ESCAPE TO THE JUNGLE

ESCAPE TO THE JUNGLE

A travelogue by Devyani Nighoskar

Satpura National Park is located in the Hoshangabad District of Madhya Pradesh in India. It lies in the Satpura Ranges. Covering an area of about 1472 square kilometres, it is a unique central Indian highland ecosystem. With a population of about 45 tigers, it has also been declared a tiger reserve.

Tigerland India is the pioneer of wildlife safaris to national parks in India with nature and adventure tour specialists. Tigerland India film festival is a unique festival where students are encouraged to make films, documentaries and click photographs on topics relating to the wildlife and the environment and participate as a competitor in the film festival under various categories. Its director is Mr. Abhinandan Shukla.

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Our fancy DSLR’S popped out of the window as the car bumped along the muddy streets of the forest. Here I was, at SATPURA NATIONAL PARK, with 7 other girls and the director of TIGERLAND INDIA, and one of his friends. Not knowing what to expect out of the trip, I was on a break that I badly needed, a break from life.The New Year hadn't been treating me well, and all I needed was to be away from civilization, away from college, and this is exactly what this trip offered me.

So we started from Pune by bus, stopped at Bhopal for a night and then travelled towards Satpura which is about 180 kms from there. As soon as we entered the buffer area, it looked like a normal forest, with nothing special and peculiar, but as we proceeded towards the core areas, the awesomeness began. Our guest house was some 50 kilometers inside the forest, in an area called “CHOORNA”. It was a little white and green cottage situated right amidst the lush greenery and dense forest. The cottage gave us a very warm feeling as it was just like another house with two bedrooms, a kitchen, sitting rooms and a garden in the front. We were served with typical “ghar ka khana” which wholly satisfied our stomachs. We then went for our very first activity of the day. We were to trek up a hill which had rock paintings from pre historic times.

The trek was tricky and tough for me, considering my recovering foot but slowly and steadily slipping and falling, we all made it to the top. Rock paintings were something I had heard and yawned at in sociology class, but the paintings I saw amazed me. Here were art works from thousands of years ago, of women hunting, of celebrations and parades, of elephants so huge and with such details. The scenery from up above the world so high was spectacular. I could see the jungle stretch for miles and the majestic Satpura ranges that surrounded it and made it a little own world of themselves. After clicking a lot of pictures we trekked down and on the way spotted a wild dog, which is a rare possibility. As first year media students, with a new photography fetish we made it a point to click anything interesting we saw and the wild dog was another victim to our cameras. The temperature had begun to drop and the night sky had turned beautiful. Our guest house was solar powered and there was hardly any electricity so we put up a bonfire outside and all 10 of us sat around it to discuss something that I love a lot, horror stories. The random growls and alarm calls from the animals and the very fact of being in the wilderness gave us the spooks but it was an experience in itself. It had become really cold now, and I decided to go slip in the cosy blanket before the cold decided to freeze me to death. It had been a great start to the forest adventure and I slept comfortably with a smile on my face.

We made an early start the next day at about 6 a.m. and went for morning safari. Animals are said to be active the most during early mornings. With our tele lenses already pointing out looking out for any interesting spotting, I got a very “planet earth diaries” feel. I did not want to miss out on any of the animals and so I constantly gazed out of the jeep to looking for them amidst the trees and bushes. We spotted and clicked a lot of cheetals, Sāmbhar deers and bison’s. The whole of the deer family is such a poser. 

I was surprised as to how they weren’t even a least bit threatened by these strange humans with huge black devices that made a weird sound. They would stand and pose and let you take as many pictures you want. A few of them (and I am not even kidding) gave us different expressions too.

We also saw languor’s and monkeys but none of these animals excited me. My eyes constantly searched for yellow and black stripes in the green. The same morning we went to what I believe was paradise on earth. When the jeep stopped I saw ahuge lake amidst the fog that had just settled in. The water body was actually backwaters from some river. The place was absolutely beautiful. The early morning dew, the fresh air, the chilly weather, the music of the birds and a huge lake with green trees around, I was mesmerized. The amazing silence and the tranquillity made me fall in love with that heaven on earth. It was one of those moments where I just wanted to refrain from taking any pictures and absorb it all in. I saw a solitary tree with absolutely no leaves. Its branches shaped up beautifully and that just attracted my attention towards it. I realised how even something as empty as a leafless tree could be so beautiful. I realised how this was a metaphor to people in general. Even the people who have lost everything in life and are totally empty and hollow have some aspect of beauty in them. After spending some moments with myself I took out my DSLR yet once again to capture this spectacular scene. I took pictures of many exotic birds and some wild boars that were a bit far away.

A beautiful kingfisher had perched upon a wooden stem the emerged right out of the water. I felt like I wanted to be at that place for eternity but time was a villain and it was time to go back to our guest house. The subsequent afternoon was nice and warm. We were planning to go to another guest house, deeper into the jungle and this drive turned out to be really exciting and thrilling.

