‘I am coming the following week’, came a phone call from my aunt. She was about to come fort the “Shrardham” of my pati, scheduled on 09th and 10th March 2012. She arrived on 4th March 2012 in India and to Nagpur by Jet lite airlines. All of us, i.e,I,my mother, baby aunty and my sister had been to the airport for picking her up. Appa was in Pune, so he could not make it up to the airport. She was very excited to see all of us in the airport and this plan was made by mother. She had come during this time, i.e. the‘HOLI’ festive season nearly after 37 years. After getting married on 12th June 1975, this is the first time she was coming in the month of March. Appa also came from Pune on 8th March 2012 morning and the “Shrardham” went off really well. All our near and dear relatives had come. My cousin,Shrikant, from Mumbai also came on 8th March 2012 which was a ‘HOLI’ day. His arrival was a surprise for all of us as none of us knew that he was coming. When I was exercising, suddenly a call came from behind, ‘Hi Rohit’. When I turned around, I was astonished to see a person standing at the door of the room where I was working out. He was none other than Shrikant. It was very nice to see him after a long time. The same day after some time, I went to pick up appa from the station.
Fearing the ‘HOLI’ day, I and Shrikant went by car to pick up appa. The streets wore a deserted look as compared to the other days. As the Fuel Gauge was pointing to empty, we were concerned to fill in the gas for the car. After dropping appa home, I and Shrikant had come till Hingna Naka, HP petrol pump to fill in the gas. But because of ‘HOLI’ HP was closed and the fuel gauge went below ‘E’. More worry ;). Next day on the way to my institution, where I was working, I succeeded to fill the gas to the brim till the indicator flashed the “F” mark.an Shrikant. It was very nice to see him after a long time. The same day after some time, I went to pick up appa from the station.
Technically, I could not attend the first day of “Shrardham” scheduled on the 09th March 2012, as I had to work. But the next day, being a leave (second Saturday), I could attend the “Shrardham” fully. Since the time my cousin came and even with my aunt the discussion cropped up about visiting a wildlife sanctuary. But as my cousin intimated me in the last moment, there was no booking available. My aunty was armed well in advance as she was keen to visit the jungle with Ashwin, my
cousin who was on a 5 day trip to India. Initially only two of them were planning to go, but later on, all of us were invited and gradually our group formed. Me, both my sisters, three aunts, all my paternal cousins decided to join the trip. We had our lodging booked at Maple Bundela Safari Resort by Venkat Uncle. I had to take two days off from my institute. I along with my sis, were about to go to Kanha after 22 long years. I had been there along with appa and amma during the nintees. (We had started on the morning of 1st Nov 1990 and were back on the evening of 03rd Nov 1990. The dates are remembered so exactly because, the day before 01st Nov 1990, pati, had slipped off the lid of the carom coins, in which me and akka were playing in the evening. She was even admitted to the hospital, but fortunately, nothing serious happened). Appa had to join his college and amma had paper correction from the boards. Shrikant left for Mumbai immediately during the next day of “Shrardham” on 11th March 2012 in the evening by Jet Lite Airways.
All of us ,pepped up for the road journey, had bag-packed the previous day,19th March 2012, excepting me, as I was burnt out after working throughout the day . On 20th March 2012 I woke up early and completed my packing for the trip. Though I woke up early, I was the last one to pack ;). All of us were brief- cased in two vehicles. One INNOVA – MH-12 FF 5769 whose driver was Mr. Mukesh and the other INDIGO - MH- 40 KR 2271 driven by Mr. Ram. Our drivers were waiting since 04:30 AM in one of the wrong places near Dr. Daraskar’s place. We had to call the drivers again -
and make sure; they came in front of our house. In this process, much of our valuable time got wasted. Once the drivers had arrived, me, my sis, sat in Innova car and Baby Aunty, Uma Aunty sat in the Indigo. After we had started, we stopped near an ATM to withdraw some cash. After withdrawal, we went to Nalini Aunty’s place. From there, we collected Nalini Aunty, Parth, Karishma and Ashwin. Ashwin had gone to Nalini aunty’s for a night out.So, all of us got accommodated in two vehicles, the bigger vehicle for the big kids and we pushed all the grown ups into the other car.
