Eye of the tiger

TIGER, tiger, burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

The great English poet, William Blake aptly describes the tiger in his famous poem
I have always been fascinated with wildlife. As a child, I have grown up on stories about jungle safaris, daring hunts of ferocious beasts and of course – Kipling’s Jungle Book. I was particularly intrigued by the tiger. Tiger is the national animal of India and hence has a special status. References of tigers are found in Indian mythologies, folklore and temples. My first encounter with this amazing animal was in a Zoo. I was a little disappointed when I saw this magnificent animal behind bars. Nevertheless, I still cannot forget the piercing look of that tiger. That tiger in the zoo seemed like a professional wrestler who is always raring to tear down his opponents but is now helpless as he is on an unfamiliar terrain.
Since then, I have seen the tiger on numerous occasions. All of them had been in controlled environments and never in the wild. I always wanted to go to a Jungle Safari and finally I decided to do so in January this year to Kanha national park which is in central India. It is a famous wildlife sanctuary, known especially for its most famous resident – the Royal Bengal Tiger. My wife and I decided to visit this place which is almost 620 miles from our city. We stayed in a resort within the jungle and had booked 5 safaris with our guide. Our guide was a wonderful, helpful person who knew the 1000 sq km jungle like the back of his hand. One day before our first safari, we were introduced to our co –travelers. They were an elderly Canadian couple who were also on a tiger safari. They had been to 2 other national parks earlier, but the mysterious tiger had always eluded them.
The next day, we started 3:00 AM in the morning. I had never been to a jungle this early. It was freezing cold. We knew that tigers are solitary animals and normally rest in the afternoons. Our guide told us that they are pretty active in early morning and hence the chances of a sighting are very high. With multiple layers of warm clothing and eagerness in our eyes and heart, we set out on a trail of the tiger. There were at least 15-20 cars full of tourists which started with us. The jungle was mesmerizing with spectacular scenery all around. We spotted various species of deer, peacocks and an amazing display of birds. But there was no sign of the tiger yet. Our guide told us that deer and the monkeys signal each other about the presence of a tiger in the vicinity. All of us were now desperate to hear these calls which would tell us that a tiger is prowling nearby. After 4 hours of frantic lookout, we had to return dejected. The next safari was planned at 4 PM in the evening and the climate had changed drastically. It was now extremely hot. Our guide spotted tiger footprints and told us that a female tiger along with her cubs were in vicinity. We stayed there for a long time, but it seemed that the mother was busy putting her children to sleep. This attempt too was a failure.
We tried twice the very next day and both of them ended on the same note. The tiger seemed so near yet so far. We were exhausted after 2 days of wildlife revelry. Over the dinner that day, the Canadian couple told us – maybe the sighting of the tiger is not meant to be. My wife assured them- there is still one more chance for us and our collective hopes will help us. Tired, disappointed but yet still hopeful I did not sleep well that day.
We started very early again the next day. This time our guide took us to a different part of the forest. There were not too many tourist cars with us. As we reached the core of the jungle, we heard the deer call which was followed by numerous monkey calls, we knew that a tiger was near, very near.
Our guide asked to stop the car as he had spotted something. He pointed towards the rising sun in the east. When I looked there I notice a faint silhouette of a tiger. This distant sight gave us goosebumps. It was a male tiger and was on his morning routine, marking his territory. By that time, other cars had started coming in our direction – everyone was anxious to see tiger. To our surprise and sheer delight, we realized that the tiger was walking in our direction. The number of cars had now risen and were creating a messy situation. I was cursing them in my mind, worried that the tiger would change his course due to all the noise. But my friend did not disappoint me. He strolled out in the open like a king, oblivious to the chaos and attention around him. He stared back at us. It was that same piercing look which I had seen the first time I had seen a tiger. He then strolled back into the woods.