Day Six

I was woken up with a bit of a shock at 4:30am. There was someone knocking on the bathroom door towards the rear of the rest house. It was still quite dark outside and there was not much I could make out of the shapes outside in the silvery moonlight. I lay absolutely still, holding my breath and wondering if it had been a dream or a figment of my imagination. Bang-bang-bang! There it was again! I slowly crept out of bed with my torch in hand. I didn't switch it on just yet. I crept closer to the bathroom, trying to be as silent in my movement as possible. Bang-bang-bang! The sudden start made me bump into the corner of the bed, which moved from it's place with a loud noise. There was no point keeping silent any longer, so I half shouted, "who is it?!". There was no reply. I could just hear some breathing outside. It didn't sound human. Thank goodness! That made me feel better. I walked up to the door, now with my torch on, and banged on it thrice from my side. Bang-bang-bang. I heard the sound of scampering feet on the cement floor outside and realised I had scared away whoever it was that was interested in my door. I was sure I hadn't disturbed the rest as their quarters were too far away. I looked at my watch and saw it was 4:45am. Ahh...another 45 minutes of blissful sleep. I promptly jumped back into bed and amazingly asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

I had seen tiger scratch marks on trees but this was the first I had seen of this kind in the middle of a track

After waking up again at 5:30am, I was told that today only Joshiji and I were going on the trek. I wondered if we were heading in a direction that he felt the chances of coming upon a tiger or some elephants was high because for the first time I saw him carry along his rifle. We headed off in a totally different direction today. It was along a track that demarcated the main park from the buffer zone. We must have gone only a kilometer when we came along a trail of fresh male tiger pugmarks. They looked extremely fresh! Just as we were examining them, a sambhar deer sounded it's warning call to the rest of the jungle. It could not have been more than 500 yards away from us! We slowly moved on, our sense now on full alert. As we approached a bend in the track, which we estimated was about where the sambhar had called from, we saw something that looked like a signboard in tiger language! Right in the middle of the track, were deep scratch marks. As if to say, "trespassers keep out!".

I had seen scratch marks on trees but these were the first I had seen made on the ground. It was not like the usual digging that tigers sometimes do to make their presence known to rivals. This was more like what would be created if you ran a rake over some soft ground 3-4 times. Four times to be exact. Twice in one direction and then twice at an angle of 45 degrees to the first two - the lines converging at the top like arrows pointing away from you. Even a veteran like Joshiji seemed quite interested in these. After a bit of an examination we carefully carried on.

The rest of trek upto the turning point, an hour away, went without any further incident. We had come across some fresh leopard pugmarks that came under the next outposts region. Since this outpost was where we were turning around from, we informed them of the discovery. Nobody here let's you go anywhere without first sharing a cup of tea. So, after having done so, we headed back towards Jhirna from the route that went past the machaan. We had gone around 400 yards into this densely wooded area when we heard the unmistakable sound of the beating wings of a Great Himalayan Hornbill. We both looked up and saw a lovely sight of one parent flying past with four babies flying behind in very tight formation.

This tree marked the end of our trek for that morning

The babies seemed almost to be tied by a string to the parent. They kept almost perfect distance through all the turns and twists of their flight through the trees. We caught sight of them a couple of times more but they were much further away now.

The only animals we could see were the spotted deer looking in our direction

As we approached the Jhirna watchtower (not the one at the rest house), which is supposed to be an excellent location for birdwatching, the calm was suddenly shattered by a loud spotted deer alarm call. We initially thought they had been startled by us but the next time the call came, it was followed by a low menacing growl! I instantly felt my heart rate jump from it's normal 70 to over a hundred. Joshiji held up his hand and slowly motioned me to follow him through a gap between two bushes. On the other side of the bushes we came out onto a dry stream that was totally invisible from the track. We surveyed the entire stretch that was visible to the eye but could see only the spotted deer standing staring in our direction.

We stood quietly for another few minutes and then decided to head back to the track. Just as we resumed our trek, we heard the deer give another call, which was followed by the sound of a lot of scampering feet. We were now over a hundred yards away with thick jungle between us and the herd. There was no chance of investigating any further without being stupid, so we carried on along the track.

As we were passing the watchtower, I noticed some movement beyond the next bend. I signalled to Joshiji to pause for a moment and got a nice shot of a peacock dancing with it's magnificent feathers spread out majestically. It allowed me only one shot because the moment it noticed me, it downed it's feathers and scooted into the lantana bushes. This brought the bushes alive as all the jungle fowl feeding in there got disturbed and let the peacock know their feelings with a whole lot of cackling. We were back at the rest house by 11am. The trek had been much shorter but definitely not any less exciting. After a light breakfast of just some tea and biscuits, I decided to utilise the afternoon to get the car's radiator fixed at Kalagarh.

The peacock gave me enough time for just one snap before it downed it's feathers and scooted

Munna and Negi also decided to accompany me as they needed to pick up some rations for themselves. I was more than glad to take them along because I had never been to the Kalagarh side before and knew nothing about the whereabouts of any mechanics. We headed out at 12:30pm and took the main track we had walked down the previous day.

Kalagarh was anything but what I had expected it to be. I was expecting a small village with a few enterprising people with groceries and workshops. It turned out to be a beautiful small town with clean, wide streets and proper stores and even small restaurants. The guy did a brilliant job on the car, which cost me one-tenth of what it would have in Delhi. I couldn't believe my ears when after having taken off the complete radiator, done all sorts of gas welding, then noticing a loose earthing connection and fixing that too, he asked me for 50 rupees! It had taken him almost two hours of work in blistering heat and he was asking me for the equivalent of one dollar (for those of you reading this outside India). After happily paying him what he had almost hesitatingly asked me for, we had a hearty meal with a truly chilled soft drink while watching my first bit of TV in seven days!

