The Tiger Calls

A Wild Rendezvous   (Original date of events: Apr 30 - May 1st, 2017) It was April 30th, 2017, a Sunday afternoon. Aashish (my brother) and I took off to our favorite holiday destination - Masinagudi . We had not booked an accommodation in advance as it was an unplanned getaway, and being an extended weekend - for May 1st is observed as Labour Day in India - our first priority was to find a stay upon reaching the town. After enquiring with a handful of resorts and lodges, we found one that had a room to spare and checked-in immediately.  Relieved to have found a stay for the night, we freshened up a bit and ventured out on our safari drive. One can rent a guide and jeep from the town centre for the purpose, but as we are well-familiar with the safari routes and know how to spot wildlife, we usually go on the drive by ourselves. We saw lots of deer and peacock, and one sambar deer up close! Since there were no elephants and bison about, we decided to wait until after

Bagh - The Tiger   (Original date of completion: September 2013) It wasn’t until four years later that I got my next chance to visit the forest. Parminder Uncle, a friend of Dad’s, had just got engaged and the family decided to go on a small trip to celebrate. The choice of place was Masinagudi, a small town in the midst of the Jungles of Tamil Nadu, 7 kilometers from Theppakadu Elephant Camp- which is also the Reception Centre of the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary. It is really the same forest that is spread across three states – in Karnataka it branches out into the Nagarhole and Bandipur National Parks, in Tamil Nadu it extends as the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and in Kerala as the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Now a well-known town and popular among wildlife enthusiasts, Masinagudi was a small village at the time I speak of, with a police station at the start of the village, a single-lane tarred road which took you to a few farmhouses and resorts built by estate owners, and

It All Starts Here   (Original date of completion: March 2012) It was back in 2000 when I first visited a forest – The Nagarhole National Park - and immediately fell in love with it. The Nagarhole National Park, also known as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, is located in the Kodagu district of Karnataka. Mysore, the heritage city of Karnataka where once the Wodeyars reigned and which is even now known world over for its celebration of the festival of Dussehra, is just 100 Km from here. Adjacent to this park is the hill station of Coorg, a favourite among wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers alike. The trip I write of took place during the month of May in 2000. I was just 11 years old and it was during this trip that I realized how much I liked being in the jungle surrounded by the lush green cover, the multitude of sounds from unimaginable sources (not all sounds in the forests are those made by animals), the clean surroundings, the inexplicable feeling of breathing in the pur