Wild Pratik: Secrets of Sylvan Eyes: Kanha: Stripes and the Antlers, Part I: Prologue to a Winter's Tale

IT ALL started with a little text message from Deepak Da (Deepak Ganguly) asking me whether I would be convenient to render a few short narratives on some of the legendary tigers for an upcoming book, namely Brave Hearts of India. A few years ago when I had been working on an album entitled The Chronicles of Burning Bright, several information on the family trees of some of the legendary tigers of Indian jungles were there already at my hands, but rendering something new does always offer a chance of enhancing one's experience with new shades. This opportunity also brought me in contact with two of the most passionate hearts- Balaji Loganathan and Kiran Bhatt, one devoting himself cordially to the sphere of wildlife photography, another belonging to the vastly etched world of fine arts. Several conferences were arranged to discuss the anatomy of the book and if my memory is not betraying, it was November 14, 2017, when we chalked out a plan of our trip in Kanha during one of our conference calls. Being a keen wildlife enthusiast, I always dreamt of commencing my journey from any of the wildlife sanctuaries- a so-called lesser target, but getting exposure in a national park like Kanha is a situation that initially seems to be a divine illusion. That was the first step. The dream came true. Everything went on smoothly and finally, the day came, January 11, 2018. I set out.

At Tuli Tiger Corridor before the evening shift of the safari; from left to right: Balaji Loganathan, Omveer Choudhari, Kiran Bhatt, Deepak Ganguly and the writer

Photo: Satyavaan Thackeray

Perhaps, the railway schedule was with a plan to diminish the flow and exuberance of the journey at the very outset and that is why (as I desperately consider out of anguish) my train Howrah-Nagpur SNSI Express delayed on that day, seven hours late than the expected schedule of departure! Overcoming a lot of initial hurdles, I finally managed to get a reservation in Gitanjali Express and the rest of the journey gradually regained its flow. For the first time, I boarded a long-distance journey entirely on my own. Another supreme obstacle appeared in terms of the official notice of the final examination of the Bachelor Degree Course declaring it to be held shortly within a couple of months, causing enough disturbance to feel free and float on the joyful waves of refreshment. Yes, a bit of nervousness was certainly there, but everything was minimized in front of the long-desired dream to breathe amidst the forest. The border of Bengal was crossed and the stations passed away one by one. What better chance of self-introspection can one get other than an isolated state? I always consider a long drive or a long-distance journey a great moment when one can peep into the inner self to find out what is going on. The chilling night came and passed away.

Near the Turiya Gate at Seoni

Photo: Pratik Mahapatra

Finally, the first ray of morning sun! I cannot exactly recall where I reached by then but one thing was for sure that the heart was pondering to catch up with the team members. It was confirmed that Balaji Sir would be there at almost the same time as my arrival at Nagpur, but his train too was a little bit late. Just on the day before my arrival there, I came to know where we were going to stay during our trip and a car was sent to Nagpur Railway Station from the resort to pick us up. Earlier, when each of us was planning for the trip, many disclosures were made to our near and dear ones about the trip, and I was in a frantic mode to catch up first of all with one such guy, Sagnik Da- Sagnik Sengupta, a man of heart whom I first met in Kolkata during a wildlife awareness campaign. Soon after our first meeting, I had developed a keen sense of respect for the person for his immense knowledge of wildlife and his attachment to this arena. He, however, was not supremely happy with me because of not having any plan to visit Pench at all, but none of us knew that this issue was going to take an amazingly wonderful turn in a few moments. One by one, all of the team members of the Brave Hearts Panel arrived. Finally, we set out from Nagpur Airport to our desired land - Kanha.

At Turiya Lake in Pench Tiger Reserve

Photo: Pratik Mahapatra

We actually needed to have the journey together from the airport to Kanha to have some valuable discussions and inputs regarding the format of the book. Srichand, our driver said that it would take as many as five hours to reach our resort. The charming landscape was exhilarating enough, as if, something new was waiting at every nook and corner of the journey with multitudinous amazement. At about 12'o clock in noon, we reached the district of Seoni in Madhya Pradesh. The road was divided into two parts. The left turn, however, was the main entrance of Turiya Gate, Pench National Park. It was Deepak Da, who first pleaded that we should pay a visit and, book the evening safari of the day at Pench that afternoon before reaching Kanha. The plan was made by the wish. We had a conversation with our guide and naturalist friend Omveer Chowdhary and managed to book the afternoon safari. Reaching his resort, namely, Tuli Tiger Corridor, we get mesmerized! Every decorum, be it interior or the exterior, was minutely designed balancing the coordination with the natural and scenic surrounding of wilderness. As our purpose to have the particular journey was very much oriented on tigers, we had been very much expecting to get a glimpse of legendary Super Mom Collarwali or Mataram at Pench, who raised as many as twenty-six cubs divided in the seven litters she produced so far (basing upon the data up to January 2018). It was reported that nowadays, Collarwali and her adolescent cubs were being sighted frequently. Will luck favour us? It was yet to be seen.