(This photo essay first appeared in the October 2019 issue of Travel 360, the in-flight magazine of Air Asia India)
Showing posts with label MADHYA PRADESH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MADHYA PRADESH. Show all posts
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Majestic Madhya Pradesh
(This photo essay first appeared in the October 2019 issue of Travel 360, the in-flight magazine of Air Asia India)
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Fork in the Road: Sarafa Bazaar—Indore’s Delectable Eat Street!
By Raul Dias
oversight (n)
an unintentional failure to notice or do something.
If there is one mantra that I’ve lived by all my life, then, that is, to come clean, admit one’s faults and be upfront. And now, more so than ever before, as I kick off something new and exciting such as this column that sees travel through that delicious prism called food! So, for me, its confession time.
While I may have eaten my way through everything from stewed silkworms in China to fried fruit bats in Mexico on my travels around the world, I’ve always given the cold shoulder to the street food of my home country—India. Blame it on an almost-zero spice tolerance level or on that old adage of the “grass is greener on the other side”, but I had never really tried to lose myself in the gullies and nukkads of India where an abundance of street-side treats can be found. Each more enticing than the other.
But all that changed a few months ago when I was literally dragooned by a group of friends into a night out of all things street food on a short trip to India’s cleanest city for a third year in a row, Indore in the wonderful state of Madhya Pradesh. And there is only one spot for such a feeding frenzy to take place at. By day, the 100-year-old Sarafa Bazaar is a busy market full of jewellery shops enticing patrons with gleaming necklaces and rows of stacked bangles. However, every night at around 11pm or so, it takes on another countenance. Yes, almost in a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde fashion Sarafa Bazaar transforms into an all-vegetarian street food haven like no other I’ve ever seen. Bangkok’s Khao San Road Market eat your heart out!
My very first stop is at the famous Joshi Dahi Vada whose proprietor Mr. Joshi is quite a food acrobat, I soon learn. Theatrically spinning a bowl of dahi vada in air and collecting it all back without spilling a drop, he makes sure you don’t leave without having a bite of his soft and tangy dahi vadas, sprinkled with lime, coriander and amchur. We next move on to try one of the bazaar’s signature foods—bhutte ka kees at a shop called Chhappan Dukan. Unique to this part of India, the divine bhutte ka kees is made from mashed corn smothered in ghee and spices and sprinkled with freshly grated coconut. On realising that I am a food writer, the shop’s owner insists that I try (for free!) another typically Induri dish called garaadu made up of deep-fried yam cubes anointed with a tangy chaat masala dusting.
Still on the savoury food trail, another dish I am literally forced to indulge in is the texturally brilliant dal bafna. Very similar to the Rajasthani dal baati, here the bafna ball is made with a mix of semolina and wheat flour and served with a dal that is spiked with mint chutney and mango pickle for a tangy hit. Served dipped in ghee, the bafna makes sweet love to the dal, resulting in a delicious coupling like no other.
Saving a little space for the sweet onslaught that is to come is a sensible move, as I find myself wolfing down a malpua-rabdi combination at the famous Jai Bhole Jalebi Bhandar that is soon chased by a mawa baati, which is a local take on a gulab jamun that sees this iteration stuffed with dried fruit and nuts.
It’s almost 1.30am as I waddle out of the still-bustling Sarafa Bazaar wishing and hoping that breakfast a few hours later at my five-star hotel could hold a candle to this kind of sheer street food brilliance…
(First published on 29th June 2019. Appearing every last Saturday of the month in The Free Press Journal newspaper, this column is all about viewing travel through the prism of food. https://www.freepressjournal.in/travel/sarafa-bazaar-indores-delectable-eat-street-2)
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Mandu via Madagascar
With its impressive cache of baobab trees,
the ancient, fortified city of Mandu in the southwest of Madhya Pradesh seems
the unlikeliest of places to find the tree of African origins thriving and thus
becoming a part of the rich, local folklore.
