A 2-day pinch of Pench

 

7^th May, 2010 - 9:37 PM…

“Auto! Zara jaldi chalo miyaan!!!” Darn it!  Zindagi mein aaj ich milna tha ye taambail ki speed ka auto ?!  Driving on the Hyderabad-Secunderabad Highway @ 30 kmph! Gosh! On the 1.62 km stretch of the Tankbund road, I could have almost ran at that speed (never been in a marathon though and hardly know the world record) !

However, come 9:45, I am dot at SriKaleshwari Travels… finding about 6 of the 22 already there! So much for my punctuality. I am greeted by the lively and enthusiastic Dr. Vibha Naik who happens to be an anestheologist (pardon if any typo errors). Looking at the stringent and full-length instructions drawn up so meticulously by the GHAC, I was sure that if I am delayed for even a minute, she would give me multiple measures of anesthesia. But she was an absolute lady, congratulating a Hyderabadi for reaching on time!

 It was interesting to meet people of different professions and from different walks of life. Mostly they were the InfoTechnology guys. A profession grossly misunderstood as something to do with computers, though everyone uses a computer today, practically.

Formal intros amongst the 6 were a mundane process which, I was sure, wasn’t of any help at that time. Intros would be happening gradually over the two eventful days, was what my impression was. The others trickled in slowly and I came to know there was another small group from within the 22 that had formed in another location close to the Volvo bus parking – a co-ordination process that can happen only with Indians, or else only with the highly-trained US Marines. We Indians are well-known for our uncanny instincts which are put to use for doing something that the analysts of the west would call as Chaos Management. However, all 20 were there, waiting for the bus… which, on inquiring, seemed to have ad just started from lakdi-ka-pul.  Wait a minute! Did I say 20? Yep! Two had already left in another bus!

The journey had started, and I started wondering what’s in store for the next two days. The air-conditioning in the Volvo bus was quite cooling, soothing and comforting. Made me feel as if I was on a pleasure trip instead of an adventure! The whole bus was abuzz with people interacting in different languages (English, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, …including Dutch!) and the excitement was high. Soon everyone settled as the bus picked momentum for the highway. Interestingly, the “Three Idiots” was played on the DVD and everyone enjoyed it (including Justin, Christian and Torben. as there were English sub-titles) though most of us had already seen it. The night was pretty restless for me as I am not used to sleeping upright. Though the seats could be made inclined and sleep-able, I had my own frustrations.  I did my best to get to sleep, but it was an herculean task, what of the racing mind which was in full performance in an attempt to understand why the hell I am here. I couldn’t help going into a flashback of how this had all started…. 

Of late, I have been seeing the “Save Tiger” clips on the TV channels – how only 1,411 of them are now left and what the national and international NGOs, and the government, are doing for the conservation and rehabilitation of these majestic species called the panthera tigris of the panthera family of animals. The history of the Tiger is a unique one. It was quite surprising to me to know that the Tiger, though very much identified with India, is not originally a native of India. The origin of the Tiger is from Siberia from where about 9 species evolved as they migrated southwards in an expanding manner, ranging from China and Indonesia eastwards, and,  to Russia, India, and Iran westward. 3 out of them are extinct now. (you can read more about it here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger ) There are claims of a family of black tigers having been sighted in the forests of China but there is no confirmation of it so far. India hosts about 1,411 tigers officially as of now. The Indian tiger have adapted to the different parts of India and has also undergone, though negligible and in minority, its own evolutionary changes necessary to adapt to the regional geography. There are  around 30 forests across India where these tigers are living and hence these places have been declared as Tiger Reserves.  Pench happens to be one of them….  And I am going there to see these magnificent species in their natural habitat!

8th May, 2010 - 6:00 AM…

…saw us in Nagpur at a lodge/restaurant where we freshened up and had a compact breakfast of Vadas and Gulab-Jamuns. While I was having a go at the vadas, I could see a person carrying a sense of immense confidence and conviction, talking to our team members and giving them valuable tips on how best to put their cameras to use for the next two days. And also advising those  who were planning to buy on what cameras to go for. No doubt, I was sure this will have to be Dr.Ghosh - uniquely different from both the common and the uncommon.   

