THE DARLING OF BANDHAVGARH

Long, long ago – very long ago – I saw a tiger at close quarters from a machaan. He was a gentleman. But that is another story.

Today, after a gap of nearly fifty years, I met up with tigers in the wild. They were still the same. All of them gentleman and ladies.

The tiger is a gentleman. So said Billy Arjun Singh, Jim Corbett, F. W. Champion, Fateh Singh Rathore, so says Valmik Thapar, and so do I today.

We had barely arrived at Bandhavgarh on the 12^th morning of February, when the Chief Conservator of Forests, came to the Bandhavgarh FRH to welcome us.

“Just spotted two fairly grown tiger cubs within the fencing along the main road,” he mentioned.

“Still there?” we asked, excited.

“Ought to be,” he replied, almost certain.

With a little persuasion we jumped into his vehicle, heading for the spot along the new fencing.

Without difficulty we parked hard by the road but could not spot the cubs. It took us a good ten minutes of scrutinizing to see the tigers – both sleeping perfectly camouflaged just 12 feet away from us. Luck and excitement aside, it was the perfect blending of cat-stripes with grass, lantana bushes and foliage which confounded us. Five people searching for a tiger just a few feet away and failing to notice the sleeping animals.

Soon enough they were disturbed and as they rose, we caught a glimpse of the back of one of the cubs – it vanished a few seconds later.

The pictures I took show the remarkable natural camouflage the tiger benefits by in the Indian jungle.

Kan-kati (the one with the cut ear), was the first to surprise us. She just walked out on us – out of the jungle that is ! Our expert driver and tracker, spotted a movement in the jungle to our right and stopped the vehicle.

“Tiger!” he said.

Pointing deep into the forest, on a sparse jungle track joining our road, we barely glimpsed the tigress. It was 5:55pm. The auto-flash popped up in the dusk, demonstrating the red-eye effect as the tigress noticed the jeep and looked at us.

I expected her to change directions and head left or right into the forest to avoid us, but she strode straight towards us. No hesitation, just straight in our direction.

The pics I have taken show how the tigress crossed our path just seven feet from us. We were all ‘clicking’ furiously when she stopped, gave us a cool calculated look which kept us spell-bound for eternity, and then continued her pace. It was Kan-Kati!

Crossing the road she sprayed the first tree on her left, marking her scent, as she had claimed this territory just two months ago.

We re-christened her Baghrani, the Darling of Bandhavgarh.

Kan-Kati seemed a little rude and ordinary for such a magnificent beast with such grandeur and lady-like demeanor.

Baghrani then walked deep into the darkening on the other side. But no; she suddenly turned and headed back to the stream she had just crossed. We were overwhelmed by the second opportunity she was giving us to watch and photograph her. She did more than that…!

After drinking, quenching her thirst at the stream, she chose a spot of vantage for us. Sat down rolled on her back, sat up again, yawned and added a few more antics to her bag of tricks – all for us!

All the while she knew we were there! We realized right there and then we were in the company of a compatible companion animal. Unbelievable, a tiger for a companion animal!

It will sound a little sentimental and foolish to say that I felt like running to her and caressing this amazing gentle giant. However, I could only come closest to this desire by admiring her from a distance with an ache in my heart.

The next day we added another six tigers to our ‘bag’, photo-bag that is, in Bandhavgarh. All gentleman tigers of course, and ladies without question.