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| Fort of Ranthambore inside the forest. |
Ranthambore national park, a forest packed with life of a
ubiquitous nature with a presence of awe and mystery enveloping the forest like
a thick blanket of fog that quietly waltzes by the onlooker and leads him to a
place where natures’ magic of life blooms and takes shape all around him. If
ever one wants to find Mother Nature, she resides here where tigers roam the
land and every blade of grass, every living creature and the
beautiful landscape with mountain ranges running through the forest and lakes
sporadically found all over, coalesces to give shape to her magnificent figure.
With just 3 days of rain the forest has transformed itself from a dry deciduous
figure to a lush green semi deciduous forest for just a week ago; one would
have thought that he has walked into the dry scrub forests of Gir. But not to
be fooled by nature’s deception, the week long wait would reveal the magic of
life, where green grass begins to take precedence over the dry and water begins
to fill the lakes, where animals come out in sheer numbers and Mother Nature
begins to sing with her vociferous notes played out predominantly by the birds
and occasionally by a rutting deer. One will also find the tiger waltzing by gratuitously
as if to keep a check on life by patrolling its territory and providing a sight
to the onlooker, which would be revered for time immemorial.
My time in Ranthambore cannot be explained in laconic terms.
It is one that needs to be described in great detail for every world missed is
a mark of disrespect to the land of tigers and I only hope that I do justice in
this article to articulate the time I’ve spent there. Credit should be given to
‘Riverbank Studios’ under the guidance of Mr. Mike Pandey for giving me the
opportunity to accompany them on their filming expedition titled ‘The Return of
the Tiger.’
Day 1: 22nd June 2013.
The journey took off from Delhi at around 7 am. The crew was
composed of four people two camera personnel, one person to take care of the
equipment and I an intern to help out with the photography. We reached
Ranthambore at around noon just in time for lunch, a seven hour journey
completed in time for the evening safari which took off at 3.30pm. There were
two vehicles heading off in different directions with a camera person on each,
this tactic would help the team cover a lot of ground and film as many tigers
as possible.
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| White-eyed Buzzard. |
Half an hour into the drive and the forest was quiet as ever.
The silence was broken by a ‘White-eyed Buzzard’ perched on a tree stump right
next to the vehicle. I was able to get some good photos of the bird before it
flew off into oblivion.
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| One of T-19's son. |
Soon we heard news of two tigers, sub-adult brothers about 20
months of age, cooling themselves in a nearby water-hole. It took us fifteen
minutes before we reached the spot and I knew in my mind that fifteen minutes
was too long a time for a tiger to be seen at one place unless it is sleeping
or feeding as the crowding of vehicles would shoo them off into the forest. My
hunch was right as by the time we reached the spot, the two tigers had fled in
opposite directions and all that now was left was their imprint on the slush
that once cushioned the two tigers not too long ago. There were about fifteen
vehicles at the water hole. Pandemonium spread as some people where happy to
see the tigers while others did not and where desperate to track them down. Out
of the blue, one of the tigers made his way back to the water-hole where people
started to scream for joy on sighting his arrival. The noise was too much for
the tiger and he decided retrace his steps, back to where he came from. In the
midst of the commotion I was able to click just one photograph of him before
losing him to the forest.
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| A Patridge sand bathing. |
Another highlight of the evening was that of a small group of
Partridges sand bathing on our path. With no one to disturb them, we were able
to capture it on film.
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| A Peacock decides to show off. |
A small snipped was filmed when a Peacock decided to display
its tails feathers. With no pea-hen in sight, we presumed that the Pea-cock was
giving us a demonstration of its courting dance.
We spent the rest of the evening by the side of a lake
watching the painted stalks, lap-wings and herons play themselves out to each
other.
Day 2: 23rd June 2013:
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| T-24 decides to give a public appearance. |
T-24 seemed to be complaisant right from the time we spotted
him. Half an hour into the sighting ten other vehicles joined us and I could
see 7 more on their way. T-24 occasionally raised his head, had a good look at
us and went back to sleep. Just when everyone’s patience was beginning to run
out, T-24 rolled over and lifted his head, his back now facing us.
His attention seemed
to be drawn towards the bushes that lie in front of him. After about 10
minutes, he got up sniffed the grass, blessed it with his scent and made his
way into the forest. T-24 was now out of sight and we decided to enter the
forest and take route no.1 that would take us in the direction where T-24 was
headed.