By Raul Dias
It’s just been a couple
of hours since our minibus—having climbed the long, winding road etched onto
the Madhya Pradesh section of central India’s Vindhya Range—has deposited my
friends and I into the ancient, fortified city
of Mandu. Here, from our basecamp in Indore, to
participate in the 2019 edition of the 10km Go Heritage Run Mandu, we quickly
realise something thanks to our rather loquacious driver. And that is, that myths
and Mandu seem to enjoy a ‘conscious coupling’ made in folkloric heaven! It
wouldn’t be an exaggeration on my part to say that everything in this city
that sits precariously perched on the Malwa plateau has some sort of
phantasmagorical legend ascribed to it. A fact we bear witness to almost
everywhere we go…
Heads
and Tales
At the city center located Ashrafi Mahal, my 14-year-old de facto ‘guide’ Khayyum sidles up to me to tell me how one of Mandu’s earlier rulers, Mahmud Shah Khilji used the now-crumbling edifice as a gym in the15th century for some of the portly concubines in his harem. Apparently, said concubines would be rewarded with gold coins that Khilji had placed on each of the Mahal’s steps they would climb as part of their exercise regimen. And hence the name ashrafi which means “coin” in old Persian.
One is also told tales of the great love of the poetess queen of Malwa Rani Roopmati and Sultan Baz Bahadur—who built her the rather vertiginous Roopmati’s Pavilion at his Rewa Kund Palace in the early 16th century, so that she could gaze at her beloved Narmada river. All this, of course, before she poisoned herself upon hearing of Baz Bahadur’s death and the ensuing fall of Mandu. Then there is the famous myth of the headless soldier who till this day is said to guard the Tripolia Darvaza, one of the 12 gates along the city’s stone walls that serve as portals to Mandu.
At the city center located Ashrafi Mahal, my 14-year-old de facto ‘guide’ Khayyum sidles up to me to tell me how one of Mandu’s earlier rulers, Mahmud Shah Khilji used the now-crumbling edifice as a gym in the15th century for some of the portly concubines in his harem. Apparently, said concubines would be rewarded with gold coins that Khilji had placed on each of the Mahal’s steps they would climb as part of their exercise regimen. And hence the name ashrafi which means “coin” in old Persian.
One is also told tales of the great love of the poetess queen of Malwa Rani Roopmati and Sultan Baz Bahadur—who built her the rather vertiginous Roopmati’s Pavilion at his Rewa Kund Palace in the early 16th century, so that she could gaze at her beloved Narmada river. All this, of course, before she poisoned herself upon hearing of Baz Bahadur’s death and the ensuing fall of Mandu. Then there is the famous myth of the headless soldier who till this day is said to guard the Tripolia Darvaza, one of the 12 gates along the city’s stone walls that serve as portals to Mandu.
Trunk
Call
However, one Mandu-specific phenomenon defies all logic and comprehension, leaving me both bewildered and fascinated as I sprint past a few of them en route the early morning heritage run. I’m speaking of the rather bulbous trunked, leaf-bereft baobab tree that make their unusual presence felt all over the city. Native to Madagascar, some parts of mainland, sub Saharan Africa and Australia, the baobab tree is known not just for its towering height (up to 98 ft), but girth (up to 36 ft) and age (3,000 years) as well. The rather succulent trunk of the baobab is also said to hold as much as 100,000 liters of water—perfect to soak up Mandu’s aqueous bounty of the monsoon—while its fruit bat-pollinated flowers hang upside down and bloom only at night. Their otherwise mild fragrance, intensifies even more when it mingles with the musky petrichor brought on by the cooling rain that hydrates the parched, arid summer soil, making Mandu one of the India’s most idyllic monsoon getaways.
Found almost everywhere in the city for sale and called Mandu ki Imli, the elongated, rugby ball-like shaped baobab fruit when cracked open is a cluster of white pulp-coated seeds that resemble giant custard apple segments. Both the seeds and the dried pulp when powdered and mixed with chilled water are used to make a delightful sour, Vitamin C-rich drink that I relish at a hawker stall after a sweltering trek up Baz Bahadur’s palace. I even take back a few packets of the powder for friends and family.
