forest routine
makes the body takes toll, especially the winter mornings of Central India! Yet
the addiction of those greens is such that rarely I can restrain myself that
too when there is a cause like helping to the people who are real guardians of
the forests. One such occasion came for touring Tadoba which by now has become
tiger hub for all wild lifers, where we keep supporting in our little way to
the guides as well guards by various means. This time its donating nearly 250
pairs of shoes to all the guides of TATR as well gate staff at Moaharli which
is main entry gate to the park. I was accompanied by wife Ashwini & her collogue
yogesh, who works on their own under RASA foundation for forest conservation. In a cozy function we handed over the shoes to
the guides at hands of Director Mr. Ganpati Garad who is a wonderful orator
also & in his crisp sharing underlined the importance of role of guides in
wild life tourism. That part will come later; also present were officers as
well Dy Director Core Mr. Goeakr. What was more heartening, all the guards as
well guides gathered for a group snap with us & thanked us for our support
to them. It’s not that forest dept doesn’t care or support guides or the guards
but then each of us in whatsoever way we can contribute is always welcome.
Because forest conservation is not just job of some department or so called
govt, as we too are equal part of that very govt! To my surprise there were
nearly ten numbers of lady guides also present, which is important aspect as its
sign that women are also joining wild life sector which was supposedly a male
dominated one!
Though it was late November yet the infamous central Indian
winter wasn’t at its best & I was glad for that, for two things, one as I
mentioned earlier I myself doesn’t like cold much & second is sighting of
not just tiger but other animals too is bit less in very cold weather! Obvious
that with less water bodies, summers are always at its best for tiger sighting
at Tadoba yet winter has its own charm
on forests, covering the entire terrain with every shade of green & even
the animals wear darker & more colorful coats with the season!
So here are
some of my sightings i.e. "ankho dekha haal”…
We reached very late at tadoba after day long drive nearly
1100 km from Pune in one single day, thanks to Toyota Fortuner & with just
3 hours sleep were up for morning ride & still we reached to gate when most
of the gypsy’s had been left & probably entered last in forest. There is
always a debate about what is good position to enter in forest, while many
veteran wild lifers are keen to enter first, logic is as all the night park is
closed for tourists & tiger hunts mostly at night so it’s been on move
& every chance to get some roaming tiger on road first to the first
entrant. And once the vehicles start moving it might go inside from main track,
though after visiting so many forests I have come to conclusion that most
tigers are used to vehicles & unless it’s a new tiger or young we can say
which are bit shy; the tiger cares a hang about vehicles! I witnessed many
incidences even in this trip also to prove my logic which I will share eventually.
And about entry in park many a times the late you enter there are equal chance
of sighting a tiger which just by instinct has moved off-track from the road
because of approaching sound of a gypsy & can come out when it feels the
road is secure to move. As by now we all know tiger likes to walk on jungle
roads than from the foliage or grass as it has soft pads in feet & to walk
on road track is easy to walk without making any sound of crunching of dry
leafs, which is essential while hunting as well lesser chances of injury to the
paws in that way!
So first safari we entered late & best part of the forest
is as you inhale the fragrance of greens in your lungs there goes your all
tiredness, so did mine on that morning. Yet the sleep deprived eyes were not
ready to give-up the sleep & I was trying to take in the fresh cool
November air & sun was yet to come, entire surrounding was in misty mode.
As our gypsy was taking turns through the bamboos thickset suddenly we saw two
of the gypsy’s waiting ahead & people in that waving frantically towards us
as they saw us approaching & the sleep has vanished from our eyes as I knew
by the waving of those people that there has to be tiger somewhere around! And
just when we stopped, there comes a tigress with collar around her neck, Choti Tara,
& started walking towards us. By now over the years in forest I have
started believing in luck as its hardly fifteen minutes we have entered in
forest & a tigress is walking to me, a scene for which people longs days
& days & many a times they have to return without even a glimpse of the
tiger. Agreed I have seen enough tigers yet every time thrill & excitement
is different, especially when such unexpectedly you encounter the animal, then its
more! For a moment I felt sad for the waiting gypsy’s as its our vehicle which
has got head on shots of the tigers but in forests luck keeps shifting gears,
so part of game. And seems that day our luck was over flowing as our guide a
veteran Tadoba man, Bandu Mankar, kept a finger on his lips & said “Sir
bacchepan aahet” (sir, cubs are also around). In forest most important thing is
silence as then only your hearing senses can help you & there you know how
useless we are to use our natural senses like hearing or seeing or smelling!