T-24 looked hungry, his empty stomach and his uneasy dash
into the forest signalling his plight and his intention to hunt in the near
future. We stopped at a meadow hoping to see T-24 pass by. 10 other vehicles
joined us and a crowd began to develop around the meadow. Too much noise for
any tiger to walk on by. 20 minutes passed and there was no sighting or clue as
to where T-24 was. His location remains secluded and our conjunctured guess was
that he was lying down in the bushes nearby, his amorous mood disturbed by the
advent of vehicles that cluttered around to see him.
All the people were scouting for T-24 in the meadow that lies
to their right and after a wait of 20 minutes T-24 came out in a short burst
from the front following the path cut out for the vehicles leaving all the
onlookers dumbfounded. T-24 was startled when he ran into the long line of
vehicles with people looking at him, unnerved by the clicking of cameras he
made a dash for the bushes. He seemed to be chasing after some animal when he
ran into us and not wanting to let go of his target got onto another path that
was perpendicular to the path we were on and continued his stalk.
Vehicles scurried back and forth in pursuit him.
We soon caught up with T-24 who passed by our jeep and
quickly adopted a stalking position, with his shoulders lowered. 100 meters
ahead stood a huge male nilgai feeding off the leaves of a tree. T-24 started
to stalk him and sat down about 70 meters from the nilgai. For the next 20 min
T-24 sat and watched the Nilgai feed. It just shows the amount of patience a
tiger has despite the feeling of hunger clouding his judgement.
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| The Nilgai T-24 was stalking. |
Another welcome sight to the morning drive was that of two
jackal pups playing with each other and lapwings that nest close by were trying
to drive them away. Soon the female lead the pups away with the injured male
trotting behind on three legs.
We appeared to have used up all the tiger luck for the day in
the morning drive and the evening drive showed how beautiful the forest was
with the eerie presence of the tiger all around us and we still didn’t get to
see it. That’s what makes the tiger special.
The highlight for that drive was a
kingfisher sitting on a dry branch overlooking the waterhole. We reached the
water hole around 6 pm and bear witness to a traffic jam of sorts with jeeps
parked all around the water-hole. One of the guides at the water-hole told us
that T-24 had been sighted chasing after a snake and was headed in the
direction of the water-hole after disappearing into the forest. But no one got
to see him at the water-hole that day.
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| Asian Paradise Flycatcher. |
Day 3: 24th June 2013:
A 5.30 am entry along route 3 revealed the actual beauty of
Ranthambore. Within an hour we were up on the mountain that overlooked the
landscape of Ranthambore with the Fort on the far end of the horizon. Two hours
into the drive and sightings were nil. Just when my virtue of patience was
giving me the slip, I saw an animal that resembled a leopard around the hairpin
on the road below before losing sight while taking the turn. It took a good 30
seconds before we reached the spot to our dismay the creature had disappeared
without a trace. Two minutes passed and our quick intensive scanning had paid dividends
when we saw the creature high up on the mountain, looking back at us. It was a
sub-adult tiger one of the two sons of T-19. Before I could pull out my camera
he made a dash over the mountain and disappeared from sight. It just goes to
show how shy the tigers really are and how lucky one needs to be to spot them
for long periods of time.
Another highlight of the trip was a python feeding on a hare,
but the snake was way into the bush and so I was unable to take a picture of
it.
The evening drive turned out to be quiet an adventure in
itself. We entered the forest at about 3.30 in the afternoon; one of the first
vehicles to enter the park. 20 Minutes into the drive and the driver was struck
by the realization of a missing camera. He had left the camera at the entrance
of the park while waiting for us. So went back for it and lost about 40 minutes
of park-time in the process.
As luck would have it we stumbled upon a sleeping tiger after
1 hour. There were no vehicles in sight and since a sleeping tiger is no good
for film-makers, we decided to carry on. Hundred meters is what we covered
before heading back to the sleeping tiger. This time round there were 3 jeeps
that were looking at it. With great difficulty we squeezed through the gaps and
managed to photograph and film the tiger for 10 minutes.
The tiger soon woke up and walked for a bit before marking
his territory. It was one of T-19’s sub adult cubs, probably the one we saw in
the morning. While everyone was occupied with the tiger in front of them, I saw
something similar to the tiger move past the bushes about 30 meters ahead of me.
I lost sight of it in a flash. I exclaimed it was a tiger. When the driver of
the vehicle tried to confirm my sighting all he saw were monkeys running about.
He brushed off my sighting as false and told me that it was the langoor that I
saw and not the tiger. I knew stripes from spotless grey fur and to this day
stand by what I saw.
The tiger that everyone was watching soon walked into the
jungle. Hoping to catch a glimpse of it on the other side of the road, the jeeps
sped past one another. Our jeep on the other hand decided not to join in on the
commotion and we stopped about a 100 meters from where the tiger was sleeping
to photograph and film the frogs in a nearby pond.