During the lunch, Munna asked me whether I would mind seeing a bit of the rural area in these parts as he had to pick up some rations from a village nearby. I told him I would love to! So we were off, turning on to a dirt road and leaving the chaos of town life behind. After fifteen minutes of driving, we entered a village that looked like it was part of another era. It was something straight out of a movie classic. Quaint mud houses, elders all sitting under a huge tree, children running after goats, etc. After the rations were bought and the other two had smoked probably their hundredth "beedi", we were headed back by a new route. This took us across a very sandy river bed where we actually paid a nominal toll to some enterprising villagers, who had spread some hay all the way across to keep vehicle from sinking in. It actually worked and my non-off road vehicle made it across without any problems at all.

We walked through fields of melon before coming to a single thatched hut

Suddenly I realised we were on the same controversial road we had trekked the previous day. At the end near the same wall, we took a right turn and headed along a dirt track along the park periphery. A little further, Munna asked me to stop and said he wanted me to meet some of his relatives at the farm to our right. I was hesitant initially but then wondered why I was. It was great meeting all these people.

I followed the other two through fields of melons and water melons until we came to a small thatched hut. Outside sat a very small boy around the age of 6 - 7 years. He was Munna's nephew. When Munna asked him how he'd been keeping, pat came the reply, "Same hide, same flesh!". This even took his uncle by surprise and we all had good laugh. The little boy was amazingly quick witted and a delight to listen to. His sister Kamla, probably 7 - 8 years older than him, was the perfect host and before we knew it we had a cup of tea each in our hands.

My hosts for the day - Kamla, Munna and Negi - gems, each one of them

I was amazed when I got to know that the mother had gone to attend a marriage for a week and the father worked in the forest. I'd met him at Khinanauli. While they were away, the entire farm was being looked after by these two! While we were talking the little boy came and put some watermelons in my lap. I offered to pay but didn't repeat the sentence when I saw the hurt look in his eyes. I thanked him profusely and told him I'd bring something for him as a return gift the next time I was here. That seemed to be okay and brought back his radiant broken tooth smile. When we finally got back to the car, we found around ten watermelons and five melons lying outside the door. All my appeals to take them back were futile. It was as if they couldn't hear a word I was saying. Munna said not to worry as we'd eat quite a few of them at Jhirna itself. That made me feel a little better and we moved on after bidding the two lovely children farewell.

We drove back by a totally different route. It was extremely adventurous driving and one had to be extremely careful of sharp routes that could simply rip the underside of the car. Halfway back, I was shown the spot where two tigers had killed three buffaloes that had wandered into the park. I could still see the blood that had soaked into the mud on the track. The tigers had moved the kills into the bushes the previous day. Three buffaloes!!

After returning to the rest house, I relaxed for fifteen minutes. During this I saw almost 15 grey hornbills that were visiting the huge banyan tree that dominates this complex. I then asked Ganesh to inquire when we would be leaving for the evening walk. I think the forest guys were a little shocked that I still had the energy to want to go. On any other day, I might have taken a pass but I had decided to leave for Delhi early the next morning and this would be my last walk into the jungle for this trip.

The Banyan tree that dominates the Jhirna complex

I decided to give my luck one last chance from the watchtower at the Jhirna Rest House

I went with Ram Singh for a short walk again in the direction of Kharar Sot. We were back in just over an hour. Just as we were climbing up the last slope to the rest house, we heard the first alarm call of the evening ring out from exactly where we'd been twenty minutes ago. Since the track leading along the edge, where the open grassland met the hills to the north, was quite visible from the watchtower, I decided to once again try my luck and climbed up with camera and binocs in hand. The track was quite a distance away and I had to keep a permanent look out through the binocs. The sun had already set but the sky was still very bright. Suddenly there again was a flurry of calls from the left of the visible section of the track. This was very close to exit of Kharar Sot.

I focused my binocs on the extreme left of the track to immediately catch anything that might walk onto it. Five minutes passed by without any sign of activity. Then another call rang out, this time closer to where I was watching. Then I thought I saw some movement. It looked almost like the pattern of the dry lantana bushes behind the track was moving. Strange! There was no breeze whatsoever! Then I saw the tail rise above the dry section and become more visible against the green leaves as the tiger marked his territory! I first thought I was imagining things!

I was amazed at how effective a tiger's camouflage is!

The light had really fallen by now and I concentrated completely on any movement I saw. The tiger's camouflage was so amazing that I was sure if I took my eyes off it for a second, I would not be able to relocate it. Then it came in front of a bare section in the hillside and I saw it as clearly as one can from a distance of over a kilometer and in a mixture of the orange hue of the set sun and the silvery light of the moon already above. Another couple of seconds and it was gone. But I had finally seen the beauty we had been following for so many days. This was the icing on the cake and I excitedly descended from the tower to tell the others.

There was a lot of excited chatter over refreshments and a delicious dinner with Joshiji. It was cooked by Munna and it was delicious! I was really glad we'd taken the detour into the villages to pick up all the ingredients he'd needed. After a few more discussions, I headed back to my cottage. Along the way, I managed to scare some pure animal that went scurrying off into the undergrowth. Needless to say it almost made me have a heart-attack too! Once in my room, I packed all my stuff and then hit the sack. I was out like a light!

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