First I couldn’t hear anything but then when Bandu pointed figure to a direction
in shrubs, I could hear a faint “miyaw”, yes its cubs & they do make sound
like a domestic cat! The tigress also responded with similar whistle type sound
& those who thinks tigers can only roar, for them, tigress makes a peculiar
sound to call her cubs or to instruct them which is not at all a roar! And then
responding to her calling, come jumping like toddlers two small cubs of just
2/3 months old, from the foliage on road. Again forest has surprised me as I
was longing for such sight for years & let me admit frankly, the more you
go to forest the more it makes you greedy for such longings! As however times
you go to forest you know something you haven’t seen yet & forest never
send you with empty hands especially if you are die hard wild lifer! Here I was
witnessing one of the best sight in forest, a young tigress guiding her toddler
cubs for outing & making them expose to the forest around, unaware of all
the humans around & cameras shutters which were clicking like machine guns!
Real drama followed later, once the cubs vanished in grass
land along with mother, we waited for half an hour & suddenly when we
thought sighting is over then one of the cubs crossed the road behind our gypsy
& again the tigress came on open road from the grass. It was wonderful
winter morning, clear blue sky & bright morning sun lighting the forest, a
light breeze flowing over the forest & those majestic yellow black stripes
walking on red road from the dancing yellow grass with those piercing green
eyes looking at you! I reminded my-self
how lucky I am to witness such sight & such scenes which pulls us towards
the forest again & again at the same time tells us it’s my duty too, to
save such environment! By now entire sleep from the eyes has vanished & it’s
like a fresh start of the day.
While
we were waiting for the tigress to come out, which is best time in forest as
your all senses are alert, a slightest moment or sound you start noticing! And it’s
this time when you see many things which makes you realize patience pays, as a
tiny colorful butterfly silently landed on a small teak tree leaf near our
vehicle & for a moment I forgot all about the tigress watching its wings
flutter! The green leaf’s background was like a canvas for the multicolored
butterfly & it was enjoying sun bath, unfazed by all the vehicles moments
around which are focusing on tigress. In forest it’s not all about tiger but
every second something is happening & its here you learn to take notice of
smallest details around, a habit which has helped a lot back in my work &
in home too!
Later
three days thereon we explore tadoba forest & to my surprise even in winter
the tigers kept us busy, Here I will share some inputs for those who complaints
they didn’t have any sighting even in four or five safaris (which eventually
happened for next three days after we left at Tadoba). Well, the reason is before
summer to avoid forest fires, forest dept clears the dry leafs & branches
fallen all along the forest trails. And numbers of workers are busy in doing the
clearing work all day long, so there is lot of human moment in the forest which
drives the animals deeper in forest i.e. away from vehicle routes! So while
visiting the forests it’s important to get such information about park details.
One more aspect is weather forecast as if its cloudy then that’s not good
weather for sighting as well for photography. Though forest is best by me in
any weather & situation yet for those who are first timers, I can
understand their eagerness for tiger sighting & to avoid disappointment of lesser
chances of sightings such information is important before you visit any forest!