Soon we had assembled together again to get into the three Toyota Qualis which were to take us to Pench Reserve. We all were very excited!

Pench, a little known Wildlife Reserve, commencing in the district of Sioni, Madhya Pradesh state and also spreading into the adjacent state of Maharashtra covering an overall territory of 758 sq. Kms, is making effective efforts of getting known so as to bring in an awareness about the biodiversity of the global ecosystem – an attempt that I am sure will  soon be seen as  being well paid-off, having the right kind of people taking interest and putting in tremendous efforts.

You can read more  about Pench here:

  http://projecttiger.nic.in/penchmp.htm

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pench_Tiger_Reserve 

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pench_National_Park,_Madhya_Pradesh

8^th May, 2010  10:00 AM….

The journey commences with a Toyota Qualis and two more in tow. The driver tells us it takes around two and a half hours to reach Pench but we could make it there by 11:30 AM. Hats off to the driver who fully understood the typical Indian’s (or rather, Hyderabadi’s) sense of time.

I have the habit of often going off into the nearby countryside and wilderness of Hyderabad when wound up with the hectic city life. Interestingly, the experiences one has while in solitude in the jungle is drastically different from what he experiences while in the jungle with a group of people. One gives  a sense of Reality… while the other of human existence. One enlightens (to some extent ) the Man-God relationship and the other about Man-Man relationship. One leaves the person “in the clouds” while the other keeps him very much onto the earth. I have experienced this while on this trip to a forest with a group of 20 people.

 Dr. Ghosh had already made arrangements for us there at a Resort where we checked in into a dormitory… a real experience that reminded us of our hostel days. Having gone through the routine of freshening up once more, we go through the process of further interaction among ourselves and with the WildCats Nature Club people – a unique team of highly unconventional and assorted personalities which included Udayan Dharmadhikari (a high-school [10+2]graduate and the youngest commando in the team),  Rajan,  Varun and  their leader Dr. Abheek Ghosh. 

Now let me tell you something about Abheek. A professor with the University of Maharashtra and actively associated with the Spandan Institute, a dedicated activist on the awareness of bio-diversity and ecosystem,  Abheek has also authored a book recently. An intellectual to the core with a flair for multi-disciplines including love of nature, photography, writing, travelling, adventure, medicine, and matters of the heart, Dr.Ghosh is real fun to be with.

Having had an exhaustive interaction with Dr.Ghosh on photography, (myself being new to the field) I found his advice very precise and wise. Not to go for too high a specs nor too much of sophistication in the cameras, at this early stage in photography.

We relax a bit, have our lunch at the resort, and then start off to the P.T.R. checkpost to register for the trip and do the formalities for the permit. Interestingly, I found the authorities there taking every measure to ensure safety and emergency procedures for the visitors to the Reserve. The paperwork is meticulous and every Maruti Gypsy registered has a defined list of passengers with their detail on it including blood group, address, and identification.  I had provided my driving license as my identity and was assigned to one Gypsy along with the foreigners (Justin from the USA, Christian and Torben from Denmark) and Ashwin.  I was ready for my very first trip into the jungle filled with wild things, including Tigers and Leopards, in nothing but an open-top Gypsy with no weapons for self-defence. I would have felt much safer had I brought with me my grandfather’s 500-Express rifle – but I relied on the Reserve’s safety measures.  Moreover, I had no intention of having another Khan in the controversy for possession of arms in a territory rich in spotted deer, Sambhar and Neelgai (Blue Bull).

