Magical and Mystical....Masinagudi

“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” ― John Lubbock

Having staying in Bangalore for the last 10 months, I didn't get to do what I like best...an escape in the jungle for a few days for some peace and solitude! Thanks to a colleague of mine, Dr Mariappan, the plan to head into the jungles of Masinagudi materialised. Masinagudi is a hot spot for wildlife lovers in the fantastic jungles of Mudumalai, Tamil Nadu, about 250 km from Bangalore.

I ended up doing 2 trips in a span of 4 weeks to this brilliant location. And both times, along with my friends and colleagues, we stayed at The Wilds at Northern Hay, a wonderful home stay in Singara village, 6 km away from Masinagudi. Set in a beautiful coffee estate, in the jungle couldn't have been a better option. The peace, tranquillity and the lush green setting, in the midst of the wonderful Nilgiris was pure heaven.



The accommodation was an old house, remnants of the British Raj, about 110 years old. This enhanced an already outstanding experience of being in the jungle. And the service and food was something to die for. I couldn't help complimenting the cook for the lip smacking range of dishes they were laid out for all our meals. Simply outstanding!!!

I had the pleasure of exploring the estate, a haven for several wonderful birds. And all I did was keep my newly acquired "Canon 7D" shooting away capturing the outstanding wildlife on display.

We did a few treks within the confines of the estate and on the fringes of the jungle. The place was bursting with wildlife! We spotted several Spotted Deer, Sambhar, Elephants, several exotic birds like the Malabar Grey Horn Bill, Golden Oriole,Barbets, Woodpeckers, different types of Parakeet...and endless list. And the most exciting part was the tell tale signs...pug marks... of tigers and Leopards that frequent the area. For most of the people with me, this was their first experience of being in the jungle. So they were excited, and at the same time, nervous & wary of the presence of wildlife, especially the big cats.

For the first time, I had the pleasure of seeing and capturing the images of the Giant Malabar Squirrel, a burst of rust, tan and Beige colours on its body and its wonderful and vibrant long orange tipped tail. I ended up getting several good pictures, including one, when it was jumping across tree, the jump frozen in mid air! A really good moment to have captured.

All along my treks, I continued to capture several beautiful birds like the Horn Bill pecking away at the berries, the shy Barbet whistling in the woods, the Black Rumped Flameback Woodpecker hammering the trees with its beak, the swift and elusive Plum Headed Parakeet, the rowdy Hill Mynas fighting & chasing away birds from the trees they occupied, and the Fishing Owl amongst several other feathered fellas.

On one of my drives around the estate, we had the rare but exciting sighting of a Leopard making a kill...a rabbit. This happened right in front of the jeep I was in, coming back from Singara. The darkness didn't allow me to capture the episode, but it remains fresh in mind whenever I share the story with friends. I feel blessed and lucky to have seen such a wonderful moment. Even though it was for a minute of two...the stalking, becoming invisible and then launching itself at its prey with deadly accuracy, was a brilliant experience to have seen.


As I walked on, one evening, I saw the tell tale signs of a Tiger's kill in it's droppings! A wild boar's skin and nails from its hoof. And it was fairly fresh, which meant that the Tiger had probably visited the boundary of the estate very early in the morning.

Seeing & hearing the Elephants, the gentle giants, walking around the estate was another great experience. I stayed a fair distance away, ensuring their peace wasn't disturbed, whilst capturing a few good pictures. Shantanu and Anikhet, my guides and trackers were excellent. Their knowledge of the place, animals and birds and sharing their experiences made my trip worthwhile.

Evenings were spent around a bonfire, having a few drinks, reliving the experience of the day, and sharing lighter moments. Like I said earlier, the food was absolutely fantastic. And the long treks during the day ensured we savoured all the lovely dishes before retiring to bed and sleeping blissfully.



Masinagudi, will remain amongst the best wildlife reserves and jungles I have been to. The experience of the place, the surroundings, the bustling wildlife and everything about the ambience is now so addictive, that I will be reliving the "Tadoba" experience all over again! The only thing left on my tick list is capturing the Big Cats to take the experience to the highest level!

Reminiscence of looking at death in the face...The day my world stood still!!!