25 minutes passed and
we heard vehicles heading our way. I take my focus out of the camera and look
up and it is the tiger that I see standing right next to our vehicle, so close
that only his head came into view while I tried to photograph him. Tiger sighting
is all about being in the right place at the right time and this sighting is
testimonial to that phrase.
The tiger made his way along the road right in front of us
with over 10 jeeps behind us and then over a bund and sat in a
pool of water to cool himself down. After 15 minutes, he woke up and walked
into the forest.
Some vehicles that went in pursuit of the first tiger that
walked into the forest managed to see his brother. The Tiger that I exclaimed
to see and that was later brushed off as monkeys by the driver. What probably
happened was that I had a glimpse of the tiger and what the driver of the
vehicle saw were monkeys running all over the place as they were spooked by the
tiger. The driver later admitted that I was right all along and he apologized
for it.
We were also lucky enough to spot around 11 crocodile babies
at the shallow end of a lake.
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| Common Kingfisher. |
Day 4: 25th June 2013:
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| Indian Pitta. |
Route 6 was the route we took for the morning. Sightings were
bad that morning but the day remained cloudy and I was just enjoying my time in
the forest breathing the fresh air and listening to the birds chirp. It was 2
hours before I took out my camera and photographed the beautiful ‘Indian
Pitta’, a migratory bird seen during the summer months.
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| Stilt's chicks. |
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| Skimmer. |
Soon we found ourselves moving along route 4, Machli’s
territory (the famous tigress known for hunting crocodiles). Though we never
got to see her that day we came across a forest guard who told us about his
recent encounter with Machli. Machli is around 17 years old and has just one
canine left. The forest guards provide her with live bait about once a week. A
couple of days ago, a calf was tied to a tree. Machli came and pounced on it.
It took her 10 minutes to strangulate the calf. With three hard pulls, she broke
the calf free of the rope that held the calf to the tree. Machli was seen
dragging the calf for ten meters at a time before resting at each interval. She
was later seen feeding several kilometres from the kill sight.
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| Stork-billed Kingfisher. |
For some reason I was feeling really lucky in the evening. As
luck would have it we spotted a stork- billed Kingfisher and I was able to
photograph it. Soon after leaving the Kingfisher be, our jeep hit a huge stone
that the driver over saw and drover over. The petrol tank suffered the brunt of
the hit and we were mute spectators as patrol started to gush out from the
gaping hole in it. Our only option was to return back the way we came.
On our way back, we saw two monitor lizards engaged in a
battle for territory. The battle waged on for fifteen minutes before one lizard
ran away and the victor followed him into the jungle. Luck was on our side as
we made it out of the park with fuel to spare.
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| Pond Heron. |
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| Indian Pitta. |
Day 5: 26th June 2013:
Day 5 was supposed be cloaked with new experiences for a
rookie film maker like me as the team was scheduled to film pilgrims making
their way to the temple and the rituals they followed. We were then supposed to
head to a chowki (forest guard station located inside the forest) and film
their day to day activities. Little did I know that none of it was to happen
then or on this trip. The presence of a tiger or the near possibility of
spotting one can change all that in an instant.
The team reached the forest gate early that morning hoping to
film the pilgrims as they made their way into the forest. We spent about 10
minutes capturing footage of the pilgrims making their way to temple. It would
be another 2 hours before the first offerings were to be made and so we decided
to head to the chowki and film there, before coming back to the temple on our
return from the forest.
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| Notice the 'Machli (fish)' mark on her cheek. |
As we were cutting
through the forest, we came across a water hole that gave a sense of serenity
to the onlooker. I started to wonder about life and how beautiful the planet
must have been thousands of years ago when dinosaurs roamed free. Just as I was
getting lost in my theatrical day dream, something seemed to get out of the
water and walk elegantly across the lush green pasture. It was a tigress and
she dashed all hopes of us making it to the chowki. At present the tigress was
in a 12 ‘o’ clock direction about 300 meters ahead of us and she was heading in
a 9 ‘o’ clock direction. So we decided to take a path where she seemed to be
heading. We reached there within a matter of seconds and by now we lost sight
of her. Jeeps begin to crowd around the lake. 10 minutes passed and there was
no sign of the tigress. Several jeeps spotted her from where we initially saw
the tigress and she crossed the road in front of them. So we made our way back
to our initial spot, now packed with jeeps.
We were the last ones there, right at the back of the line.
Something happened and it seemed to me that the tigress and I locked sights on
each other and she began to walk towards our jeep. She came close to our jeep
and disappeared over the bund.