However, one Mandu-specific phenomenon defies all logic and comprehension, leaving me both bewildered and fascinated as I sprint past a few of them en route the early morning heritage run. I’m speaking of the rather bulbous trunked, leaf-bereft baobab tree that make their unusual presence felt all over the city. Native to Madagascar, some parts of mainland, sub Saharan Africa and Australia, the baobab tree is known not just for its towering height (up to 98 ft), but girth (up to 36 ft) and age (3,000 years) as well. The rather succulent trunk of the baobab is also said to hold as much as 100,000 liters of water—perfect to soak up Mandu’s aqueous bounty of the monsoon—while its fruit bat-pollinated flowers hang upside down and bloom only at night. Their otherwise mild fragrance, intensifies even more when it mingles with the musky petrichor brought on by the cooling rain that hydrates the parched, arid summer soil, making Mandu one of the India’s most idyllic monsoon getaways.
Found almost everywhere in the city for sale and called Mandu ki Imli, the elongated, rugby ball-like shaped baobab fruit when cracked open is a cluster of white pulp-coated seeds that resemble giant custard apple segments. Both the seeds and the dried pulp when powdered and mixed with chilled water are used to make a delightful sour, Vitamin C-rich drink that I relish at a hawker stall after a sweltering trek up Baz Bahadur’s palace. I even take back a few packets of the powder for friends and family.
Disputed
Origins?
Back to Mandu and its myths. This time with regards to the ubiquitous baobab tree’s origins. I grapple with three different explanations for their presence here—each more fascinating than the other. Though one of them seems to have the empirical backing that only a precise science like geology can provide. But more on that one in a while as I lose myself in the miasma of myths!
A local shopkeeper selling the fuzz-coated fruit outside the gates of Ashrafi Mahal calls it ‘Khorasani imli’. When I probe further, he tells me that it was a group of spice route traders en route from Khorasan (which was what Central Asia used to be called earlier) to the orient, who brought along a few baobab seeds from their earlier travels to Africa which they then exchanged for food and shelter in Mandu.
Later in the day, as I take in the ship-like silhouette of the Jahaz Mahal complex built as a harem in the second half of the 15th century by Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din-Khalji and situated between two artificial lakes, my attention is once again drawn to a row of baobab trees standing guard at the east side of the complex. My guide tells me that the Sultan had a great fascination for exotic, foreign visitors. And that it was one such visitor to his court from Madagascar who presented him with a few baobab seeds that he had planted first at Jahaz Mahal then at other spots in Mandu.
Back to Mandu and its myths. This time with regards to the ubiquitous baobab tree’s origins. I grapple with three different explanations for their presence here—each more fascinating than the other. Though one of them seems to have the empirical backing that only a precise science like geology can provide. But more on that one in a while as I lose myself in the miasma of myths!
A local shopkeeper selling the fuzz-coated fruit outside the gates of Ashrafi Mahal calls it ‘Khorasani imli’. When I probe further, he tells me that it was a group of spice route traders en route from Khorasan (which was what Central Asia used to be called earlier) to the orient, who brought along a few baobab seeds from their earlier travels to Africa which they then exchanged for food and shelter in Mandu.
Later in the day, as I take in the ship-like silhouette of the Jahaz Mahal complex built as a harem in the second half of the 15th century by Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din-Khalji and situated between two artificial lakes, my attention is once again drawn to a row of baobab trees standing guard at the east side of the complex. My guide tells me that the Sultan had a great fascination for exotic, foreign visitors. And that it was one such visitor to his court from Madagascar who presented him with a few baobab seeds that he had planted first at Jahaz Mahal then at other spots in Mandu.
P.S. Back home in Mumbai, my geologist
friend Tanya shines some light on another baobab facet I had gravely ignored
while busy romancing myths. Apparently, more than a 100 million years ago,
India, Madagascar and Australia were all part of the mother continent called
Gondwanaland and with the ensuing continental split, it created the three
distinct paths taken by the baobab.
But that still begs the question; why Mandu and not Mumbai or Madurai?
But that still begs the question; why Mandu and not Mumbai or Madurai?
Travel
log
Getting There
Mandu can be reached from most Indian cities via Indore (2 hours) or Bhopal (5.5 hours) by road. The nearest railhead for Mandu is Ratlam on the Delhi-Mumbai main line which is just under a three-hour drive away.
Getting There
Mandu can be reached from most Indian cities via Indore (2 hours) or Bhopal (5.5 hours) by road. The nearest railhead for Mandu is Ratlam on the Delhi-Mumbai main line which is just under a three-hour drive away.