“Tiger! Tiger! burning bright

In the forests of the night

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

William Blake

By now I had seen several Tigers at Tadoba, but the thrill of spotting another one, never wanes! We had spotted Sundari and her four cubs on the morning of 16th May. Not too often do you see 5 Tigers in one go, but good fortune, patience and a good sense of tracking does increase your odds at spotting one. Having had a very good morning, spotting the usual - a sloth bear, wild boar, deer, several birds, we spent more than an hour with the 5 Tigers, got a very close look at a cub who walked up to the gypsy and posed for a few pictures, and a pack of wild dogs who were out for a splash in the water, we had decided to track and spot the new big male, "Tedhi Poonch" (means twisted tail; and the name came, as last bone in the tail of this big male was twisted) in the evening safari.
 

 

We got into the jungle on the dot of 3 pm. I had agreed with Raju, my ever faithful and chosen guide that we were going to spot the big boy at any cost that day. After doing our groundwork for 30 minutes, we had decided to wait for him at waterhole # 3, on the mail road. This was an artificial water hole filled twice a day by the forest department. Tadoba in May, I can promise you, will give you the hottest experience you can ever probably get in most of India. Temperatures can rise to 50 centigrade and a little more. And it was probably upwards of 50 that day. Equipped with several bottles of cold water in a thermocol box, scarfs tied around our head and face, we braved the intense heat, for 3 hours. I can still remember all the gypsies were at the same spot, 19 behind me, and 20 on the opposite side of the road. Everyone wanted to sight "Tedhi Poonch" that day. I was taking refuge in the drivers’ seat. My gypsy had a hard top for the driver's cabin, and rest was open. Subir was standing on the seat in the last row, Vijay and his 6 year old son Ajay were seated behind me, and Raju was on the same seat to the left to where the "Tedhi Poonch" was resting inside the jungle, camouflaged by the elephant grass and bamboo shrubs. Time now close to 6-15 pm and the tell-tale signs of deer & jungle fowl calling started. We knew the big boy was on the move. And suddenly, we heard a huge roar, and instantly the vehicles behind & in front of me started their engines. I had a minute ago, climbed out of the driver’s seat and stood where Subir was. And given that no one was in the driver’s seat, we were completely taken by surprise as we saw "Tedhi Poonch" charging towards us. We froze, instantly. While the brain was working, the body remained numb. And in a flash, there were no vehicles around us.

(The pictures here are from the next day, when we sighted the big male again)

I remember Vijay telling me to take his son and make a run for it, in case the Tiger jumped into the gypsy. But there were no vehicles to even make a dash...everyone had gone away. Raju, my seasoned guide, remained frozen, as "Tedhi Poonch" came within a couple of feet of the gypsy and then dashed off towards the bush. I had come out of my frozen state, and picked up the handycam which Raju had dropped on the ground when the charge happened. For some reason, my brain didn’t comprehend the idea that we had just been scared out of our skin. And then the inevitable happened! As I was trying to get my camera on, the 2nd charge had happened, and "Tedhi Poonch" had mistimed his charge, and his body came crashing into our gypsy. A good friend of mine tells me that I was within "kissing distance" and I have no memory of ever being that close. I was probably brain dead for those few seconds. The Tiger then finally decided he had enough and wanted to grab a drink and head back to his lair. As he settled into the waterhole to cool himself off, we regained our senses! And to add more thrills into our already scary situation, Raju tells me that the gypsy had stalled; it wouldn’t start. And the only option was to open the bonnet, and check for a loose connection. A seasoned man like Raju refused to get down, and instructed me to do so. How and why I did what he said, I have no clue, but I got off, saw a loose wire; got it connected and then jumped back into the gypsy. It took only a few seconds I guess, but the situation at hand made it feel like hours!!!

The gypsy started, and we slowly drove past "Tedhi Poonch" looking at him as he sat calmly in the water, quenching his thirst. It was closing time, 6-45 pm and we had to get out of the park by 7. All the cameras stayed switched off and silent; rather we didn’t even get inkling to turn it on and get a few pictures before we headed out. None of us spoke at all, until we reached the resort and had lots of water to drink, and then ordered for tea.