There were three roads parallel to each other in the
direction she was heading. All the jeeps made their way to the first road. We turned
out to be the last jeep in the convoy. The tigress appeared at the far end of
the road, right next to the first vehicle and she again made her way towards
our jeep. She walked right past me. She was so close to the jeep that I could stretch
my hand and touch her if I wanted to.
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| Spraying on the tree. |
Only her head came in the frame of my camera due to her close
proximity to the jeep. The tigress sprayed urine on a tree, marking her
territory and disappeared into the thick vegetation.
Now there were two parallel roads that she would cross. While
all the jeeps crowded around the second road, we were the only jeep to take the
third road. Thick jungle vegetation separated the two roads. The tigress had
been too quick and had passed through the second road before anyone could get
to her. The jeeps were standing in wait without knowing that the tigress had
given them the slip.
We had no idea where the tigress was as we sat in wait on the
third road and as if to reward us for taking a road less traversed by, the
tigress came from the thick vegetation and walked towards our jeep for the
third time.
There was just another jeep behind us and the tigress walked
showing her back to them while she posed for my camera. She then disappeared
not to be seen by anyone that morning.
Everyone started to confirm the tigress was Machli as she had
a Machli (fish) mark on her right cheek. I was ecstatic because I thought I had
seen the most famous tigress in the world. It was only after a painstaking comparison
in the room with Machi’s photos and that of her daughters that we realized that
the tigress we saw that morning was not Machli but her daughter T-19 who bore
the same ‘machli’ mark.
The evening drive was probably the best experience of the
entire trip. Ten minutes into the drive and we found ourselves amidst a
thunderstorm and rain that wouldn’t stop for another hour. We were in an open
jeep and we had to make do with what we had.
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| Our plastic covered roof. |
There was a blue plastic cover which was used to cover the
cameras. We tied two ends to the front of the jeep and the remaining two to the
back of the jeep. Unable to see the road ahead the jeep was parked on the road
and we were filming the forest from underneath the covers. After an hour the
rain stopped and we made our way to the spot where we saw T-19 that morning.
She wasn’t seen ever since she disappeared that morning. We came to a spot
where the deer were feeding to my right and beautiful lake packed with birds to
my left.
One deer in particular was standing on two legs to feed off
the foliage from a tree. We started to film the behavior and half an hour had
passed. We were so engrossed in filming the deer that we forgot to be vigilant
about the surrounding forest. I spotted something that moved in the bushes to
my left.
It was T-19 that was right next to us all this time, watching
us watching the deer. Within seconds, the rain gods unleashed their fury and we
experienced the strongest rainfall of the season. We had to scurry under our innovated
plastic covered roof to protect the equipment. Here we were underneath the
plastic cover, unable to peek out with a tigress right in front of our jeep. We
tried to film from inside the jeep by lifting the cover sheets just enough for
the cameras to film without getting wet and we did get some footage of the
landscape and the rain but not of T-19. It took another hour for the rain to
stop and by then T-19 had disappeared.
Day 6: 27th June 2013:
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| Stilt and her chicks. |
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| Red-wattled Lapwing sitting on its nest. |
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| Red-wattled Lapwing eggs. |
Day 6 was the last day of my film-making venture in
Ranthambore. As we made our way into the forest we soon realized that we were
being followed by gigantic nimbus clouds that soon unleashed its wrath and the
struggle to cover the camera equipment had begun. Two hours of unrelenting rain
prevented us from moving deep into the forest and with just about half hour
left into the drive we stopped at a water hole photographing four stilt chicks
swimming behind their mother.
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| T-19. |
The evening drive was my last one for this trip and before we
knew it we reached a spot where a tiger was lying down in a thicket. We
couldn’t see the tiger from our present location. Time dragged on and after two
and a half hours, the tiger came out of the thicket and crossed the road.
It was T-19. She made
her way over to a small puddle of water drank from it and disappeared over a
bund. I was glad to have seen a tiger on my last trip into Ranthambore forest.
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| One final look at us from the bund and she disappeared for good. |
It just goes to show that one can never for certain guarantee
a tiger sighting in the forest and a tiger is one creature that will test the
patience of man and do things on its own terms.
Ranthambore is one of the most beautiful forests in India and
one that shouldn’t be missed by those who have a passion for wildlife. Film-making is not an easy task especially
when film-makers and tourists are thrown in the same basket with the same park
timings and routes. Tourist jeeps come in many of the tiger footage and it is difficult
to focus on just the tiger alone. There is a lot of noise when people see the
tiger and it becomes difficult to capture the natural sounds in the forest
amidst the chatters, cheers and laughs of the tourists. Unless film-makers are
given separate park timings and routes; getting good quality films from Indian
jungles seems to be a mission that is impossible.
