Once again, its forest diary time & once again (as usual) Jim’s words are at my rescue to open the gate of memories of the moments I have spent in the wilderness & when it’s my most favourite jungle i.e., Kanha to write about then what better than to have my most favorite person (not just a writer) who’s above words I live by, every time when I visit jungles! Jim Corbett is one of the most celebrated wild lifers across African & Indian Himalayan forests & is known for his work regarding tigers as well conservation. Though (unfortunately) Jim is more known as' hunter of maneaters’ which he never liked & his books about his experiences during those hunts are more popular it’s his other books about forests such as Jungle Lore, gives us best insights about the forests in totality!
And needless to say, later when I started visiting forests by myself all these books helped me a lot to decode the language with which forests speak with us! This, you might think too much watching Potter Movies or Star Wars series as an alien language type but just think about the time you spend in forest & the kind of creatures you meet there & you will realize it’s no less than some Star Wars or Wizarding world ride! And when that forest is of Kanha then fasten your seatbelts as the ride is not just going to be a lot bumpier (literally) but hell lot exciting also. First & best thing about Kanha is the landscape, the ever-green Sal trees expand is just infinite & in between those thick Sal trees ocean there are equal huge patches of grasslands i.e., meadows & the hills & the yellow clay clad roads on every turn of which you can expect anything can happen, this is Kanha!
I have been as regular visitor of Kanha as the Indian Pitta (a colourful migratory bird) in the Central Indian forests but last three years I have missed the bus & the moment my care left main road from Chirai Dongari (a village from where road for Kanha starts from main highway), I could feel the air filled with Sal tree’s fragrance & my heartbeats started running faster than the car! Well, again sorry for too much drama in writing which you may think a bit over but this happens with me, every-time when I visit Kanha, so be it! It was May end & as it happened to me for my last many Kanha trips the clouds also fooled me to this place. Earlier my mood used to be as gloomy as the weather whenever I used to see cloudy rain filled sky as that means gone are the chances of seeing a tiger in clear but no more as forests has taught me to be patient as well to enjoy the moods of it which changes faster than your wife’s or girlfriend’s moods, & all you should do is just ride with them! And so, the first safari started with rain-covered sky, fortunately Pratap, our regular veteran driver, was ready with hood & so was the rain. Every time when I visit forests there is a hidden wish list in my mind (greedy mind actually) that I should get to see this & that types & of-late I have learnt to bury that wish list deep within as or else you end up losing the charm of other things which are in front of you, yet the list is there. This time it was long. I have seen a leopard in Kanha & never in rains, so that hidden wish list was tickling me from within but I knew sighting a leopard in Kanha itself is a rarity & in rains the chances get near impossible. The major problem with Kanha rains is, they come with strong wind & thunderbolts which is really scary & making every animal around to run for shelter & in such times sightings becomes really difficult. Another problem is with plastic hood on, your own sighting gets restricted to whatever comes in front of the gypsy only as sides are covered & leopards are not the animals (at least in Kanha) that they will walk on road in rains! Yet when one gypsy coming from other side told us that there is a leopard on tree ahead at a spot we couldn’t believe as why then this gypsy has left that spot (dirty doubtful minds)! Well, the simple reason was their gypsy’s hood was not giving them proper shelter & trust me those who have not experienced getting caught in open forest in the Kanha rains, that’s not something “Kamjor Dilwale” can't stand! That was the sole reason the said gypsy must have left the spot where they had seen the leopard & with full excitement & hope that the leopard will be still there, we rushed ahead. And to my tick my wish-list, there was a leopard relaxing on a sla tree branch & indeed it was difficult to sight it through water dripping from hood & fog on my Spects & the green canopy but instead getting irritated with all these hurdles I was happy as that was making the sighting more exciting! We spend nearly an hour just watching the leopard on the tree which only because of rains must have halted there for so long time & while it was in comfortable position, we have to to all the efforts to keep ourselves dry & yet try to click the leopard by manoeuvring the gypsy as only one window through the canopy of the trees was open for clicking the right shots! This is Kanha, I reminded myself & it never sends you empty handed! Later for the next three safaris I was just trying to fill in as much landscape in my mind as I can & rain was playing hide & seek with us all two days yet we could see the tiger also!