I remember, smoking cigarette after cigarette, trying to convince myself that this wasn’t a dream; but actually true. Several tourists walked up to us and said how lucky we were. Why "Tedhi Poonch" didn’t jump in, kill us in one single swipe, only he knows. And that will remain a secret that he will keep!!!

One tourist walked up to us and said that we were brave and had the courage to stay back, whilst everyone else had taken off after the 1st charge. Little does he know, nor was I in a position to tell him, even the Gods weren't really on our side for that instant, and the gypsy had stalled which made it impossible to leave!

Only over dinner did we get to know why we were attacked. The Scorpio behind me, probably a complete idiot, kept dipping his lights at "Tedhi Poonch" as he came out for a much needed drink. This had aggravated him even more. As if the 50+ temperature wasn’t enough & the amounts of noise people were causing wasn’t enough.

All said and done, you don’t get to see a Tiger at less than arm's length ever so often. This was a once in a life time experience, well worth it, but I'd never want it to happen again!

We saw him again the next day, equally irritated with the intense heat, and got some very good photos.

Vijay's son, Ajay, who until then didn’t bother about the dark, the jungle, anything, wouldn’t sleep the next 2 nights without the light on, always wanted someone to come with him to the toilet, and wouldn’t leave our side even for a second. Understandable!!! No one knew the varied emotions of intense fear, excitement, exhilaration, thrill, joy etc...A complete mixed bag that Subir, Vijay, Raju and me had experienced! We ended up getting only one picture which Vijay had clicked accidentally, hence the low quality and poor capture. And this was Tedhi Poonch flying thru the air as he banged '' shoulder in' to the gypsy!!! The picture below was wahta was captured as Vijay accidentally hit the shutter. A masterpiece in our opinion, even though it's of poor quality!!!

Several more trips have happened since this incident! It was a one off, as it had never happened earlier or later! But a reminder that I'd like to share with people is that everyone needs to "respect" the jungle, and all its "rules"! You are in their space, not the other way around!!!

“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.” – Jim Fowler

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” – Stewart Udall

”The quicker we humans learn that saving open space and wildlife is critical to our welfare and quality of life, maybe we'll start thinking of doing something about it.” ~Jim Fowler

A Sunday spent birding at Thattekere Lake

“A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.” ― Henry David Thoreau




After a late night get-together which ended at 1 am, waking up at 6 am heading off to the wild seemed an impossibility! But then for a nature lover, it's just a matter of opening your eyes for a second, that gets you on the move. So when I heard Mourya park his bike, and Shivajee open the gate on Sunday, 25th Nov, I jumped out of bed, making a cup of tea for all of us.

After a nice cuppa, we got our war gear together, and off we went. It was a very cool morning, since the car was all frosty! We had idli and vadas for breakfast at Indiranagar, packed some more and continued our journey into the wild. I had some very good reviews about Thattekere Lake...and decided that I spend a good day there, birding! While we reached the spot, which was a little off the road, we had to go around in circles for a bit as we asked people in the village who seemed to have their interpretations of what we were asking for since we didnt speak Kannada. At last I saw a tourist bus going in and we followed since it seemed the logical thing to do. The setting inside was typical of how a path in any of the wildlife reserves is...weather beaten and stony paths, thick bush and undergrowth, and the fresh smell of the jungle. And in minutes, we saw the Mahadeshwara Temple, and the lake right behind it. With just a few vehicles there and the drivers washing their buses, we parked right up and were captivated with the beauty of the lake. We saw several birds like the Snake bird, Open Billed Stork, Black Cormorant and several black kites in the vicinity. The silence which would have been awesome was broken withone of the vehicles playing loud music, which irritated us immensely. We knew it wasn't going to help talking to the drivers there, so camera in tow, off we headed into a path to the other side of the lake. We were informed that Elephants do visit the place, since it's on the periphery of the Bannerghatta National Park, and the boards did show pictures of elephants, bears, wild dogs, leopards etc. I captured some good pictures of this wonderful lake, nestled between the hills. It seemed a scene from "Mackenna's Gold", blue skies, pristine blue water in the midst of hills...aaahh...Nirvana!!!

