Wednesday, December 19, 2007

tigers and more

just come back after three days in sawai madhopore. lived in luxury at khem villas. did not understand the villas bit though - the tents and cottages did not resemble villas by any stretch of imagination. may be that is what they hope it will be sometime in the future... fantastic service, exellent food and altogether a great experience. the national park is nearby and that is why this visit.

went on jeep rides in search of the tiger, a bit like hunting for page 3 types. every jeep and canter driver picks a lot which indicates which zone one is meant to be in. zone one no one wants. its too woody and the tiger is rarely seen. other animals and birds and fauna can be seen. the leopard is sighted occasionally. zone four and five are hot favourites, as is zone three. lots of chances of sighting tigers, seeing wonderful birds and monkeys, deer and interesting trees. if one is truly lucky then an alarm call can be heard and may be even a tiger can be spotted. of course your karma has to be really good for that to happen.

so we did see a tiger. she walked past our jeep, ambled was more like it. she walked past and all the jeeps had crowded around, cameras whirred impatiently and people were stunned into silence and fear. a bit like wanting to see shahrukh khan or whoever one has the hots for and then not knowing what to do - all one can do is stare and take photos and hope that nothing else happens. she was beautiful and i think she knew that all of us were completely mesmerised.

my take on the tiger sightings is rather simple. i think the tigers meet periodically and discuss what they should do with the hordes of people who wander around in search of them. on some days they send out their house pussy cats with tiger paw block prints. the pussycats walk around the jungle all night and make paw prints in the mud, so that the guides and trackers wander around aimlessly while the tigers loll somewhere inside. on other days, lots are drawn and a tiger is selected to go out and show herself or himself to the world. if they feel particularly warm towards humans, they send more than one so that more people are happy. and then there are the off days when they do not want to be sighted at all. they chill in their different parts and do not meet at all. seems plausible, don't you think?

i would be like that. the town of sawai madhopore exists because of the tiger and ranthambhore. if the park did not exist, many people would have to move out and find other occupations. so it becomes crucial that tigers are sighted and that people respect the forest. tigers are important but not the forest , since all who come do not really want to see langurs, or nilgai or antelope or as some guides say - male deer horny, female deer not horny!

what is a fabulous experience is the dastkar ranthambhore kendra and the craft that one sees there. created locally, providing employment to local craftspeople and women and making sure that their livelihood is sustainable. i was last there a decade ago, i worked on the project and it was amazing to come back and see what all had been achieved in the intervening years. loved it and loved all the products - the tiger pillow, the bags, the clothes!!!!!

go to ranthambhore and see the tiger if you can, but see all else that the forest has to offer since most of our towns have only cars and architecturally unsound buildings on display.