Today was indeed an amazing day. Well it was cloudy and cool weather with every possibility of rain and we decided to go out for a drive towards the Pench forest (Sillary side). Though the forest reserve area is closed during the monsoon we nevertheless decided to go as the drive itself is through fairly thick forest even outside the reserve area. On the way, on the Nagpur-Jabalpur highway itself we saw a man who had parked his vehicle taking pictures and we slowed down to see what it was he was happily clicking away and we found a herd of deers rejoicing in the rain, literally jumping around in someones paddy field. The farmer was chasing them out. We tried to click pictures from our mobile but the distance was too great to capture a decent picture. This was indeed extraordinary and refreshing sight.
We next went to Sillari where there is a MTDC resort and restaurant and had pakodas and tea and later walked around in the forest near the entrance of the reserve. The sun had now set and it was getting dark and we decided to drive back home. Well here comes the real excitement.
Within two kilometers drive from the resort our vehicle lights found some shining eyes of a large animal. On first thoughts it appeared to be a cow but as we slowed down and came nearer we were in for a surprize of a lifetime. It was a LEOPARD. Unbelievable but true. We stopped the vehicle and in the head lights of the car we tried to snap pictures on our mobile phones. My brother in law had a camera but as it happens at such sudden moments it malfucntioned and did not work. In the headlight of the vehicle we could clearly see the leopard but because all our windows were shut the flash from the mobile phones were ineffectve and created a reflection from the glass of the windshield. So the photos were a flop. But our eyes and brains recorded one of the most amazing sights for over 15 minutes as we kept tracking the movement of the leopard with the car's lights. I tried the video mode of the mobile and we did finally capture some blurred images which we will try and edit and post it in a couple of days.
This was once in a lifetime kind of event and reminded me of two other similar experiences I had many years back. Once on a college study tour to the Tadoba Tiger reserve late eveninng as we landed in the forest, right at the entrance of the Tiger reserve, all of us in a bus, we sighted a tiger for half a minute or so as though he was there on the reception committee waiting to welcome us. Those days (1976) there were no mobiles and our khatak cameras were in our bags, so no photos. Then over the next two days in the forest we never saw our friend again.
Then again in 1997 on a visit to some partner organisation in Raigad district (was working in Swissaid then) we were driving back to our hotel in the nearby town from a village visit and what we see on the bends of the ghat we were on a leopard climbinng down the hill towards the road we were on. The driver suddenly applied brakes and the leopard sped like lightning.
These sudden sightings are really breathtaking and become pleasant memories and against these my recent tiger sighting in June when we visited Kanha reserve where we were directed to a site on elephant back where a tiger had been cornered by a 3 elephants for tourists to come and view this, the excitement wasnt as great because somewhere it gave a feeling of stage management by the forest staff to please tourists so that they can spread the message that we had spotted a tiger at Kanha which would lead to more tourists going there and help the business of tourism. Do await photos in the next couple of days.
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