Tikku's Travelthon

The Eye of the Tigress - Eye to Eye with Durga

So, it was another morning at Bandhavgarh. Every day I decide to leave the forest and every day I stay back again to see another sunrise. Today was my fourth safari and I had sworn to Gagan that it would be my last. We had to see the tiger. After all, Durga Poojas were in full fervour in the village. It was time for the Goddess, The Sherun Wali Mata, to give us Darshan during the morning safari.

We started off on a familiar jungle territory. The first was the sunrise, a perfect one today, and then a merry stream of deer, wild boars, peacocks and elephants. I was a bit sleepy, as I would nod off to sleep from time to time. I even almost fell off the jeep once. Then it happened out of the blue. We had stopped our jeep next to the pugmarks and straight past us walked the tigress. She was big and magnificent and not concerned at all that we were watching her awestruck. I started to shoot immediately as I knew I had little time. I had to shoot her before she crossed off the dusty road into the dense forest on the other side. I got the angle from behind and then my jeep moved to get her lateral poses.

I had captured enough of the beast as it disappeared into the woods. We turned the jeep around to get a look from the opposite direction. Here too, I was in close proximity to her, around 10 meters or so. I clicked away as the tigress swished her tail and moved from side to side.

That’s it. In a few minutes, her Darshan was over and Durga, as I have renamed her, vanished back into the forest amongst the bushes and sal trees. This was the WOW moment of the entire forest safari. I sat back into the jeep to take a breath and enjoy the moment. I felt triumphant at last. After two weeks of waiting, we finally spotted the tigress in all its glory and man, did she pose for the lens. But for me, it was over too quickly. I wanted more and we searched the forest if we could find her cubs or her mate. We found nothing. She had done the catwalk and that was all for the day.

I drove out of the forest happy and content that my mission of spotting the tiger was a success and I had finally captured the beast in my lens. The jeep drivers got a reward of Rs 200 each from me today for the sightings. The images of the proud Durga will remain with me now forever. The Goddess has smiled on me. It was as if she had blessed me. To me, spotting the tigress today was like a good omen as if I was receiving an auspicious blessing from the Gods. After all, it was only yesterday that I had walked into the neighbouring village and did Pooja at the local Ma Durga Pandal. I also had the Prasadam that the local village girls gave me. The blessing surely bore fruit today.

The post The Eye of the Tigress - Eye to Eye with Durga appeared first on Best Travel Blogger in India | Tikkus Travelthon.

Sunset at Bandhavgarh

“Hey, come over and watch this. It’s the sunset over the forest.” Gagan called out to me excitedly. I had barely come out of the pool and was wet all over. On top of that, I had a camera in one hand and a cucumber sandwich in the other. Yes, it was a round orange ball, the sun, as it set over the forest in the neighbouring horizon far across the paddy fields and several watering holes. A clear orange ball spreading its red and orange hue through the blue and grey sky. I watched it for some time all still. At times, I would walk towards it but it would go even farther as if to tease me. Still, it was a treat for the eyes – so soulful and full of vibrant light as it slowly set into oblivion.

The season of ritual and prayer is upon us and the villagers have gotten busy singing bhajans to appease Goddess Durga. There are pooja pandals all over this place. You can hear the cacophony at night as some villagers offer prayers. You can hear the chants of the poojari. The whole atmosphere of the forest reverberates with the smell of spiritual fervour, something so untamed that the forest adds to the wildness of the experience. The sounds of arti mingle with the sounds of night owls and bugs. The forest adds its own mystic to the whole thing. The villagers and tribals have a special dance for these poojas where men dress up in women attire and dance around a bonfire. The villagers worship the snake and Shiva Linga alike. However, it is the aloofness and serenity of the forest that attracted me and kept me here much longer than I had planned.

It has been almost ten days now and I just want to be here more and more. My diet has improved, I get up early, I read and write more – it is as if I have expanded my awareness by being one with the forest. I sleep in the afternoon, swim in the evenings, go for safari in the morning, then go for village rides with Gagan while video filming my journey. In my room, I read and just drop my mind from any worldly distractions. The many books and tourist tales from the staff keep me in good cheer and the average villager is intrigued by my presence.

Most of the time, we talk about how to promote this place and what we are going to see and shoot tomorrow.

The silence of the resort was broken today with the arrival of new guests from the local area and more will follow. It will keep the staff busy and I might not get the attention from my hosts as much as I used to. But, that’s ok, I am happy being with myself, contemplating what it would have been to be in the times of Adiyogi. The healthy collection of books in the Tigergarh resort keep me occupied. Yesterday, I lay all afternoon. At times, I would stare into the bamboo shoots smoking and sitting on the wooden chairs outside my room. The garden lights switch on in the evening helping one to find the way from the room to the dining area. I do some emailing and net surfing before dinner. Most of my writing is done during the day. At night, I just dream, dream to stay one more day in these forests.

The post Sunset at Bandhavgarh appeared first on Best Travel Blogger in India | Tikkus Travelthon.

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