Stay
The super clean rooms, tasty food options and efficient service make the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Department Corporation (MPSTDC)-run Malwa Retreat Mandu (Rs.1,900 approx. for two with breakfast, olrs.mpstdc.com) a good option. Another property worth checking out is the three-star Mandu Sarai Hotel (Rs.2,200 approx. for two with breakfast, sarai-mandu.booked.net).
The super clean rooms, tasty food options and efficient service make the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Department Corporation (MPSTDC)-run Malwa Retreat Mandu (Rs.1,900 approx. for two with breakfast, olrs.mpstdc.com) a good option. Another property worth checking out is the three-star Mandu Sarai Hotel (Rs.2,200 approx. for two with breakfast, sarai-mandu.booked.net).
* Plan a visit to the ancient Buddhist Bagh Caves and to the Bagh Village famous for its artisans who practice the art of block printing fabrics using herb-based dyes. Both the caves and the village can be found in the Dhar District on the banks of the river Baghini en route from Bhopal and Indore to Mandu.
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 8th June 2019 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 21 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/cover/the-baobab-tree-madagascars-gift-to-mandu/article27609709.ece)
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Notes from Indore
By Raul Dias
While other airports in India resort to a blend of wordless instrumental and folk tunes that serve as the ambient muzak, Indore’s Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport relies on the mellifluous voice of singer Shantanu Mukherjee, a.k.a. Shaan. “Ho Halla”, which was Indore’s Swachhta Anthem song for the Minister for Urban Development’s Swachh Survekshan 2019, has now become a sort of battle cry in the Madhya Pradesh city’s cleanliness-fronted war. And for someone with a borderline cleanliness OCD like myself, spending a few days in Indore was like finding my own personal urban version of Valhalla.
“Swachhta aadat hai, swachhta utsav hai” (cleanliness is a habit, cleanliness is a celebration), goes a line from the aforementioned song, which was part of the Indore Municipal Corporation’s (IMC) cleanliness campaign that saw it clinch the title of India’s cleanest city for three years in a row now from 2017 to 2019. The song even plays as municipal vehicles go about collecting garbage from households. In fact, I was later told, it is the de facto and mandatory caller tune of the phones of municipal officials and elected representatives.
Tastefully Clean!
Now, if Indore’s meandering, perpetually bustling Sarafa Bazaar street were to be a human being, it would most certainly be accused of having a split personality. By day, it is a warren of jewellery shops enticing patrons with gleaming necklaces and rows of stacked bangles.
However, every night at 10 p.m., it dons another avatar: that of a street food haven serving up everything from the typically Induri mashed corn and ghee snack called bhutte ka kees, to the molecular gastronomy-influenced ice paan that makes your breath go all frosty thanks to the addition of liquid nitrogen.
But it is also probably one of the only food streets in the world that’s totally devoid of any food detritus. I saw not a single styrofoam plate or plastic cup littering the ground. Every one of the 200-plus food stalls is provided with segregated garbage bins for both dry and wet waste. And once the feeding frenzy winds down way past midnight, municipal trucks with specially fitted, pressured water jets hose down the street, leaving it spotless for the commercial onslaught of the day ahead.
Seven Plus One
Speaking of dustbins, for the last two years, the IMC is believed to have distributed thousands of bottle-shaped dustbins — which neatly fit into the car door bottle-holders — to vehicle owners to encourage them not to litter on the roads. So chuffed was I to see them that I even picked up a couple to take back home for friends and family, each for a mere ₹35.
And as for one of India’s biggest problems, open defecation, the city has employed something known locally as ‘dabba gangs’ that patrol the city, discouraging open defecation and urging people to use the newly constructed public toilets that one can see everywhere in Indore.
Now, if Indore’s meandering, perpetually bustling Sarafa Bazaar street were to be a human being, it would most certainly be accused of having a split personality. By day, it is a warren of jewellery shops enticing patrons with gleaming necklaces and rows of stacked bangles.