We went via Chindwada Rd/NH69 as the NH 7 Express Highway and SH 11B via Seoni road was not OK for reaching there on time. We started at around 7:00 AM for the excursion via the Chindwada Rd. As we had taken some fluids in the morning, pressure had started mounting up in everybody’s bladder. So, we took a stop from around three hours from Nagpur at Chindwada, estimated at a distance of 128 km from Nagpur. Our drivers stopped near Hotel Dev International to relieve everybody off their pressures. It was located opposite Amma Hospital, Khajri Road,Chhindwara -480 001 (M.P.). We stretched ourselves out after a drive of around three hours, got ready for the next set of three to four hours of drive. We had some meetha masala pan in between, when we were at a distance of two hours from the destination. It
was fabulous @ Rs. 5/-.Whereas in Nagpur, the same thing is offered for Rs. 10/- to Rs. 15/- (ஸ்வச்ஹ ருவ்வாய்). Around the same time, one of the students from my college named Amarjyoti, rang me at 11:53 am. I got a bit piqued with this call, but answered the call anyway. Later on, we reached the spot around one hour before the safari time. We rushed to have breakfast as all of us were very hungry. My sis, also relaxed herself for a while by having a nap and got charged up for the safari.
There are four gates/ zones for the purposes of stinting in the forest. The Kisli/ Khatia Zone, Kanha Zone, Sarhi Zone and Mukki Zone. For travellers from Bilaspur (182 km), Raipur (213 km) and Balaghat (83 km), Mukki on State Highway No. 26 is more convenient. From Nagpur, Kisli is 259 km via Nainpur and Chiraidongri, and Mukki is 289 km via Balaghat. We went in via the Kisli Zone and also took the tickets for the Kanha zone.
We proceeded to safari at 03:00 PM. As it was the first evening of Safari, we arranged ourselves in two groups, me, my sis, Karishma, Parth and Ashwin hopped on to one gypsy and Baby Aunty, Uma Aunty and Nalini Aunty on the other Gypsy. The gypsy driver and the guide were decent to talk to. The first animal which we had a glimpse of was wild boar (Sus Scrofa). It was so well immersed in water that it required trained eyes for that animal to be seen. Later on the animal seeing ritual continued and we came across, Chital (Cervus Axis), Sambar (Cervus Unicolor), Barasingha (Cervus Duvauceli Branderi), Barking Deer (Muntiacus Muntjak). We also got a chance to see lot of monkeys on the way to the forest and in the forest. For the people who may not be aware, the antlers change every year. Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species. Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the g-
-rowing bone. Antlers are considered one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom, and grow faster than any other mammal bones. Growth occurs at the tip, and is initially cartilage, which is mineralized to become bone. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. In most cases, the bone at the base is destroyed by osteoclasts and the antlers fall off at some point. As a result of their fast growth rate, antlers are considered a handicap since there is an incredible nutritional demand on deer to re-grow antlers annually and thus can be honest signals of metabolic efficiency and food gathering capability.
Next we came across “Shravantal”. In the hot and dry summers all water sources dry up except for a few perennial streams or ponds. One such is a lake near the main meadow called “Shravantal”. Legend has it that Raja Dasrath of Ayodhya shot an arrow while hunting deer and accidentally killed a young man called Shravan, who was out collecting water for his aged, blind parents. The good king had mistaken him for a deer drinking at the lake. When the king sorrowfully carried Shravan's body to his parents they both died instantly of shock and grief. According to the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, much of what followed in the Kings' life was governed by the death of Shravan, for which he and his family paid a heavy personal price. After that, some of the birds that I remember seeing are - Greater Coucal or Crow Pheasant , Egrets, Peacock, Pea fowl, Jungle fowl, Partridges, Spotted parakeets, Bee-eater, Kingfishers and Owls. We were back in the resort by 06:30 pm. All the faces more prominently mine was concealed in mud. Our gypsy driver and guide jokingly said, “Take it as a natural talcum powder”. Though all of us were very much tired, we had to clean our talcum powder by taking bath.
After taking bath in our respective rooms, all of us, including my sis J, proceeded to have for the dinner. I specifically mentioned her name because; she skipped meals during the entire day because of her motion sickness. But before going there, I just wanted to enjoy the darkness that the forest could offer me with. Just immediately outside our room, when we stepped out, it was pitching dark. Only the dim lights from our resort barely illumined the path outside.