 The roads were steep, curvy and narrow. One wrong turn and we would be gone for good. Up and down, left and right, slowly and steadily we made our way deeper and deeper into the forest. We stopped by a stream, to take a sip of the water. It was like taking a sip from the elixirs of heaven. The water was extremely pure and fresh. I paused there a bit, to hear the gargling of the stream, the sound of the water hitting the rocks. It gave me a high and put me in some sort of trance. I got back inside the car to continue our journey further; on the most difficult paths I had ever travelled on, hoping we don’t break our backs. I was constantly gazing out of the window.

Looking out for animals was something that came naturally to us now, but this certain thought process went on in my mind of how so very different the mankind and the wilderness is and ironically man had emerged from wilderness itself, and now both civilizations were worlds apart. It had already been some 2 hours in the car and we had not spotted any interesting animal. The cheetals, deers and bison’s no more interested us. My eyes constantly looked for a tiger or a bear, someone ferocious that would give us an adrenaline rush. As I was looking out, lost deep in my own thoughts, I heard mumbles and hushes in the car. I was sitting at the extreme left and I looked towards the right window, which was covered with faces and cameras popping out. Not realizing what had happened, I too leaned forward to see what was happening and then I found 2 eyes, the bluest I had ever seen looking back at me, or perhaps at all of us. The elegant posture of the creature, the fine yellow coat with black spots, there sat a mighty leopard that stared back us with curious eyes, filled with fear. When saw all of us stare back at it with amazement, he decided to get up and run back into the bushes. The few seconds of that spectacular eye contact had left all of us frozen and hypnotised. We did not even move nor did our cameras. As soon as it started running away, was when we realized, that we should click a picture, but it was too late. I was really sad, as the picture of the one animal we all had been dying to take had killed our dreams by running away. The Leopard is a very shy animal, but one thing I knew that no matter what, that feeling of sheer fascination all of us had had, could never be taken away from us. The image of the beautiful leopard staring back at us had been captured in our hearts and brains forever and was something we would never forget. A wave of happiness rushed over me. It had just been so overwhelming. What must be the leopard thinking when he saw us? Why was it so shy? Why did it run away? What did that eye contact mean? I showered myself with all these questions and I could not answer a single one. Oh! How I wish I could have paused that moment forever and ever.

 We moved on, further ahead and it had become dark and cold. The sky had turned a shade of blue and purple. We came across this narrow path, with ponds on both the sides. The trees cast their shadows in the water and I felt like I was in a horror movie setting. There was no one around and it felt like there were just us 10 people existing in the world. We had come up higher and our guest house was a picturesque setting. The Satpura Mountains surrounded the house. It was a typical white and green cottage just like how we drew in our sceneries back in school. It was protected by a low barbed wire fence. The shade of the sky was alluring and just added to the beauty. I could see as many as 5 different shades in the vast sky that was a plethora of endless possibilities.

After having a short orientation of the film festival and general forest pointers, we discussed jungle experiences and tiger stories.

It was a STARRY NIGHT. We went to the backyard to stargaze. The Orion belt was clearly visible to us. For about the next 2 hours we tried clicking pictures of the stars and the moon in freakily freezing weather. My fingers had literally gone numb yet I was determined to achieve a clear picture of the night sky just how I saw it. After trying every permutation and combination of aperture shutter speed and ISO, after climbing cars and chairs and lying down on the cold ground to get the perfect angles, I ended up clicking about a 100 pictures, but was satisfied with none. I could have done better but by this time my fingers refused to work and staying outdoors any longer in 0 degree temperature would have given me frostbite. The bonfire saved me from it and we went back to sleep. Day 2 had been really adventurous and so much had happened. From the mesmerizing back waters to the tranquillity of the stream, from the tricky paths and thought processes to the fascinating leopard, it had been a thrilling day of changing perceptions
.

Mornings are as it is beautiful. I woke up fresh and bright and walked out. The birds were chirping, the sun had just risen and the cool breeze instantly rejuvenated me. A thin fog was settling over the mountains.

I liked this guest house way better than the previous one just because of the amazing location. But it was time to go to the next destination where we would finally get to go in open gypsy safaris.

Open gypsy safaris are way better than jeep safaris. None of us had to fight for the window seats. We got into the gypsies and went for another safari. The area where we went this time was less dense. There were more of open fields and grasslands .This area had a different kind of charm to it. It was one of the tourist spot at Satpura. We came across huge ponds that had turned red with algae, many colourful birds and as usual, and more deers and cheetals. We reached a place called “MADHAI”, which was buzzing with tourists. I was feeling a bit upset about this, since I really did not want to see any other humans as if now. It was taking away the wilderness feel. After having a lunch we went on a boat ride crocodile safari in the river “DENVA”. It was a huge river and the day was perfect for a boat ride. The sun rays kept us warm on that cold January afternoon. 

