THINKING OF the fact of Munna's inability to make a quick move, we came back there the next morning with the hope to catch up with him yet again. A large male tiger was seen quenching his thirst from the waterhole, exactly at the same spot where Munna was resting on the previous day. A bunch of tourists were whispering that it might have been Munna as the male got up and start limping. To many tourists, it is the main objective to see a tiger, disregarding his or her identity. To them and the untrained eyes, the tiger is important, not which one. However, the reality turned out to be an entity beyond expectations!
The Thirsty Cat: Karai Ghati Male at Kanhaghat
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Termite mound in Mukki
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
The big male, whom all had been assuming to be Munna, was the legendary Karai Ghati Male (KTR T-2). But why was he limping? There was not at all any serious injury, but it seemed he had a bit of trouble on his right front leg. Karai Ghati Male had been one of the former rivals of Munna and, is about 10-year-old. We know that Munna could barely cross four or five kilometres in such a poor physical state. There was every possibility of a confrontation between these two big males, but why are they sharing the same patch? Had there been any intrusion of the new male in their respective home ranges? None of us was sure. But one thing was almost assured that these two fellows were not in a mode to take on yet another altercation between them. Male tigers do proclaim a great expansion of the horizon, which, in reality, is not always easily manageable. The presence of Munna and Karai Ghati in the same territorial range just showed the range of ambitious territorial proclamation.
Ram Kumar Yadav, the guide and Kailash Khaiwar
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Coincidently, such proclamation is there to be seen in Mukki in recent times. We knew the widened range of Chhota Munna. Some of his patches are eventually conquered after defeating Umarpani Male (KTR T-30), who, now is living a life of exile in the non-tourism zone. But there is every possibility of his return at Mukki at any point in time. A group of tourists came with a safari elephant to get a glimpse of the big boy but, he started to walk towards the thickets. Deepak Da was just wishing to have a sighting of a male tiger during our trip and his long-desired wish turned out to be true right on his birthday! Leaving him on his own, we moved on and, had some wonderful time with the Icons of Kanha once again - the barashingas.
One of the tourist elephants relaxing in the meadows
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Another great sighting experience it turned out to be! We also came to know about the blackbuck reproduction project, which is recently undertaken by the park authority. At the time of returning, we were stunned to see Dhawajhandi Female once again. Again, in the same manner, she came out, paused, gazed at us and went on. Such a majestic queen she is!
"The Second Coming": Dhawajhandi Female at Mukki
Photo Courtesy: Balaji Loganathan
At the time of our departure from the safari, we came to know about Lapsi Kabar near Shravan Taal, the burial of a celebrated hunter. Today it is frequented by tigers. There is a lot of hearsay regarding this legendary hunter, namely, Lapsi. As far as the legend goes, he used to put his wife as the living bait while hunting down the man-eaters. Sadly, his trick once proved to be fatal when his wife was attacked and killed by a tiger.
Above: Blackbuck male and females at the breeding ground
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Below: Barashinga stag at Mukki
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
So far, we had attained a total of five safaris in Kanha. The afternoon shift of January 15 was going at Kisli was going to be our final ride for this trip. Kanha National Park is divided into four core zones, namely, Mukki, Kisli, Kanha and Sarhi. We did not have any safari in Sarhi. Of the four zones, Kanha is the prime one and, that is why the safari charge for Kanha Zone is a bit expensive than that of the other three zones. The Kisli Zone remains closed for the last two days because of the death of Budbudi Female. The future of her cubs was uncertain. The Park Conservancy is likely to take up its responsibility.
Blue-blooded: Indian Peafowl at Kisli
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
We set out for Kisli with our guide Ram Kumar Yadav. This time, Kailash Ji was not with us for he had been engaged in a training session of the naturalists. The Natural History Unit of BBC was making a documentary on Neelam and Kailash Ji was assigned there to escort them. The forest guards, who have to patrol a certain area of 15-20 kilometres regularly, do have profound knowledge of the jungle and, they have seen the jungle much closer than we have. Ram Ji was saying about the trials and tribulations of the guards.
The Contemplation: Indian Roller at Kisli
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Earlier, I had come across a short documentary film on Kanha, produced by M.P. Tourism, which features Hamel Singh Pattavi and Sahadev Singh Banjara, two of the forest guards who had been attacked by two adolescent tiger cubs, and Manuwa Prasad Kartikeya, who had been torn by a female sloth bear, back in July 2003. The life of these forest guards is a tough one and, what we proclaim about our knowledge of forest and wildlife, is still limited to the theoretical boundary. They have indeed faced the truth of flesh and blood. We have to bow down our heads in front of these dedicated souls for forests. Conserving such a big tiger reserve like Kanha is very much dependent upon the monitoring of these people- downtrodden and amiable, despite having such a ruthless predicament.
