A Twilight Saga…
Under a star-lit sky
Walking through trails on rye,
Peering into the fiery night
For that one glorious sight..
Searching in the grass so high
With a hint of her presence right
Watchful, yet feeling high
Not knowing - what is in sight
Then, in a moment - I caught those eyes
Peering at me, with intentions aside
Curious to know what brings me by
In all her glory, all her might
Your majesty burning bright
In the forests of the night,
Not with a single batting of the eye
I framed thy fearful symmetry...
- Adapted from William Blake’s "The Tyger" -
Looking for tigers while visiting tiger reserves within the comfort of one's vehicle by day-light is one thing; staring into its eyes, one dark evening, a few meters away from your bedroom, as it rests before it sets out looking for its prey, is a completely different matter.
Tired & dejected one evening in Bor Tiger Reserve, a small tiger reserve in Central India that forms the arterial link between the Greater Tadoba and the Pench-Kanha tiger landscape, after it was quite evident that BTR-T3 or Katrina & her cubs were not obliging us; had chosen to return early. After resting a bit, closer to sunset, we were told of one location she frequently visits outside the protected area, which also was the place where her current litter was born. Since the place was in very close precincts to our place of stay, we decidedly to head there and look for any signs of her or the cubs.
Nothing gave away her presence, despite us having a strong intuition due to the uneasy quietness in the air. However, since it was beginning to get dark, we decided to abandon the search and proceeding towards our stay. We had almost gotten to our room and were very close to it just off a bend; when a swaying movement to our left brought us face to face with her. There she was, watching us with fiery eyes, eyes that only conveyed one thing - watch me, but dare not defy me... While she seemed perfectly comfortable with us, it took us sometime realizing that she was only a few meters away from our room.
The wild by day and night are two different worlds. We are lords of sunshine, but the night belongs to these magnificent cats that can operate with the precision of a perfected machine and go about their lives in our midst, with us being oblivious to their presence.
We, through this journey of ‘The Inquisitive Explorer’ have seen quite a few tigers by night-fall, some late into the night in close quarters. But seeing the one we were aching to see in the last fading light is one hair-raising experience, that makes us wonder if she knew we were looking for her and chose to make her presence felt in such a dramatic manner.
In the end, we could only be bewitched by this glorious beast that has changed our lives forever that day, till she chose to fade away into the darkness...
01 May 2017, Bor Tiger Reserve, Wardha, Maharashtra