The tiger hunt!

As most of you know my first love is sports and in the last few years, I realized that my 2^nd love is Wildlife. The experience of tracking, spotting and watching wildlife in their natural habitat is something I really enjoy.

Spotting the big cats is not easy though some people are lucky enough to spot them in their 1^st safari but they don’t know its value!

I wasn’t particularly fond of animals before my wedding. Then, I met Wolfy, Abhi’s dog, who made me fall in love with animals.

                                                                            Wolfy

The animal world is so fascinating and the more I learn/read/watch about them, the more intrigued I get.

In the 1^st year of marriage,2008, Abhi and I went to Kabini to enjoy wildlife for the thrill of it.

That was the start of it all.

We saw a leopard with a kill, a herd of elephants that passed extremely close to our vehicle, birds, the alarm calls for a cat, a herd of bisons and many more.

I was enthralled.

The bar was set high for future safaris.

Learning about the animals had become an addiction.

We wanted to spot a tiger next and tried our luck at Ranthambore, Kabini and Corbett multiple times but to no avail.

I remember at Ranthambore, every single safari vehicle had spotted multiple tigers, except ours.

At Corbett, Akansha had fever, vomiting and we gave her crocin and took her for safari but still did not spot anything.

Any time Abhi and I saw tigers on national geographic, we would feel so dejected.

Why is this beautiful creature eluding us so much?

Having said that, the time inside the forests in the early mornings and evenings are magical. The trees, the birds, animals, the alarm calls etc. are indescribable. So peaceful and calm.

We were enjoying the safaris in the Indian forests but still disappointed to have not spotted a single tiger in so many safaris.

It was our 10^th wedding anniversary and we wanted to plan something special. Abhi said let us do a wildlife trip and as usual, I checked the Indian cricket calendar.

I was thrilled when I discovered that India was supposed to travel to South Africa for a long tour at that time.

It couldn’t have been any better.

We planned a cricket + wildlife trip. Abhi and Akansha reluctantly came to see the matches with me.

Their priority was obviously the safari.

The African safaris were breath taking. We had a great time and spotted some amazing animals & birds.

But, our luck with the cat was the same. No LION yet.

Since my daughter was young, only one of us could go on the early morning safaris but all 3 of us used to go for the afternoon safaris.

It was time for the last safari, and it was a morning one. It was my turn to go and I offered Abhi an chance to go. He refused and it was my lottery day.

I spotted 1 lion and 2 lionesses stalking and hunting a zebra. They missed it but the whole experience was surreal. After they missed the prey, they still stalked the other animals for some time. They were with us for the whole 3 hrs of safari!!

When I went back to the hotel, Abhi was furious. He was the one who wanted the wildlife trip more than me and I ended up spotting the lion. Akansha remembers even now that he did not speak to me for a long time that day.

We also spotted a leopard just before we ended the safari and that completed our great trip.

After this, with my cricket trips happening thick and fast, we could not do many wildlife trips.

In December 2020, we came to Bangalore, as everything was virtual anyway. My childhood friend, Abhishek lives in Mysore and I wanted to meet him.

He made the mistake of asking me if we should go to Kabini!

We jumped at it, but Abhishek did not know what was in store!

The resort that we stayed in, The Bison, was brilliant- the experience, the naturalist, the rooms. Food could have been better though.

For me anyway, food was never the priority. We wanted to spot the TIGER.

Abhishek and family joined us a day later.

He called it a military camp – waking up daily at 430am for the safari, time limit for all meals, get ready for evening safari and sleep early to get ready for next morning!  

Abhishek’s reaction after spotting the tiger - unbelievable!

 

In their first safari, they spotted a tiger and a leopard! He is not a wildlife enthusiast, so, he doesn’t know its value!

Ask us! After 12 years and multiple safaris, we managed to spot the tiger.

In fact, we spotted 3 tigers and 2 leopards. The black panther has disappeared in the last few days, so did not get to see him. 

The variety of wildlife in Kabini is mesmerizing. It is an absolute treat to listen to the warning calls by the deer, peacock, eagle, langurs…and again, gave me goose bumps.

This is a new high and has motivated us to do more trips to Kabini, my favourite forest!

While this is all love for wildlife & passion, I learnt a valuable lesson that is applicable in life too.

When you enter a forest, never go with any expectation to spot a cat. Enjoy the experience, the process and a completely different world that otherwise you cannot enter. If you spot something precious, savour the moment and enjoy.

Even in life, I try to follow the same. While I have some goals, I try to enjoy the experience and process to reach there. Only then will I be able to sustain the chase and reach the goal some day. The moment you lose patience and want to achieve it immediately, you lose steam and the goal seems far away.

Another thing is the way the animal/bird world is organized is mind blowing. They have a set hierarchy in the food chain and no matter what, their life goes on.

It is all about survival and every animal/bird/insect/reptile etc. knows its role in the ecosystem.

Every single one of them plays it to perfection.

I wish we all knew our roles & goals in personal & professional lives as well as them.

This has started a new chapter in my life

A new goal to chase.

Is there a job that is a mix of sports and wildlife??!