 Had lunch and took the first trip to the reserve. As we entered past the checkpost, into the forest, I could feel a tingling sensation…. a feeling that I might be coming face to face with the world’s most graceful and majestic animal, the Tiger.  However, Dr. Ghosh was frank enough to remind us that though we are out here to see the big cat, it should be kept in mind that we may not see one altogether. Who would guarantee the sighting of one of the few (less than 50) tigers in an area of 758 sq. kms.? Who knows where they lie in wait for a bait? Who knows where each one of them would be at any given time? It was quite discouraging but at the same time it was such a great feeling to see tall trees on both sides of the sandy road (or rather a trail path) instead of the city’s tall concrete apartments rising beyond 10 storeys on either sides of a black-top road with the traffic lines and signals on the road.  It indeed gave an immense sense of order wherein one is bound by the Creator’s traffic rules. We could see some birds chirping and making their own unique noises instead of people peeking out from the balconies of their apartments and the vehicles on the roads honking their horns off.   

As we proceeded into the forest, we found  a lot of spotted deers and langurs on either sides of the path in their own cultural societies. Listening to the natural sounds of birds, deers, langurs and peacocks, I could make out the more prominent sound of our Gypsy’s engine. Louder still was the crackling noise of its tyres on the gravel path – an audio experience so rare and so well-engraved in my mind that even while I write this, I can feel that extra”audio”nary experience in a 5.1 home-theatre play-back mode. Just while I was fully taking-in this almost divine experience of a place not so much plundered by human civilization that the driver began slowing down the Gypsy and almost came to a halt…… I was shaken back to senses by the words of Dr.Ghosh: “I think we have sighted a tiger” !!!  Gosh! Its just 10 minutes into the jungle and here we are… a sighting! 

I had missed out on introducing an extraordinary person in Pench - Lallan.

Lallan, the expert tracker of tigers, has an uncanny skill of identifying and narrowing down onto a smaller area where there is every possibility of a tiger. He was the one driving our Gypsy. We were lucky enough to have him at the helm in our Gypsy.  As I frantically tried to see the camouflaged tiger about a 100 meters away in the trees and bushes onto our left, some of us were already using their scene-capture equipment and clicking away. It took me quite some time to identify the exact spot and savour in the experience of sighting a tiger in its natural habitat. The color-tinge of the natural trees and shrubs were so identical to its skin texture that I could identify it only by the white portions of its belly and that too with great difficulty. We waited there for some time very quietly, expecting the tiger to move and make its presence more obvious. And that was not to come for quite some time as it seemed to be in a very relaxed mood and lying down. However, it did move after a while and sat up. Tracking animals, especially big cats, requires tremendous patience. At times, people lie in wait for a clear sighting for a whole day or even days together, looking at the kind of videos we see on the Animal Planet, BBC and Discovery channels. It is no ordinary task. It requires a passion that goes beyond the ordinary and the extraordinary. A passion that gets well paid off with the awareness and appreciation by the common masses once they see the videos brought to them on TV channels after years. 

 After a while, Lallan and Dr.Ghosh felt its time to move on and see more of the forest. We agreed and felt we have more to see.

Returned  after sunset. The trip was fantastic and could see a tiger within 10 minutes of entering the forest. Went around the forest and took in the whole scenario of the balance of Nature. Lot of Langurs, Spotted deer, and Sambhars. We did come across a few other animals -

Night Ride:  At dinner time, discussions were on about experiencing a night ride into the forest. This had really got me excited. While in my early teens during school I had read a few of Kenneth Anderson’s shikar stories.  His descriptions of the night scenes were so awesome and absorbing that I couldn’t help but recall those readings from over three decades back. His meticulous descriptions of the night, while waiting for the man-eaters in his stories, used to literally take me there…  and here I was, about to experience in reality those exact scenes (of course, minus the man-eaters!).  At around 10:30pm we received word from Dr.Ghosh that only two Gypsy are available for the night ride in the buffer zone of the forest. We need to be ready to go without disturbing or waking up any of those who had already sailed into dreamland.  Most of the group were dead tired and some were taking half-hour power naps.

 Approx. 8 species were sighted – Chital, Cinkara, Wild cat, Civet, Spotted Owl, spotted deers, Cattle Egrets, going through the villages,            Came back around 2:30 am. Some were left out – Shailendra, …..

And we were up again at 4:30, reached PTR around 5:30 and went in. The very first thing that we came across was the

Epilogue...