We saw a mighty crocodile sleeping on the banks of the river. As usual, we started clicking pictures. The crocodile realised the unusual activity happening around him and suddenly opened his jaw, snapped and jumped right back into the river. The whole action was so sudden that it left us shaken. We quickly moved away from it, before we could be a potential prey to it. A very unique bird, quite big in size, perched on a stone on the banks of the river. As soon as she noticed us clicking its pictures, she spread her wings instead of 
flying away and we were amazed at the sight.

The wings were huge and were of 3 colours. This bird was the “Woolly Neck Bird”. It gave us a proper show of its wings and let us click as long as we wanted to, so much so that in the end we only got bored and moved away from there. We saw a majestic eagle too. The boat ride was so quiet and peaceful that I felt like taking a nap in it. It was really cosy and warm and I wanted to spend my whole afternoon there just looking at the waves the boat formed while moving, the patterns of the water, the blue and the green around everywhere but unfortunately the safari ended and we came back to MADHAI. After clicking our own pics by the banks and having a gala time joking and laughing with each other we left for our guest house at CHOORNA knowing that this would be our last evening safari.

That night, as usual we sat around the bonfire discussing horror stories. It was another chilly night and we were all lost in our own chatter, till suddenly a loud growl shook us. We got quiet and heard another growl. It seemed to be coming from right outside the guest house. The forest officials told us that it was the mating call of the tiger. We suddenly heard another growl which seemed to be coming from the other direction. I suddenly realized that it was the response of the other tiger to the mating call. It suddenly hit me hard, that there were 2 tigers just outside our guest house. It was really dark and we could not possibly use flash lights otherwise the tigers would go away. So we stayed silent and then all of a sudden, we saw a faint movement through the bushes. It was definitely a tiger. Most of us were scared. The numbing feeling that I had was because of the tiger or the cold, I still don’t know, but that was it for the tiger activity, we did not exactly spot it clearly, but in a way, we had felt its presence, seen it move and I guess I was at least taking back one tiger story with me. It was our last night in the jungles and I had already started feeling bad about it. The next morning that I would wake up would be the last time I would ever wake up to the sound of animal alarm calls. We were to go on a last morning safari and then leave for Bhopal. On our way back, we stopped at a very typical village on the outskirts of the forest. 

The village was called “PODDAR”. Our sir asked us to interview the panchayat heads as the village was going to be relocated soon but I preferred talking to the actual villagers. So I walked past the thatched roof huts and came to a small hand pump where 3 ladies wearing bright colored saris and covering their heads with their pallu sat, washing utensils and talking to each other. They must have a story I thought to myself and went up to them. “Namaste didi”, kya naam hai aapka?”I asked. “Shaamvati” she replied and smiled. I asked her many things, about her life in village, the problems they faced, and her relationship with other villagers. She told me how they all were one big family in the village; she mentioned the death of her daughter, how there was no proper medical facilities, no electricity and that they had to sleep outdoors during summers. What disturbed me the most was when she told me how only men made decisions and when not adhered to, hit them? I gave them a whole big lecture on how to fight for their own rights and never lose hope. I saw a spark in their eyes and I actually felt proud of myself of at least giving them some sort of motivation in their otherwise dull life.

After chit chatting with them more, sharing smiles and clicking pictures we finally left the forest, the Satpura jungles. As we crossed the gates and the car tyres touched the cement road I looked back to a place, a world in its own which in just 4 days had taught me so much about life, so much about the mankind and the other civilization – the animals, the joy of being away from the fast paced life, the experience of putting life on hold and exploring a whole new place. It changed my perspective, the way I look at things.

On the last day just before leaving, a few of us had the courage to leave the guest house boundaries on our own and go venturing in the forest. I came across this stream and just sat down beside it, trying to absorb it all in, so that I have something to hold me till my next break in life. The first time during the entire trip I did not touch my camera. I just did not care about the picture. I just sat and looked at the stream trickle by, heard the birds chirp, saw the langoors and the squirrels jump from one tree to another.

Oh! How I would miss this? The peace, the jungle!?  Satpura succeeded put in new energy into me, a new zeal towards life, something I had not showcased for a few months now. I was ready to face the world. I felt really confident and rejuvenated. I felt good about myself. Was it the jungle air or was it the satisfaction of deciding to come here and experience this blissful adventure, I still don’t know. I had come looking for peace of mind, and I had got it. My purpose was fulfilled. So what if I did not spot a tiger, I had felt its presence around me. A famous wildlife enthusiast once said, “Before you spot the animal, the animal has already seen you 10 times.” I knew the tiger had seen us and there must be a reason, he did not grace us with its presence and I totally respected that.  I knew that once I get back, the buildings, the traffic  and the cities would just depress me, but that was home and I was just a mere visitor here to this world of wilderness, which had now become my escapade.

Satpura is by far, one of the best journeys until now because it’s here that I discovered my true calling, met and bonded with wonderful people, found the stability and peace I had looking for and decided to go on a different life path altogether.