Day 2 – April 4, 2011

06:30

Our resolute to try and a catch glimpse of the big cat made us take one more safari in the early hours of April 4. Though unplanned, it was our last chance to see the tiger here in this trip and we didn’t want to miss any opportunity, as we were to leave Ranthambhore on the same evening.

We entered the now familiar reserve gates and set out for route no. 4. Today was a brand new day, spirits were high and nothing in the material world could dampen them. With minds alert and aligned for tracking a tiger and eyes only for it, we were surprised when the guide stopped the canter only minutes after we got into the gate. He pointed to a silhouette, on the top of the Kachida valley, which lies in the periphery of the national park.

A leopard was majestically sitting in the backdrop of the sunlight. Instantly, all types of zoom (optical / digital) available in the cameras were being used to get as closer a look as possible. Unperturbed by the digital eyes staring at it, the leopard got up, strolled forward and at a certain distance climbed down the rocks and disappeared under the shade of trees. Leopards are not as bold and diurnal as the tigers. They are nocturnal hunters and prefer to remain secretive to other eyes as far as possible. The tiger – leopard territory conflict seemed to have pushed them to the borders of the park. Leopards are extremely cautious when hunting in a prime tiger territory. Given a chance a tiger can attack, kill and even eat a leopard if it feels the later could be a threat to its cubs or hunt. It was the best and unexpected start one could get. Two baby crocodiles basking on the rocks were next sightings.

As we waited at the start of the road that split into routes, we saw a bird, which I conveniently forgot to mention earlier in context to the park, because of its abundance in this tiger city. It was merrily walking towards us until it realized human presence. Its brilliant blue and green stood out strikingly in the dry brown growth. Stunning and beautiful as it was, our national bird looked us in the eye; we returned its sparkling gaze; it turned its back on us and walked the other way, as if it had seen something of an inferior class.

Our guide today was very informative and considerate after hearing about our past two experiences and was bent on showing us the animal. Having spent the day before in the forest, our eyes became accustomed to Sambar, Chital, Langur, Peacock (peafowl) sightings at regular intervals. We had become so used to them that we lost the keen interest that we had in them on our first safari at the park. Our only agenda for the day was the Tiger and nothing else could excite us. We came across a handsome Nilgai (or the blue bull) grazing around, a wild boar driving away the langurs that seemed to follow it everywhere. An interesting fact is that the langur here share a unique, sweet bond with the deer and wild boar; following them, throwing fruits and other eatables from the trees for them to munch on, sometimes pestering them and most important of all alerting them of the upcoming danger, as they have a better sight from their vantage point.

After an hour or so our guide had an excited conversation with a passing jeep driver. A sudden jolt rattled the canter as our engine roared to life with all the energy it had and we headed straight for the tiger. We reached the designated spot only to find 8 other vehicles already waiting for the very thing we had come for. Neither did our driver have the time to adjust the canter for a better view nor did we get the time to adjust our lenses for a better shoot, as our eyes caught the unmistakable stripes. Silence followed and no one uttered a word. Our canter was the last one parked and so we could not get a proper view for the cameras to do their job. I cast aside my newly bought camera and relied on my memory to capture the enthralling moment. The magnificent beast, a male tiger numbered T26, walked from one end of the narrow road, flanked by jeeps and canters on either side, to the other end. A commotion broke out somewhere on the first canter; much to our nuisance, ignorant visitors started whistling out of happiness. The animal which was calmly moving till then seemed a bit frightened at this and to avoid any encounter, quietly retraced its steps and vanished deep into the forest from where it had emanated seconds ago. And that was my first rendezvous with our national animal in the wild, just a fleeting glimpse.

The camera which was bought with the sole intention of capturing the tiger had failed its purpose.  We tried once last time to track the tiger on the other side of valley for a closer look, thinking it might wander down that way. But the big cat had other plans and it must have decided to rest somewhere under a shady tree.  We came out of the park with elated hearts, on having sighted the Tiger and the other predator, only second to the tiger, the leopard. Later, we gathered that it was day when the Devi was worshipped and sighting a tiger, her vahan, was considered most auspicious.

I realised one thing from this whole wild and wonderful encounter that how strong our desire is to see the elusive beast, matters the least. What counts is the tiger’s wish to be seen; to either make an appearance or keep anxious eyes waiting for yet another time.

(to be continued…)