COLUMN /Nature Watch

Encounters in the Wild

I was woken just before dawn by the persistent calls of warblers and sunbirds. Emerging sleepily from the confines of the ancient forest bungalow, built during the British Raj at Dimbhum in Kerala’s Satyamangalam forest block, the first sight to greet me through the light mist was a bevy of small minivets adorning the compound trees like so many scarlet and yellow Christmas decorations. The freshness in the air, the sounds and the ethereal ambience created by the mist enveloped me and transported me to the days when all of India must have been as verdant, as invigorating.
Lost in thought, I was shaken from my reverie by a bird which flew low over my head from behind me to settle on a nearby banyan tree. Through my binoculars I saw its flaming-orange and black coloration and leafed through Salim Ali’s Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent to discover its flycatcher identity. It had a large praying mantis in its beak and was in the process of swallowing it. This done, it preened its feathers, cleaned its beak and sallied forth in search of other titbits. I marvelled at the method in nature’s apparent madness where predator ate predator in the process of playing out a deadly game of hide and seek.
Dimbhum is not a sanctuary or national park, yet it throbbed with life. At night, the watchman confirmed, a sloth bear had visited the forest department campus. And sambar deer tracks revealed that they had walked through the flower beds.
India is alive with wildernesses like Dimbum. In central India is a fantastic forest called Tadoba. It has a raw beauty all its own and there is something electric about a dark forest. It’s not just the sounds or the smells that seem purer somehow, but rather the anticipation of what lies beyond.We sat silently in the vehicle for almost 10 minutes. In the near distance we could hear a rustling as a soft, yet biting wind fanned our faces. It was cold. Above us a full moon lit the night sky. That was when I saw them in the frame of my night vision binoculars. There were four tigers walking towards us in single file. Cats see well in the dark and they must have heard us, but they were unafraid. Within seconds they settled all around us like so many household cats, safe in the knowledge that we meant them no harm.
There can be no better place to escape to than the exquisite Himalayan havens to be found in Kashmir, Ladakh, Garhwal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. One of my abiding sorrows is the fact that for long years it was not safe to trek through Kashmir. I have often walked up 2,000 metres through the famous oak forests of the Dachigam Sanctuary near Srinagar. Home of the last surviving herds of hangul deer. It seems difficult to imagine that so much blood has been shed in the beautiful Kashmir valley.
And how should I describe the magic of diving off a boat and swimming into a rock cave in the Andaman Sea? The waters between Chiriyatapu and Rutland Island are glass clear, even in the monsoon. After navigating the powerful surges that swoosh through the narrow cave entrance, you find yourself in a dark, womb-like grotto. Swiftlets fly in and out of the cave, and once inside, away from the narrow opening, a shingle and pebble beach is dimly visible. And when look back out from whence you came, you see a white light, obliterated every few waves by aquamarine water of the purest hue.
Forget the mundane. Ignore the ordinary. India can offer you heart-thumping, adrenalin-pumping excitement… if only you care to look and dare to experience. nI was woken just before dawn by the persistent calls of warblers and sunbirds. Emerging sleepily from the confines of the ancient forest bungalow, built during the British Raj at Dimbhum in Kerala’s Satyamangalam forest block, the first sight to greet me through the light mist was a bevy of small minivets adorning the compound trees like so many scarlet and yellow Christmas decorations. The freshness in the air, the sounds and the ethereal ambience created by the mist enveloped me and transported me to the days when all of India must have been as verdant, as invigorating.
Lost in thought, I was shaken from my reverie by a bird which flew low over my head from behind me to settle on a nearby banyan tree. Through my binoculars I saw its flaming-orange and black coloration and leafed through Salim Ali’s Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent to discover its flycatcher identity. It had a large praying mantis in its beak and was in the process of swallowing it. This done, it preened its feathers, cleaned its beak and sallied forth in search of other titbits. I marvelled at the method in nature’s apparent madness where predator ate predator in the process of playing out a deadly game of hide and seek.
Dimbhum is not a sanctuary or national park, yet it throbbed with life. At night, the watchman confirmed, a sloth bear had visited the forest department campus. And sambar deer tracks revealed that they had walked through the flower beds.
India is alive with wildernesses like Dimbum. In central India is a fantastic forest called Tadoba. It has a raw beauty all its own and there is something electric about a dark forest. It’s not just the sounds or the smells that seem purer somehow, but rather the anticipation of what lies beyond.We sat silently in the vehicle for almost 10 minutes. In the near distance we could hear a rustling as a soft, yet biting wind fanned our faces. It was cold. Above us a full moon lit the night sky. That was when I saw them in the frame of my night vision binoculars. There were four tigers walking towards us in single file. Cats see well in the dark and they must have heard us, but they were unafraid. Within seconds they settled all around us like so many household cats, safe in the knowledge that we meant them no harm.
There can be no better place to escape to than the exquisite Himalayan havens to be found in Kashmir, Ladakh, Garhwal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. One of my abiding sorrows is the fact that for long years it was not safe to trek through Kashmir. I have often walked up 2,000 metres through the famous oak forests of the Dachigam Sanctuary near Srinagar. Home of the last surviving herds of hangul deer. It seems difficult to imagine that so much blood has been shed in the beautiful Kashmir valley.
And how should I describe the magic of diving off a boat and swimming into a rock cave in the Andaman Sea? The waters between Chiriyatapu and Rutland Island are glass clear, even in the monsoon. After navigating the powerful surges that swoosh through the narrow cave entrance, you find yourself in a dark, womb-like grotto. Swiftlets fly in and out of the cave, and once inside, away from the narrow opening, a shingle and pebble beach is dimly visible. And when look back out from whence you came, you see a white light, obliterated every few waves by aquamarine water of the purest hue.
Forget the mundane. Ignore the ordinary. India can offer you heart-thumping, adrenalin-pumping excitement… if only you care to look and dare to experience.

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