After
tadoba, though my plans were to return to Pune yet I got a call from a friend
in Pench, MP & in spite my uncomfort for chilly winter of MP, I couldn’t
resist temptation to visit there as pench forest is at its best in winter! Many
people who have been to pench do like the forests but often comes empty hands on
tiger sighting front. But my case is reverse, every single time I had been to
pench I was gifted with some unique tiger sighting & this time also pench
didn’t disappointed me! Here I will share a classic experience especially those
who complains about not lucky about tiger sighting… We all long for just a
glimpse of tiger when we go to forest but have we every thought what it takes
to locate one single animal in the vast spread of the jungle? As per my experience, tiger sighting is mix of luck, patience
& experience! I had just two safaris at pench & on evening safari when
we were wandering on lesser known parts of forest, we came across a lone gypsy
which has got a flat tire & we stopped for help. The guide of that gypsy
said he thinks he heard tiger roaring in lantana bushes across. Our guide was a
veteran named, hemraj said its territory of legendary collerwali
tigress & she comes on road approx 5 pm, so we thought giving shot &
wait. There were languor’s waiting & chitals herd grazing nearby & some
fifty feet stretch of grass after which thickset of lantanas starts. Nearly 45
minutes waiting during which even the earlier gypsy left, suddenly a languor
gave its typical scratchy alarm & the chital herd sprang away, means both
of them have noticed the tiger & seen it also! From the lantanas the
legendary collerwali tigress stepped out in the grass & with most stylish strides
gave us a classy look, crossed the road & went to water hole across the
road, drank water & vanished in the woods! The tigress has recently given
birth to three small cubs & in total nearly 26 tigers she has gifted to
Pench MP, till now; what a contribution, she was radio collared for safety of
her cubs’ earlier, so she got nicknamed as collarwali tigress!! This is where experience
& patience can make the difference in tiger sighting as well even knowing
the forest better, as hemraj the guide has used his knowledge of memorizing the
moment area as well time of the tigress & used it. This is what is expected
from the guides especially with the tourists who are not regulars to the
forest. At the same time the guides should use their expertise to
make tourists understand finest details of the forest like behavior of other
animals when they notice presence of tiger as all these things creates interest
about forest in the minds of the tourists. Also the tourists should keep
patience & trust in the guide allotted to them as many thinks guides &
drivers are making time pass to save petrol, when they stop at one place after hearing
alarm calls!
After I come
back in Pune & posted few snaps on FB groups & there are real good
groups like Sanctuary or CLAW or Tadoba Wild Images by Atul Dhamankar; this is
very good platform of sharing information, knowledge about Indian forests. On
one of groups some person has posted snaps of vehicles traffic jam type situation
& frenzy of tourists to sight a tiger. I won’t name the park but I feel this
is outcome of restricting park tourism areas by Hon Supreme Court. As take
example of Tadoba, with all good officers working hard for park management yet
the routes open for tourism are less, making whatever vehicles are in park
coming at same spot again & again & especially if tiger moment is
observed then more the reason. The route from Moharli to Kolasa range is closed
so more vehicles moves in same zone. And you can’t blame tourists as they come
all way round just for tiger, so whenever one sees a tiger everyone wants to
have his piece of cake. Here the role of guides as well gypsy driver is very
crucial as they have to satisfy the tourists’ demand of showing them the tiger
yet it should not breech peace of the animals movement is to be observed. With due respect
towards sentiments of all wild lifers & every species in forest, I
personally feel every first timer to the forest should get to see the tiger! As
that is what makes him come again & again to the forests & then he
starts understanding how wonderful place forest is! And then only we can
cultivate the seed of responsibility towards conservation of forest in him, so
first step is tiger sighting! This aspect of
wild life tourism should be bought to the notice of Hon Supreme Court to open
every single piece of forest land to the tourists as its these people who will
later help for conservation of the forests, only thing is the tourism should be
controlled in such way that enjoyment doesn’t becomes botheration & that is
possible by more forest staff & awareness. Closing down
major part of forests or restricting tourism by stringent rules isn’t the
solution as it’s these tourists which are eyes, nose & ear of forests. Many
a time a wounded animal has been reported by the tourists before forest
department comes to know about it, such is advantage. As well it’s in a way continues vigilance, so poacher’s
movements also gets curbed; rather we can think of night safaris to avoid poaching
which happens mostly at nights. And we can think of giving special license to regular
tourists with entrance test like we conduct for driving license & then only
allowing them for night safaris!
Remember each of us has a role to play in conserving the book
named forest, at-least my forest trips have taught me that much & that’s
what even legends like Jim Corbet also has been telling to us over the years! High
time for all wild life lovers to get united on this conserving future of forests,
forgetting about the status i.e. govt or private & act united. Because
forests are habitats of millions of wild species of which tiger is at apex
& if that gets vanished then with it will go charm or very purpose of our
living, is all I know!
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)
Sanjeevani Dev.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)
http://jivnachadrushtikon.
Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)
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For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
Think Green, Think Life
www.sanjeevanideve.com
Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
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Think Green, Think Life
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