Satisfied that I got some very nice pictures, we decided to head to another part of the lake! As we walked there, I captured pictures of the Brahminy Kites, Bee-eaters, a Pied Kingfisher, Snakebirds etc! And suddenly Shivajee pointed to the tell tale signs of Elephant dung and their foot prints on the bank. This excited us, with the faint hope of seeing some. As much as we knew the bloody music playing earlier on, would have alerted the pachyderms of human presence in the area. Nevertheless we stayed put in the area for a long time, absorbing the peace, calm and solitude of the area, the pristine beauty of the lake and birds around. We saw some Pied Kingfishers dive into the water and catch small fish, but capturing the moment  was difficult since they were a real distance away, and even my 150-500 mm lens was struggling to catch the little fellas. We instantly decided that we'd come here in a couple of weeks time, spend the night in the car in the nearby village, and catch the action by 6 am, since no one would probably be there. Now that's a million dollar plan, I'd agree. We sat for several hours hardly talking, and completely mesmerised with the captivating surroundings, before we headed back to the car, grabbed the idlis, vadas and chutney, and headed back home.

I got a few more pictures of the Aria, to send to the Aria FB forum, as we went up the small ghat in BNP, and kept cursing the horrid Bangalore traffic on a Sunday, as it took 2 hours to do about 30 km.

An early dinner, and then tiredness taking over, I crashed out at 7 am, and waking up 12 hours later started penning down the memories! Outstanding to say the least.

At home...In God's Own Country...Kerala Unlimited!!!

"Nature is the art of God." - Thomas Browne
 


Kerala..."God's Own Country"...One can go on and on about what a beautiful place it is! The long weekend of Independence Day, August 2012, wondering where to head as I packed my war gear, I reckoned that Wayanad may be just the right place to go...a rain holiday, which I hadn't ever done! And off I went!

It was quite a dull drive knowing what to expect as I exited Bangalore and got onto the Mysore highway. Running against time, lest I be forced to stop at the Bandipur checkpost, I hurriedly went past Mysore. Beautiful Marigold caught my eye, and I stopped to take a few pictures! And then went on my way. Having gone past the check post, I slowed down considerably as was needed driving in a reserve forest. And within minutes, I saw a small herd of elephants, foraging in the sugarcane fields. I stopped to take a few pictures, and then quickly headed on, not wanting to disturb the peace and make their presence known to other tourists, who can get unruly.

I managed to find a place to stay, an absolute treat...a coffee and tea estate spread over 500 acres! I had the entire place to myself, and loved the peace and quiet. It rained incessantly, all day, and sipping hot coffee/tea all day long was an absolute treat. I tried my hand at rain photography and got some satisfying pictures. Having rested an entire day, I had breakfast and headed off to Kalpetta, to experience the beauty of driving up Chembra Peak, with a height of 2100 metres. The drive up was awesome, winding narrow roads, peaks all around, uphill and downhill, before I reached the highest point and got off the Aria.  If only words could describe the beauty of what I saw. I stayed there for an hour enjoying the show nature was putting up! And reluctantly I got into the car, and headed to the next location, Soochipara falls! I stopped a few times to capture some stunning images of the hills & low cloud around Wayanad.

With lush greenery around me,  the welcome rain, the outstanding ambience Wayanad offered and some old melodies playing I headed my way towards Soochipara waterfalls. I stopped a few times to capture the wonderful surroundings. With mist & low cloud all around, I had to capture the moment, so I did, setting up the tripod and getting a few good shots using the camera's timer.

Having reached Soochipara, the biggest mistake I made was taking my camera back pack with me, full of all my usual travel war gear - walkie talkies, speakers, laptop and what not! I paid the price of carrying it and sweating my way down! I ended up getting a few nice captures, but none with slow shutter speed, as I didn't know the trick to do so.As I started my ascent, the backpack was wearing down on me, and by the time I reached the summit, I was completely destroyed and obliterated. Nevertheless, it worked up an fantastic appetite, and after an hour's drive back to my rendezvous, I had a fantastic meal - rice, dal, prawns and potato fry!!! And after a good day's rest, I got going on my return to Bangalore, swearing to myself that Wayanad will remain my top 3 location to visit again! And I look forward to heading there again soon!

I only feel it apt by stating this quote as this blog ends!!!

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is, to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone, with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and, that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.  I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles..."Anne Frank