Elusive Tigers…

Not any more…

Warning : Over exuberant, gloating post ahead. You might need shades to protect your eyes from the shine my preening feathers might throw up !!!!

To get the record straight, this was my 8th safari of 4-5 hours in Tiger country spread over a decade & 3 national parks that finally I managed to spot my first tiger in the wild

They say the fruits of patience are quite sweet and I can now understand, after roaming about on rocky bumpy roads for so many times finally I met the big cat and how…. I didn’t just spot it from a distance… She came to greet me as near as 5 feet from my jeep !!!!

On day 2 of our trip in the morning we were lucky to spot a leopard, which is claimed by most as even more elusive than the tiger (pics later) somehow though, I have been lucky, I have spotted a leopard two times earlier on foot !! In Gir and Sheoganj both This was the first time I saw it from a jeep. The tiger however eluded us in the morning, apparently the biggest male in Ranthambore T-24 as the guides identify him had perhaps run whole night and it left our driver and guide completely confused where it was, there were way too many pugmarks and at many places we could see pugmarks going in one direction and simultaneously returning the same day. Normally female tigers have a territory of around 10-12 sq. km. as per the guides in Ranthambore but Male tigers have bigger territories, 20-25 sq.km, T-24 apparently, the biggest tiger in Ranthambore has a territory of almost 40 sq. km!!! As if it was not a difficult enough possibility to spot a solitary tiger in a 40 sq. km. area that the guide announced that these males mark their entire territory every 2-3 days and as per him T-24 doesn’t feel nice without checking out atleast a couple of other female tiger territories every 2-3 days. After trying for 2 hours, eventually we gave up on tracking T-24 and ventured into shooting the jungle and the deer and other birds.

The afternoon though was lucky, Kanhaiya, our guide came to our hotel to pick us up after lunch at 2.30 with news that we have been alloted route no.4 where a tiger was spotted in the morning and it was also reported that the tiger was resting near some caves. Now that was good news, normally tigers walk about and roam a lot in the nights, however around 9-10 in the morning they find a place in shade and near water and laze. Some are so lazy they do not even wake up or move an inch till evening. So off we sped straight to the spot the Tigress was spotted. On the way we learnt that the tiger that we were off to watch was not a tiger but a tigress. Now she was no common tigress, infact, she is the most photographed and documented tiger in India.

She is a legend in herself, The lady of the lake, Machli, T-16, Park ki Naani are some of the names that she is known by!!!! BBC had made a documentary on this tigress which was first spotted in 1997 in Ranthambore, today almost all the tigers in Ranthambore are perhaps her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She once was a very very strong and ferocious tigress that ruled the most beautiful parts of the Ranthambore park that had 3 lakes and the picturesque Rajbaug. She is believed to have killed as many as 8 crocodiles thanks to having the 3 lakes in her territory. Today though, the territory has been taken up by Sundari, her youngest daughter and Machli has been left with perhaps the smallest of all territories among all tigers in Ranthambore.

We reached the spot where she was first spotted and in about 15 minutes saw first movements from her, although quite far, I spotted her move and was thrilled to bits…

But after a couple of minutes of spotting her from a distance she disappeared in the bushes and our driver Shambhusingh reckoned she went and sat in the ‘nullah’ (a small stream of water, behind the slope) I considered myself fortunate enough to see her even from such a distance and was thrilled that I had my first tiger pics

Eventually after 20 mins of waiting our guide and driver insisted we leave the area and take a trip around in another tiger’s area and also photograph the jungle, I was kinda not keen to move from there but they advised we would come back here after a while nearer to 5pm when it would be relatively cooler and the tiger might start moving again. We saw some very beautiful parts of the forest with red algae infested lakes and all but somehow my mind was just not into photographing anything else and I just wanted to go back to the place where we had spotted Machli.

Eventually when we reached there, unlike earlier when we had the tiger just to us, this time the front row was already taken by 3 canters and 5 jeeps already waiting and I was already cursing my driver beneath my breath that we were the farthest and no chance to get a decent shot. Besides me were two foreigners who had lens that were atleast 2 feet long and I was already getting a complex of sorts about how wonderful their pics would come and how pale my pics would be.

However, watching tigers and keeping patience is not everyone’s cup of tea. At 6 the park closes and everyone has to be out, so as the clock struck 5.30 the canters had moved, all jeeps too gone and with them the 2 feet lens just 2 jeeps left, us and another govt. guests who didnt have to follow the 6 pm rule. (snobs I tell ya)

We were sitting and clicking Lapwings and Tree pie’s when suddenly the driver of the other jeep spotted movement, Machli, returned from the ‘nullah’ half her body was wet. She again sat on the slopes and tried to go to sleep and we thought that was it. She was not coming any more near. Then as our driver picked up, she is being troubled by some fleas or flies or bees… who are not letting her sleep and then again the tigress started moving this time towards a road. Our driver who was pretty experienced took us further ahead to a crossing he reckoned she would come out from and lo….

This pic was taken when she came out of the bushes and was watching the jeep behind us… YES YES YES !!!!

I took this pic Me me me…. After all these many years of searching the tiger decided to pay me a visit Then after checking us two jeeps she started ambling towards our jeep and our voices started to become low toned shrieks with my wife and son whispering in shrieks almost she is coming so near so near so near so near and then she came to almost 5 feet close to our jeep before she changed her track and crossed our jeep from the front side and went into the bushes there and fell to rest again !!!!

