My First Tiger Safari

 “Shhh! Keep Quiet! Stop Cribbing”.

I was not cribbing; it was fear that had transgressed skin deep and was making my bones rattle. My jaws were wide open and quivering uncontrollably, I was barely able to form words. It was like I was hit by a jolt of lightning.  If my memory serves me right, I was incessantly pleading with the mahout to turn back.    

We were at Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh in India, and this was my first elephant ride in the dense thickets. We were moving slowly on a narrow track surrounded by marsh and puddles a rarity in hot summer.  Bandhavgarh is also a tiger reserve, a conservation unit meant to save this critically endangered species. Tourism although restricted offers tourists an insight into these mysterious tropical Sal forests and the denizens that live in the ecosystem.   

My uncle sat calmly comprehending my unease which had turned into fear. Being a bidi manufacturer dealing in tendu leaves, he had on a number of occasions come across the big cats. He had completely lost the fear of these magnificent creatures but was rather unnerved by my incessant chatter during the encounter. 

“This is a rare sighting”, he said. “Sit back and enjoy”. The mahout could gauze my discomfort and fear as well and in a few comforting words, he tried to calm me. “The tiger is in unknown territory and confused,” he said.

I could see the big cat moving haphazardly. He would come near us close to a few meters, and then move back a short distance right on the path that our elephant was on.  The elephant stood still with no place to go. This continued for some nerve-wracking time before the feline took a giant leap over a large puddle and vanished.

I could see the big cat in flight over the puddle such a huge body was effortlessly in the air with one giant thrust from his powerful hind legs. Male tigers weigh around two hundred and fifty kilos in Central India and this one seemed to tip the scale. It is not only brute strength and power; paradoxically these cats are one of the most graceful creatures on Earth. In natural surroundings their beauty is incomparable.     

This was my first encounter with the magical beast who has an equal presence in folklore and myths besides battling for survival in our reserves.  Sighting that cat barely a few meters from us was a frightening experience although there were no threatening gestures or a charge meant to drive us away. The huge animal appeared an expressionless, bearded monster at close quarters but was nevertheless extremely charismatic and majestic.  Words fail to describe this animal and the encounter in a few phrases but you have to see it to recall its appearance in your own voice and tone.  

The confusion was palpable. My uncle later told me that these creatures are sure about everything they do, but in this instance, he had ventured into new territory and probably sighted humans on an elephant back for the first time. Big cats from non-tourism areas are wary of humans and their contraptions.  But they soon get acclimatized and then rarely bother the tourist and the staff. 

The visit turned me into a nature lover and many more visits took place to these esoteric lands of India. There are now more than fifty tiger reserves meant to save the tiger by bringing it back from the brink of extinction.

The first encounter with the big cat was an eye-opening moment, and to this date, I am a freelance naturalist due to my fascination with wilderness. I keep myself busy with content writing and search engine optimization nowadays to keep my bread and butter on the roll. But whenever time allows, I visit the reserves as a tourist or with some hotel guests as a guide.

Although I have come across these predators many times I still yearn for that memorable event. That first sighting of the tiger confused and vulnerable perhaps feeling as vulnerable as I have found a permanent place in the convoluted labyrinths of my mind. I was unacclimatized with jungle life and the surroundings held me mesmerized. How I yearned for a tiger would emerge from a bush and had straight towards me sitting on the elephant's back. My respected uncle is no more perhaps his sagacity and experience are not required now after so many adventures in the wild. But if a moment could be recreated, I would yearn to go back in time and experience again.     

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Uday works as a freelance naturalist and loves to write on related issues. He also provides SEO and content writing services. He runs classes on digital marketing in summers in his home town Jabalpur.  

He can be contacted :

pateluday90@hotmailcom

9755089323