The place we inhabit as much as the present is the memory of it, and it is in the nature of memory to beget the making of more.
Category: TALES
Chopta Birding in an Asthmatic Ertiga – Part Five
You don’t walk in the Himalaya as much as you straddle an edge between extreme elation and potential despair. And you can’t take your foot off the edge, because the edge is all there is.
Chopta Birding in an Asthmatic Ertiga – Part Four
Then it was time to go to the riverside, and bird from the bridge, where a female kalij pheasant was perched interestingly. Then, on the honeyguide path, I managed to snap up a streaked laughingthrush. Witnessing a dip in activity, we decided to drive back towards Ukhimath, and found a Himalayan bulbul perched beautifully.
Chopta Birding in an Asthmatic Ertiga – Part Three
This marvel of the rhododendron bloom and all sorts of pretty birds on the spectacular flowers, was the speciality of Chopta in the spring (March and April), and if the initial signs were anything to go by, my timing of the trip was being entirely vindicated.
Chopta Birding in an Asthmatic Ertiga – Part Two
As we made our way up to our camp for the night in the ailing Ertiga, a nasty surprise awaited us at the end of a long day.
Chopta Birding in an Asthmatic Ertiga – Part One
In the March of 2020 I had this brilliant idea of a self-drive trip to Chopta, Uttarakhand, for bird photography, in an unknown car. This is part one of how it went – or failed to go.
A question-provoking encounter in Kabini
We understood that the tiger had earlier that morning been seen next to the carcass, and was presently resting in the lantana undergrowth. It was only when I saw a video captured by a lucky witness to the incident (below) that I realised, stunned, what had happened.
Bandhavgarh Trip Report: Safaris 6 and 7
I find food for thought at Bheetri’s sighting and Sourabha finds elusive tranquility at Shesh Shaiya.
Bandhavgarh Trip Report: Safari 5
Sourabha’s first male tiger and first leopard, Kamta’s brilliance and a revival in the belief of beginner’s luck. All this in safari five.
Bandhavgarh Trip Report: Safaris 3 and 4
As clouds gathered, what was looming wasn’t rain, but the revival of memories from another era.
Bandhavgarh Trip Report: Safari 2
We had left the Dotty cubs at Sukhi Talab in the first safari. Would we find them again that evening?
Bandhavgarh Trip Report: Safari 1
In the first of a series of updates from my latest Bandhavgarh trip with Sourabha, here’s the story of how Sourabha, who had never seen tigers before, saw eight!
The Orange Ghost Miracle
Nothing out of the ordinary: just one of those days when a miracle occurs and a ghost is seen!
Enlightenment under a Banyan
As Arrowhead sat meditating under a banyan tree, it was quite someone else who was enlightened.