This Part of My Life is Called Meandering

chillibreeze writer — Reethika Sunder

There is nothing like a vacation to get a grip on yourself – to reclaim your life! I had been planning a vacation to Kanha for sometime but never did I imagine that it was going to be as refreshing as it was. The misty quietness of the deep forests gave me clarity and peace of mind as I had never experienced before.

Where now, do I start? Do I speak of the mud that settles on your hair and turns it into a different color every time you turn a corner like the ghost tree in the forest that changes color every season? Do I speak of the dew drops that settle right on your nose while you look up hoping it is not bird poop? Do I speak of the forest chill and how my finger froze clutching the camera while passing through the forest? How I had to use both my hands to click the picture? Do I speak of the famed friendships between the sambars and the langurs to keep themselves alert about tigers?

The only other tiger reserves I have been to are Bandipur and Pench. But when you are going through Kanha in the open jeep, it seems like it is right out of The Lord of The Rings. It is beautiful, serene, and at the same time, intimidating.

At 5 am, you pull your clothes on, as much as you can carry on you – so 2-3 layers of clothing, leather jackets, sports shoes - I had so many clothes on, I thought I had myself sufficiently covered but when I entered the forest, it still did not seem enough. These are the times when clothes feel like a burden. They curtail your movement and impede the feeling of freedom that you want to experience. (Quite the same feeling I got when they made helmets compulsory). Passing through the forest in the open jeep, large sal trees on either side, all sides pervaded by darkness, for the first time I experienced the forest chill. I know it could have been much worse if there was a tinge of fear. But that is probably what was missing. There was enthusiasm, curiosity and excitement but no fear. If they let us go in open jeeps, it obviously was pretty safe.

Yes, you pass the swimming pool while walking to the open jeep from the resort and the thought of entering the ice-cold water floods your mind for a moment and gives you goose bumps… some restrictions that nature places on you.

The open jeep takes you to the entrance of the Kanha National Park where there are numerous other jeeps waiting in line for their route assignment along with the guide. There are 25 different routes that hardly cover one fourth of the core forest area which is around 900 odd square km. Along with the buffer area which was created by relocating several villages, Kanha Tiger Reserve stands at nearly 2000 square km. Since it is the peak season, Christmas and New Year, there are 150 jeeps lined up. As luck would have it, we did not see any tigers for the three whole days that we spent in Kanha - waking up at 5 am, getting back to the resort by 12.30 to pamper yourself with a hot bath in the bath tub which you never want to get out of. It is almost like your personal spa. I almost fell asleep in it once but we will keep that story for another day. You drive back to the forest again at 2 pm and spend the next 4 hours in the hope of catching a glimpse of the striped or spotted beings.

But for those people whose life seemed to depend on seeing a tiger or leopard, there would have been little scope for entertainment – tiger or no tiger. The idea is to sit back and watch the fun and to ensure that you are an active participant. This is essential for the performance to continue. An involved audience at least in this case ensures wholesome entertainment. Your task, therefore, is to leap up every time you here a rustle. Sometimes you can even pretend you can hear things when no one else does. This is the only time when people will ‘not’ look at you like you’ve lost your marbles but with respect and awe which adds to the fun anyway. Then you point in a certain direction while gesticulating to everyone to stay quiet. (I hardly need to tell you that it doesn’t matter where. Please note that a solemn demeanor is of essence here. A difficult task no doubt but some sacrifices are essential when there are greater ends at stake).

That is when the amusing part of the journey starts - A stripe here, a sound there, those famed pug marks (it is your responsibility to keep this hunt for pug marks on so that they don’t get disheartened and you lose your only avenue for entertainment) which the guide will always claim are ‘fresh’. Try not to snub the guide when he repeatedly ends up showing you the tails of monitor lizards hanging from a tree trunk (Come on, you have to admit you don’t see it everyday right? Even though I agree that it can only be likened to the level of excitement you experience when you see a bed bug maybe?), kingfishers on a tree which is yards away, barn owls and jungle owls that seemed etched inside the hollow tree trunks with no way of knowing whether you are really looking at an owl. You also have to endure for sometime the history of tendu, ghost, sal… trees, Sambars, wild boars, feel indebted and show great zeal the moment you spot a Barasingha which is close to every guide’s heart. This is because it is his only respite if the famed tiger is not spotted. This particular species of deer is close to extinction, he claimed and people come from all over the world especially to see the Barasingha in Kanha sometimes. If that seems tough to digest, please heed my warnings. If you dare pay no attention there is every danger of you being left back in the forest (Which is probably not so bad anyway with such friendly animals around, what say?

We did not spot any tigers but we never gave up hope and decided to visit Pench instead to catch a glimpse of the striped-haloed being not heeding anybody’s advice of how it was best to come back in April.

Quoting Ghalib here -
”Humko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin
Dil ke khush rakhne ko ghaalib ye khayaal achha hai”

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in February, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Reethika has an MBA in Marketing from IIM Ahmedabad and works as a Senior Consultant with a multinational company. She has worked on projects for UNCTAD/WTO and GE. Her interest areas include business writing, article writing, short story writing and web content writing. She is currently based in Bangalore.

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