KANHA: STRIPES AND THE ANTLERS
(12 January 2018 – 16 January 2018)
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. Read Full Article
KANHA: STRIPES AND THE ANTLERS, PART II
ROSETTES AND THE "BURNING BRIGHT"
IT WAS about half-past two in the afternoon when we had got our permit and, the gipsies were ready for the safari. Leaving the souvenir shop to our left, we entered the heart of Pench through Turiya Gate. We have got Sharmila, our guide and Satyavaan Thackeray, the driver along with us. The landscape of Pench is a wide one displaying a host of "Ghost Trees" bordering the entire horizon. The special variety of gum tree, binomially known as
Sterculia urens, is specifically named so because of their silky white coat of the cuticle of the stem, which shines in a bright moonlit night. The gigantic tall shapes appear to be the standing gesture of a ghost. Our eyes were scanning the jungle-scape to track down any trace of the "Burning Bright".
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KANHA: STRIPES AND THE ANTLERS, PART III
THE FIRST IMPRESSION
THE FIRST ray of the sun in Kanha. One can hardly pick out what is in front of him in such a dimmed light. Our first morning in Kanha started as we stepped out with our essentials and equipment. We quickly woke up and, got ready for the first ride. After having the tea session, we locked our rooms and set off. The enthusiasm was pondering and, the cameras were ready to be in action! Over the next three days, we would be trying to follow the tracks of some of the legendary tigers here, as well as, the other dwellers, especially, the iconic barashingas. A young and slim guy came to us asking for the necessary identity proofs. Kailash Khaiwar is the young naturalist in Kanha and we were going to have our rides on his jeep. We four were on his jeep by 6'o clock in the morning for our desired safari at Mukki.
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KANHA: STRIPES AND THE ANTLERS, PART IV
IN THE REALM OF "BHOORSINGH"
LEAVING ALL the probable interrogations behind, we got started. The air was chilling, as if, it was embedded with the power of scratching one's flesh and make it numb! Paying attention to the comfort of warmth was a must. The langurs and peafowls greeted us with a hearty welcome. This time, we were on the trails of barashingas. These large deer, with a spectacular 5-6-tined antler in males, are reddish-brown in winter and greyish brown in summer with white underparts. These, however, are the hard ground barashingas. There are a total of three subspecies of barashingas or swamp deer in India. The marshland barashingas (
Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) are the largest subspecies. The hard ground barashingas (
Rucervus devaucelii branderi) are slightly smaller than those of the wetlands. The names, be it "swamp deer" or "barashinga", does not completely suit with their nature and physical feature. Neither these deer are completely adapted to the marshlands, nor they always typically have twelve tines in total in their antlers.
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KANHA: STRIPES AND THE ANTLERS, PART V
WHEN THE "BRAVE HEARTS" CALLED
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 far from our expectations!
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