I am the jungle & Jungle is Me"...
On the 2nd day morning also we just experienced heavy shower, these were first showers of summer & in the past I have witnessed strange behaviour of the tiger of coming out on roads & drink water from the puddle, maybe they like the clay mixed taste of the fresh rain water! So, I mentioned this to our guide & said "bhai, fikar na karo, raste ka pani pine koi to tiger aa hi jayega road par" (i.e., boss, don’t get upset due to rains, as to drink rain water on the road, some tiger will definitely come out, so did Jr Bajarang (local name of that male tiger)! " Sometimes it requires daring, not to use big lenses' ', is what pro wildlife photographer Kedar Bhat said recently, while addressing a gathering of photographers! And I agree with him 100% as indeed to take a close shot of a tiger is nice, feeling every hair on its body & those eyes piercing your lens yet a tiger is at its best in the forest, becoming part of it, this is how I saw Jr. Bajrang, through 70 mm & dared to keep 500mm aside (for a while)! Nothing beats the way a tiger walks on forest roads & when the road is Sal aligned forests then the entire landscape is no match for any big screen, even for 70 mm cinema-scope movies! The dusty road, the greens, the fresh rain drops, alarm calls of spotted deer in the background & every onlooker's breath on hold, there he walks, after drinking the water from road puddle, Jr Bajrang displayed this whole scene to us & vanished in the roadside thickets along with the alarm calls of spotted deer! The entire drama may have lasted for some 20 minutes but for us it’s like time has stopped for ever, this is what you take back from forests i.e., lifelong memorable moments!
Recently (may be from last 3 years) Kanha Forest dept has started night safaris & its something which the tourists must not miss even if you may cancel a morning safari, in case you are worried for sleep deprivation for next day morning safari for which you have to wake up at 4a.m! Because the night safari starts at 7pm i.e., post sun set & you can explore the forests around the core zone till 10 pm at night & trust me nothing beats being in the forests as there you realize what is pitch darkness! In our urban life we actually never experience darkness to its fullest because of the illumination from the glow of thousands of gadgets around even if we turn the lights off. The sky also is always greyish blue or white because of the reflection of lights on the ground but it's in the forests with no artificial light emitting objects in the surrounding you realize how the animals are far superior than humans in the darkness! Many will say why waste time as you hardly can see anything (read as tiger) in the buffer even in day time but the forest is more alive at nights with many species such as Martin, Porcupine, Hyena which are nocturnal and come out for hunting after sunset. Even the tiger prefers to hunt at night & agreed one can’t photograph at night safaris but not all forest moments are needed to be captured on the camera, some are to be lived by your own self & night safari is one such. And in our night safari we spotted a male tiger, so the myth that you don’t get to see much in night safari was also cleared. First thing is, buffers & core are boundaries defined for humans for their management system, for a tiger or any animal forest is forest & they are free to roam anywhere. So, to spot a tiger or any big animal in night safari needs equal luck which you need in main day safari in the core area of the forest. And second thing, what you get to experience in the night safari is, to feel the forest by other senses than eyes (seeing), you learn to smell the fragrance, hear the smallest of the sounds around & yes you can sharpen your vision to see in the darkness too!
Well, we did meet many forest officials & locals, another must thing which the tourists should try as then only you realize what you can give back to the forests. Places like Kanha if on one side are blessed with nature then other side are deprived by the luxuries of life which modernization brings & here is where we can extend our hand on many fronts to make the life of the locals a bit better! Right from skill development training such as plumbing, electrician or tiling to solar maintenance, many things we can teach them (Credai Members do read). As well you can contribute by money to organizations which are involved in working with forest dept as that’s our duty towards forests is what I always urge! You can write to us for any info or assistance about how you can contribute for the Kanha as well other forests at our email id’s as well visit our web sites below my sharing.
Two days for Kanaha forests are actually very less but I had my scheduled program ahead so I left with heavy heart those Sal trees with a promise to return soonest!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
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