Barashinga hind
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Our heart became filled with respect for these Gods of the forest. We spent a great time in the world of antlers once again near a water hole in Kisli. It was nice to be able to film some of the backlit effects of spotted deer, sambars and barashingas in the background of sunset. Again during the return, the reverberation of the presence of the tiger was heard once again. We were deep inside the territory of Mahaveer Female and presumably, one of her sub-adult male cubs was nearby. Ram Ji said that there was a chance of MV-1 in the surrounding. We had to attend an important meeting with Dr Sanjay Shukla, the Honourary Field Director of Kanha Tiger Reserve at Kisli Guest House, so we were in hurry for sure. We were a little bit torn regarding what to do. Whether to wait a little more and, catch a glimpse of rough and tough Mahaveer Cub; or to call it a day, and move on to the guest house for a long-desired meeting. The mist of uncertainties again hovered around and, the silence was torn by the call of a barking deer. We were about to decide something regarding our move and suddenly a mild growling shattered the unbroken silence! It was the Mahaveer Cub! Although we did not see him, his growling was enough to make us felt the true essence of the jungle. Furthermore, he just reminded us of the lesson that the Jungle goes on according to her own rule, set forth by Nature herself.
The Commensalism: Common mynah sitting on a female sambar
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Don't know why- despite not having the sighting of him, we were very much in contentment. The jungle has her charm to grasp our attention and, make us forgotten about all the agonies and anxieties that we generally pursue. Truly, this charm is needed for the forthcoming steps of life so that they could be taken up with refined refreshments.
The small herd of sambar in the Kisli waterhole
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
We came to Kisli Guest House at about 5:45 in the evening. Dr Shukla was already there along with a few guests. He warmly greeted us. We sat at the compound of the guest house and, all of us wished to have a tea session. Deepak Da introduced us all to Dr Shukla. To an improvising wildlife enthusiast like me, meeting a person of his stature is really a great privilege. He introduced with a couple of young researchers, blissfully blessed with a tiny child, who were jointly working on a novel on the lives of the marginal people living on the edge of the forest. Our purpose was to state the short detailing of the lives of some of the iconic tigers along with their sketches in Brave Hearts of India. We met Mr Kedar Bhide, an artist and a wildlife enthusiast as well. Mr Bhide is an ardent soul, who has devoted himself to preserving the ancient works of Indian fine arts and he has his studio in Mumbai, namely, Nisarga Art Works. He congratulated us. Dr Shukla too agreed with our agenda of documenting, and wholeheartedly wished us the best. Now we were on the trail of something new in terms of the inputs for the book. Brave Hearts still has to go a little for its completion. What Kanha gifted us in terms of its immense wildlife and such a great formal meeting on a particular assignment, is something to be cherished and to be memorable forever.
The Contentment: (From left to right) Balaji Loganathan, Dr Sanjay Shukla, Kiran Bhatt, Deepak Ganguly and Kedar Bhide
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
A gaur walked swingingly and stood in the meadows behind the guest house. We could have been lucky enough to catch up with an entire herd if we had come here a bit earlier, said Dr Shukla. Earlier, Deepak Da was annoyed of not having the sighting of a single gaur and putting the blame on Bajrang, as if, there was only one gaur left in Kanha and Bajrang had killed it on the other day! It was great to see the birthday boy embellished with the lairs of joys after having his objectives fulfilled- aims in terms of catching up with Karai Ghati Male, having the discussion on the progress of the book and having a farewell by the lonely gaur. We reunited with Ram Ji and get in our car. Everyone's heart was pondering with excitement and achievement! These are indeed the moments we live for!
Above: Curiosity: Spotted deer hind
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Below: A trunk (of an elephant), or a trunk (log)?
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Our purpose here in Kanha was over. Now, it was time to be on the regular trails of life once again. I deliberately did not use the term "comeback" to be on the daily trails since it would have been too much monotonous! What is an exact comeback after all? A true and soulful returning is that, which endows ourselves with several introspection and self-realization. Like for anyone else, for me too, Kanha and these days of pure engagements served the same desired purpose. Although based upon the roller coaster of the journey, it is the time to say goodbye and, get involved in the daily tracks. But innately, the heart reverbs the notion of yet another comeback, only to be embraced and adored by the wildest denizens and their beholder. Good-Bye Kanha! Hope to catch up with you very soon with all your endearing pleasures.
Adieu!
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
Wonderful completion of the beautiful journey.
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