Look at that 17 year old, does she look like an old tigress in the evening of her life. Well I am no tiger expert and I can never tell. This pic has her playfully raising her tail and her tongue out as if she is coming to play with her Daddy !

The biggest quandary for a photographer and a wild life enthusiast I guess is to decide whether to observe with his eyes or to capture with the lens. Although Machli was kind enough to let me do both, when it came ambling towards our jeep I held by son tight and watched it and then as my wife pulled my son back I got enough time to click loads of shots here are some of them

That is when she came real close… apparently our driver spotted her whilst ambling that she was hurt in her left fore limb which we only saw later when we saw pics in our laptop in the evening.

Walking oblivious of us, after all, she is the queen of these forests.

Traces of having taken a dip recently are quite visible here…

That gives you some idea of how near she had come and mind you this is when she started going away… she was nearer than this… we were thrilled while she was around. Cat caught my tongue was what literally happened to me… I just kept clicking it…

it was only after she went away that I realised how vulnerable we were if she decided to give us a royal lick but well so far I have understood these animals are a lot more kind then we humans are and she didn’t change that understanding of mine at all.

The moment it went into the bushes you could see how difficult it is to spot a tiger… see how easily it camouflages itself.

And then it went back to its favourite pastime in the day… Sleeping, Hobbes, I am sure you can completely related to this…

PICS Courtesy: yours truly !

excerpts…

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He joined the army soon and in the army he was one of the brightest, fastest and strongest cadets. He was marked very early for commando training and he always topped almost all challenges thrown to him. His physical capacities amazed a lot of his colleagues and superiors. He grew fast, his reputation faster. The military Brigadier’s earmarked him soon he was the pride of the Kumaon regiment. He unusually displayed a lot of expertise in climbing. He was sent for a special course in mountaineering and skiing to Gulmarg. His climbing skills and his abillty never numbed even in the most chilling cold weather. His decision making would be unwavering and his judgement would not be clouded admist adversities during training. Soon he was selected and recommended to join the Special Frontier Force (SFF).

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Post the gruelling training of SFF he was recommended by the SFF Col. Mr Bindra to Brigadier Naresh Kumar popularly known in the Army as “Bull”

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In 1983, Pakistani generals decided to stake claim of the Siachen Glacier by troop deployment. They placed an order for Arctic weather gear from a supplier in London, unaware however that the same supplier also provided outfits to the Indian army. The information was leaked and the Indians got the air of the Pakistani plans. Indians acted fast and mounted their own operations. Aided by the recently returned team from Antartica, the army ordered 300 suits of the arctic gear and operation ‘Meghdoot’ was launched with the Bull at the helm of affairs. Whilst Pakistan’s plan was to capture the glacier by April 17th, the Indian army launched its operation in march and captured 3 posts by April the 13th.

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However in 1986, Pakistan’s Brigadier at that time Pervez Musharraf launched an assault in response and managed to initially capture a post that the Pakistani’s named ‘Quaid’ which was at 6500meters which was the highest point in the Siachen mastiff. It was a very strategic post at it gave a clear view of the other two Indian posts and the Pakistani’s could easily snipe at the Indian’s from that post. It was virtually an impregnable fortress with ice walls, 457 meter high, on both sides.

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Naib Dara Singh of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry led the charge, two missions earlier had been aborted, once due to some trouble with the rope in the night and another due to a communication failure. Eventually Dara Singh made a daring suggestion of climbing in the day time, there was heavy snow fall forecast that day and Capt Vikram and Dara Singh managed to convince the Task Force Commanger Bull to give them the green light to carry out this dangerous mission.

Naib Dara Singh led 160 other members including Vikram and they climbed the 457 meters crawling from trench to trench lobbing hand grenades and eventually charged with a bayonet.

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Dara Singh deservedly was awarded the Param Vir Chakra the highest Gallantry award in India. Today the post they won is known as Dara Post which is the highest battle field in the world.

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In his memoirs, former Pakistani president General Pervez Musharraf states that Pakistan lost almost 900 square miles (2,300 km2) of territory that it claimed.[19] TIME states that the Indian advance captured nearly 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2) of territory claimed by Pakistan.[20]

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The sour Musharraf returned… in 1999 in Kargil…

Are we becoming an increasingly intolerant democracy ?

Will sanity ever prevail on this planet, in my country ?

I have nothing to do or say about the death of Bal Thackrey. I don’t even know what he has done for the Marathi Manoos !? No.. and I don’t want to discuss his life or his doings. The only think that appalled me and has always done is the way the reactions were by the people who didn’t like a particular FB update. When I actually discovered the FB update I couldn’t agree more. The update has no malice against Bal Thackrey, it only merely is a reflection of the state of mind of a person who lives in Mumbai that she is being forced to to shut down.

Weirdly enough the authorities proved that the girl was right by arresting her!! Actually if anyone the Sainik’s should be pissed off with it should be those who arrested the Girl and not her uncle for sure ! :-/

Before anything else I would like the court to ask some seriously grim questions to all those who were involved in her arrest and actually ask them to explain to the court what was the crime the girl committed that she be arrested and she be forced to even seek a bail. Unnecessarily controversies are raked because it seems people are becoming increasingly intolerant to any view that doesn’t necessarily agree with them. Tolerance it seems is at its all time low.

This harmless update on FB led to the arrest of a girl and another girl who liked the update.

No I have no business with Mumbai being shut or open, it doesn’t affect me. Nor is that girl on my friends list in FB but then I read this poem by Martin Niemöller on Ritu’s blog and I realised I must not let this pass…

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

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