With this phantasmagorical ambience, I went alfresco and looked up. I was dumbfounded to see the constellation of stars peeping at me. They being not clearly visible in the city by naked eyes due to interference of light and may be many other factors, were clearly visible here. I could also two planets with my naked eyes without being sure of its name. Later on, I showed the same to everybody and it was clarified by Ashwin that one of the planets was mercury because it was slight reddish in color. The other planet’s name – even he wasn’t sure of. I would also narrate one more chronicle that happened meanwhile. Before going outdoors, I tried calling my mom who happened to stay back at home. As she was along with, “tara bai”, we were concerned about her know-how. So, I called her a couple of times in the cell phone and a couple of times in the landline, both of which were refused by her to be picked up. So, I gave up the idea of calling her during that time and thought that I could catch up with her later on, may be after the meals. Dad also called me up, as he too happened to call mom during the same time and did not get any response. So, instead of having food in fidgety, I chose to sort the matter out. We came up with the idea of calling our neighbors, Mrs. Nisha/ Mrs. Seema, whosoever was available. Fortunately, I had stored the numbers of both of them and gave it to appa. He called up Mrs. Nisha and gratefully, she acceded to his request. When Mrs. Nisha went to our house, she found that mom was doing some work of hers comfortably leaving the cell phone at a place where it can’t be even heard. What the hell????? Then she caught hold of the phone and all of us had a chance to exchange some sweet-bitter words. After talking to her, appa assigned me one more job of sending an email to Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), but gave me the flexibility of sending it after the dinner. I was in a delirium, as how will it possible for me to send an email from a jungle, devoid of all basic necessities even? Thankfully, the resort had a private cell phone modem, through which I could send the email, though the speed was terribly slow. The dinner was also fantabulous. One important point of distinction between the lunch and the dinner was that, the lunch was a buffet system, and the dinner was being served.
After having the dinner, we went off for sleep as we had to wake up early and release our (respective) pressures in the morning. I woke up at around 03:30 am, and everybody else woke up at an average time of 04:15 am. We were to leave the safari by 05:15 am by due to some reasons or the other, we could leave by only 05:45 am. We thought that we were one of the early birds, to reach the Kisli/ Khatia gates. No, we were wrong. There was a humongous crowd, flocked near the Kisli Gate Entrance and they were already queued up. May be we were the 25th or 26th in the line along with the Maruti Gypsy. The Gypsy drivers had quickly paid the fare given to them by us. For a trip/ safari, it was Rs. 1750/- (Rs. Seventeen Hundred and Fifty Only) as on 21st March 2012. By the time we went into the forest it was 06:15 am. The thoughts that befell everybody’s mind were, “Why did we not make up at 05:00 AM, to this place? We would have been one of the luckiest to go inside and spot tiger quickly”. As the saying goes - “Destiny itself is like a wonderful wide tapestry in which every thread is guided by an unspeakably tender hand, placed beside another thread and held and carried by a hundred others. -Rainer Maria Rilke”. Similarly, the day’s safari destiny was also chiseled out well in terms of the animals which we could have a glimpse of at. It should be anyways remembered that spotting any animal for that instance is just a matter of chance, wherein we can increase the probability of spotting by undertaking more safaris. Probability is the ratio of number of favorable outcomes to the total number of outcomes. If we increase the number of favorable outcomes, the total number of outcomes will be more. This should be remembered as a formula for life in crucial situations. The other thing I forgot to mention is, we were distributed in two Maruti Gypsies. The first in which were seated Ashwin, Uma Aunty, Karishma and Parth, the next in which the other four of us were seated including me, my sis, Taj and Nalini Aunty. As opposed to the previous evening safari, Uma Aunty chose to be seated near Ashwin to help him overcome the difficulties in Hindi encountered with the guide. Initially Nalini Aunty was also there in the same gypsy but due to the shortage of space she shifted onto ours.
The next day also continued more or less like the first day but we had more experiences. The next day we were taken more into the core jungle. By the way, for those who are not aware of the core jungle; let me tell you that the core zone is that part which comprises of the innermost or interiors of the jungle. No human activity is allowed in this zone. It comprises of legally protected ecosystem. We are only allowed for less than 25% of the core jungle in the Kanha National Park jungle. I guess it may be common for all the jungles. The next terminology is buffer zone. It is that part in which limited human activity is permitted. The last one is the Manipulation zone or Transition zone. Several human activities can occur in the manipulation zone. Example: Settlements, cropping, forestry, recreation etc. One more thing which I would like to make familiarize you with is fire – line. It is also known as fireguard / firebreak. It is a strip of open land in forest or prairie, to arrest the advance of a fire.
