“Not all
dusty, bumpy rides are stressful but some of them make you at peace too”…
This is what I felt while riding in the gypsy on
a road (well, if you can call a boulder laid, steep slope as road) in Alizanza
Buffer of Tadoba! here, you don't notice the bumps which makes otherwise your
neck & back ache nor you realize the red dust in the air due to vehicles
movement which or else you would have cursed as pollution because your mind is
engulfed in the search of those yellows black stripes which comes along with
loads of greens & fragrances of heaven! And the outcome is sheer peace
as you become part of the forest which surrounds you the way the sea surrounds
a fish, that's what Tadoba does to you!! Right
from a mongoose climbing on a tree to a sloth beer blocking your way to the
tigers roaming around in their own mood, forest makes you at peace provided you
go there first & learn to live by the rules of the forest! Well, October
makes the new season’s start for the reserved forests of India i.e., core zones
of project tigers & what better place than Tadoba it could have been for me
to start it! For those who are unaware of wildlife tourism, the tiger parks
(parks doesn’t mean the parks in our cities) which are reserved forests to
conserve tiger & wildlife are closed during monsoon as road conditions can
get bad & all such forests are open for tourism only post monsoon that is
October! Though during monsoons buffer zones of these reserved forests are open
& I had been to tadoba’s buffers even in monsoon, so you must be wondering
with the series of sharing about Tadoba that am I obsessed with Tadoba, then my
answer is yes, I am obsessed with Tadoba forest & these sharing’s may seem repeat
telecast but they are not as every day the forests is new & here we are
talking about new season, so if you are a wild lifer (and even if you are not
but want to know about wildlife) then do read ahead, lol!
First thing
about this part of the year visiting the forests is, the animals’ colour
pattern change as well the glow their skin gets with the winter ahead. I have
clicked sloth bears (more hairs make you look messier with heat) in summer
& hair which looks dry & grey becomes shiny black, just like a kid whose
hair has been oiled & combed by his mom! And the Tadoba does makes me lucky
also as I got to click the sloth bear in clear in the first place, is also a
reason for these sharing & my trips to Tadoba! But more than all these sightings & tigers
(of course) what pulls me towards Tadoba forests is the bond between the tigers
(read as wildlife) & the people here which seems to be growing strong
(touchwood) with every new season of wildlife. Not only nearly 22 plus numbers
of gates which makes you able to visit these forests may it be a core or buffer
but they are like t=22 gates to heaven on the earth, such is magic which
unfolds in-front rather all around you, once you enter in the forests here! And
while you earn peace on these rides by being merged with nature at the same
time the forest teaches you so many new things just the way you learn same
subject in more depth as you study it in every new year but forward! Every new
day & season of tadoba forests makes you able to see wildlife with a new
vision, listen new languages of the forests, inhale new fragrances of nature,
all this is possible only if you visit the forests often & with open mind
as well a wish to learn from it! And it’s not just about the wildlife but these
trips (safaris) make you able to understand man-animal relations or bond with a
new dimension which in our city life we are losing fast even with the humans
itself!
Here in
these forests, you meet people whom you knew & new people also & all of
them has some story to share which makes you able to understand forest in
better way. For e.g. I met a young lady guide Dnyaneshwari who is native only
from the Belara village in buffers & was sharing her experiences as guide
(read as lady guide). It’s so amazing to listen the stories these youngsters talk
about their sightings as guide & as a native as they have grown up seeing
wildlife (read as tigers) around & their love/affection about the wildlife
is clearly visible from their words & more from their expressions while
they share the stories. She was speaking about the tigresses Veera, Junabai
like they are her sisters & how she gets happy when see get to see them
& how she has seen them as a villager also as for tigers’ boundaries of
humans are not binding & they can be seen out of the so-called reserved
forests also! It’s heartening to see the younger genre aspiring to make career
in wildlife that too women as its tough job, while entire house is sleeping you
must leave your home for the morning safari & that can’t be excuse of
getting away from your household duties such as cooking, washing utensils etc
after dinner on the earlier night! As well, in the forests its high-time to
make toilets at regular interval on all the routes as in the winter mornings,
nature’s call is natural for everybody, & I really wonder how can be our
system be so insensible not to take any action about it! As when tiger sighting
is going on nearby & some lady or elder person in the gypsy is needed to
use wash room at that time only, you can’t
expect the entire gypsy to go some ten kms back to gate as people spend fortune
for one safari to see a tiger (nothing wrong in it) & just because one can’t
hold nature’s call one should not be deprived sighting of the tiger as we can’t
provide toilets at right places in the forests, high time all the tourists must
right to PM or Hon President or Hon Supreme Court for this aspect of wildlife
tourism, at least now when we have so many lady guides in our service, we must
consider their comforts too! But then
the system (read as govt) which can’t provide good clean toilets in city like
Pune what we can expect from them in remote places like Tadoba forests is also
true, yet keep fighting for right things is all we can do, right? And then
the issue of public toilets is grave in the villages around our forests which I
am repeatedly raising voice about as there are boards on the entry of all
villages saying “hagandarimukt gaon” i.e. village where nobody has to go in
open for nature’s call but you can see poor ladies shying away from headlights
of our car while going towards gate in
the early morning, guys we are in 2023 & sending rockets to Moon & we can’t
make public toilets for our country’s women, shame on us! At the same time
its main cause of man-animal conflicts also as these early hours are the
hunting time for animals like tiger & leopards & these women become
easy prey for the wild animals!
Speaking
about women & the risk they are ready to carry for the wildlife career; at
one water hole we were waiting, ours was lone gypsy & we know a tigress is
sleeping in the bushes nearby. Just when the tigress arises from her sleep
& was ready to come out, a forest dept’s vehicle approached the water hole
& a lady scientist got down to replace the camera trap memory card unaware
of the tigress which was just few feet away from the spot. We alarmed her about
presence of the tigress & she hurriedly sat back in the car! Guys, while you read these words sitting
relaxed (and safe) in your respective homes you won’t imagine the tense moments
at such times & that’s why try to support from our side as much to every
that person who risks his or her life so that we can enjoy wildlife!
And coming to
sightings (how we can forget this aspect), Tadoba never stops making me lucky
& this trip too was not an exception, right from tiger sightings too sloth
bear to mongoose on tree, here were many wonderful sightings which only can be
experienced as no picture can tell the complete story yet I clicked a few! One special
click was while waiting for alarm calls our guide spotted some movement on a
nearby tree & to our surprise it was a grey mongoose climbing on that tree.
I knew mongoose are master thieves of bird’s eggs from their nests & can
climb on trees but has never witnessed which I could this time & even click
a few good images of the same, while our driver was urging to rush towards the
alarm calls! Friends, we all like to see a tiger but forest is
full of other many wonderful things also, so don’t neglect or ignore these
while you are on search for the tigers!
The Queen
of Kolara-Madanapur!
She is
don't have a big frame neither she has eye catchy features in comparison with
her neighbouring tigresses, she never got the fame (which she deserves) like
Maya & Tara or Sonam, yet she rules Madnapur-Kolara buffer of Tadoba for
last six years & is the reason to make thousands of families earn their
livelihood here, she is Junabai! And she is beautiful by her attitude, it's
because of Junabai & other such tigers today that tadoba buffers are not
just most popular among wild lifers & tourists but is the reason to make
residents here love & care for the tigers, like they are part of villager’s
family! Its such wonderful bonding between tigers & people around Tadoba
which has made Tadoba a heaven for the tigers & we are lucky to experience
it alive!
here are some magical moments from my recent
Tadoba trip!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72177720312327429
--
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
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