Pigmented in Paradise, her aureate skin resonates with ether, as her fiery eyes pierce the soul. The spectre of the dark morphs into a spectacle in light as the rock beneath her feet throbs to the touch of her cushy paw. Her fur, coloured sienna by the caressing grass, escapes the folds of vision like…
Month: August 2012
Tawny Diaries: Summer Slam
The gate opened and I streamed in. I could barely wait to see her at the stream. The path cut through a slice of heaven. Dew-drenched leaves were strewn beneath giant, tall trees as brilliant shafts of sun-rays filtered through the gaps in their canopy. Birds chirped and flitted between branches and their songs rang…
Entrée
The ride was penultimate, the time was short and my dubious record of having not made for my library even one image of a tiger crossing a clear jeep track scorned at me with a perfectly detestable air of surety about its continued reign on my haplessness. Mukesh’s intuitive style of work was my only…
Contrasting Childhoods
Contrasting childhoods, but a common future? My itchy feet are yet to travel the world, but my imagination, added to the television footage I’ve seen of various extraordinary places on the planet, leads me to believe that the Rajbehra Dam in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve has to rank as one of the most magnificent natural sites…
A Game of Chess
It was very early on a Tuesday morning. Even the usual harbinger of daybreak, the jungle cock, hadn’t crowed his raucous call yet to silence the crickets. Spotted owlets still screeched at the gate, as groggy faces and eager minds strode in with wide eyes to absorb the dim light. Route B mandated…
Public Misdemeanour
In May 2009, my dear friend and tigging cohort whom I’ve christened ‘Scotchie’ for such perfectly unimaginative reasons as his singular love for scotch and Kenneth Anderson, was scheduled to accompany me to Bandhavgarh for what would have been a third time. But thanks to official summons, Scotchie instead ended up more northwest, as the…
Esprit de Corps
Auntie with Dhitti (left; now called The Rajbehra Female) and Chhoti (top; now called Kankati) This sight was very common in that magical summer of 2009 when Auntie and her two female cubs were seen almost every afternoon at the Rajbehra Dam. Sometimes she’d lead the way and the cubs would follow and at other…
The Theatre of Dreams
In the heart of Bandhavgarh lies the king of meadows that was once home to the queen of many hearts. Forced to seek hydration at Rajbehra due to the Jhurjhura waterhole drying up, this was practically ‘Auntie’s’ home in the summers. And this was just as well, for no more dramatic a setting could…
Chief Displacement Officer
The portrait of the Chief Displacement Officer perched before setting off on the duty of flushing out all the eagles, harriers and suchlike raptors in his area and occupying their perches in a symbolic act of retributive comeuppance. Being a close disciple of Murphy, he deems fit to present himself to perform this social…
Bill Shady
Bill Shady is a ‘grey area’ for the photographer who pursues him. He hoists himself up the farthest canopy of the tallest trees, and because he’s active when the light is harsh, he loves to rest in shade, thus demanding from the camera a dynamic range twice that of the human eye. He has…
Smelling the Leaves
After experiencing the sensational sighting described here, you would be perfectly vindicated in terming us avaricious if we asked for more supplies of the pleasure. But Bandhavgarh has a habit of treating the visitor to grand and sensational climaxes. Driving towards the park gate briskly so we may exit on time and avoid…
When a Tiger Walks…
It was our last ride of the trip and we had barely seen a chital that evening. Not to slight the herbivores with their lovely spotted coats, with the male of the species sporting superb head-gear in the form of magnificent antlers and the female, when not emitting her strident, high-pitched alarm, displaying a grace…
A Morning at a Lake
In January 2006, Scotchie and I participated in our first tiger census in Bandipura Tiger Reserve, a park I consider almost natal for the deep sense of attachment I feel for it. There are prettier parks and there are larger ones, but for me there is none like Bandipura, where the heart throbs to the rhythm…
The Dark Side of Sandy Piper
Sandy Piper, to my knowledge, is unrelated to the Pied Piper, although she too has the power to attract a great following. But more than her leadership, it is her changeableness that she counts as her inherent strength at job interviews. By default she is built to moderate proportions, but on frosty mornings she…
TIGGA TALES 