It was more of a thrill in the core. We came across through an altogether different kind of a route. By the way there are more than 144 routes in the huge jungle, all of them thoroughly memorized by the drivers and their guides. As we had started very early from the resort, having cookies, milk and some water, everybody’s bladders were pressurized because of the gypsy movement. (By the way, the cookies and the milk were delicious). And one more word of caution, do carry sweat shirts/ jackets, irrespective of wherever you are located in India or elsewhere and during whatever season you arrive. This is because, morning weather is freezing cold. The blankets which may be offered by the hotel/ resort people may be used ‘n’ number of times by various people. So, there is a resting place somewhere inside, wherein everybody can empty and refill their stomach. But this time even after emptying, I decided not to have anything and I stuck to that. This is the only place, where everybody is allowed to get down. There is also a museum in the same premises known as Kanha museum. After emptying our stomachs, we boarded the respective gypsies. However, the other gypsy was much ahead of us most of the times and we could meet only during the second time when the gypsies stop near the rest place. They stop twice to give chance to the needy passengers to download/ upload. After this, unless emergency they wouldn’t normally stop. So, during the second time our gypsies met and as described some of us in the group had something to eat. The breakfast was duly packed by resort people themselves and they gave it us in the gypsy container specially meant for carrying food. At one point of time during excursion it was about to fall off the gypsy, as it was tied by rope and kept at a suitable position above the rear wheel. Anyways, coming back, after having something, we had a glance at the museum, which was not at all interesting and the drivers of the gypsies were waiting for something else. Guess what? The tiger show. The tiger show is something for which the coupon needs to be collected from the museum. And the charge is Rs. 200/- per head. And moreover, if a tiger is trapped (by elephants from three – four directions), the report comes in the museum. If for some reasons, the tiger flees away, the amount taken is refunded back. So, we were waiting for the tiger news till 09:10 am, but unfortunately no news and we continued the safari again. We were back from the safari, by 12:00 pm as the allowed timings were 06:00 am to 12:00 pm. Similarly, evening safari was allowed from 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm.
All of us dead tired, came back to the resort, took rest for a while and got ready for the voyage back to Nagpur. In spite of telling Mr. Mukesh to take Chindwada Rd/NH69 route, he showed his obstinacy by taking us via SH 11B and NH 7 Express Highway via Seoni. He was an adamant brat and a hardcore liar. SH 11B and NH 7 Express Highway was full of ups and downs and the route was despondent, whereas the Indigo driver, Mr. Ram was full of courteousness. Moreover, Mukesh sometimes drove at high speeds, which were unacceptable by any law standards. Even a police man had asked him to stop. He paid no heed to the policeman and ran away. He was stopped near the Mansar highway and lambasted. That liar was taking my name again and again and saying that I was the person to bring him via that route. I had told him only once to go via that route not knowing that the route had some shortcomings. I wanted to have a look at the research centre of Deolapar. Once I came to know, I may have told him more than twenty times to go via Jam Sawali, so that, we could also visit the Hanuman temple. That rascal, even after taking my name, didn’t even stop at Deolapar and went straight away and at Mansar he told me, that we have crossed the destination. Finally we reached Nagpur, at around 07:00 pm when we dropped Nalini Aunty at her place and proceeded to our residence. At our residence, Viji Mami had bought some “Bhakshanams” for Uma Aunty. She handed over them to her. This concluded our day.
Next morning appa arrived to bid, bye to Uma Aunty and Ashwin. This was 22nd March 2012. They were about to leave the next day i.e. 23rd March 2012 on the eve of “Gudhi Padwa”. Their flight which was supposed to be scheduled at 08:00 pm on 23rd March 2012 got preponed by three hours. We started from our house to airport at 03:30 pm to leave her. Nalini Aunty, Parth and Karishma also had come to drop her off by their Versa. So, all of us went to airport in two cars. Guess!!! Who was included in our car? It was Tara Bai. She also had come along with everybody and it was appa- amma s idea only to take two cars and give them a grand send off. We took some photographs at the airport and the next day i.e. Saturday i.e. 24th March 2012 I made a plan to take everybody including Tara Bai to “Telangkhedi” Mandir. She had never been there and this visit made her extremely happy.