However, every night at 10 p.m., it dons another avatar: that of a street food haven serving up everything from the typically Induri mashed corn and ghee snack called bhutte ka kees, to the molecular gastronomy-influenced ice paan that makes your breath go all frosty thanks to the addition of liquid nitrogen.
But it is also probably one of the only food streets in the world that’s totally devoid of any food detritus. I saw not a single styrofoam plate or plastic cup littering the ground. Every one of the 200-plus food stalls is provided with segregated garbage bins for both dry and wet waste. And once the feeding frenzy winds down way past midnight, municipal trucks with specially fitted, pressured water jets hose down the street, leaving it spotless for the commercial onslaught of the day ahead.
Seven Plus One
Interestingly, this newfound cleanliness zeal is not limited to the authorities alone. Indore’s citizens too have taken to the cause with fervour.
This is most evident at celebratory occasions like the ‘great Indian wedding’! Giving a cool new fillip to the saat pherasor seven pledges — each corresponding to a round of the sacred fire to solemnise the ceremony — is Indore’s version of the eighth pledge. With it, the newlywed couple is administered the oath of cleanliness. And here’s another uber cool initiative: dustbins are even distributed during such wedding ceremonies to guests as return gifts.Speaking of dustbins, for the last two years, the IMC is believed to have distributed thousands of bottle-shaped dustbins — which neatly fit into the car door bottle-holders — to vehicle owners to encourage them not to litter on the roads. So chuffed was I to see them that I even picked up a couple to take back home for friends and family, each for a mere ₹35.
And as for one of India’s biggest problems, open defecation, the city has employed something known locally as ‘dabba gangs’ that patrol the city, discouraging open defecation and urging people to use the newly constructed public toilets that one can see everywhere in Indore.
Will it be a case of fourth time's a lucky charm for the nation’s cleanest city in 2020, or will it be ‘cleaned out’ of the competition? I’d wager a bet on the former.
(This article first appeared in the 7th April 2019 issue of The Hindu newspaper's Sunday Magazine section on page 27 https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/travel/indore/article26743786.ece)
(This article first appeared in the 7th April 2019 issue of The Hindu newspaper's Sunday Magazine section on page 27 https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/travel/indore/article26743786.ece)
Friday, February 16, 2018
Call of the Wild!
A short winter weekend break at the Pench Tiger
Reserve’s Kohka
Wilderness Camp amid some spectacular
wildlife proves to be a great orientation to Central India for Raul Dias
Pics
courtesy: Kohka Wilderness Camp and Wikicommons
I couldn’t
but help chuckle at the irony of the situation, but while Delhi was making
headlines the world over for its bad smog condition at the onset of winter, I
was driving though some pure, rich, thick fog in the very heart of India. Yes,
most early mornings at the Pench Tiger Reserve that straddles
both states of Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Maharashtra are just that like—fog
saturated and utterly beautiful. The National Park itself is an ecosystem unto
itself with a plethora of stunning flora and fauna that make a short winter
wildlife trip in its environs so very rewarding.
Great
Expectations!
My very first trip to MP—and central India for that matter—was something I was looking forward too ever since I decided to do a short weekend trip to take in the wild charms of Pench. Albeit a little less famous and popular than the other star attractions of the MP tiger circuit that includes Kanha and Bandhavgarh, Pench always held some great sway in the mind of an adventure lover like myself. For it was here, that the great Rudyard Kipling set his epic The Jungle Book in. Yes, Mowgli, Baghera, Balloo and the dreaded Sher Khan were all denizens of this enchanted forest. Well, at least in Kipling’s ever-fertile imagination! But here’s a bit of information that might surprise you: Kipling never actually ever visited Pench in his lifetime…
The Pench Sanctuary itself was created in September 1977, with an initial area of 449.39 sq km. Renamed as the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Pench National Park was created in 1983, carved out of the Sanctuary. And while the number one attraction at the park has got to be the tiger, other fauna like the jackal, wild dog, sambhar deer, spotted deer and nilgais are aplenty. And of course, how can I leave out those pesky-yet-cute rhesus and langur monkeys that will keep you entertained with their comical antics!
The park opens twice daily to visitors: In summer (April-June) from 6.30am - 10.30 am and 3.30pm - 6.30pm and in winter (October-March) from 7am - 11am and 3pm - 6pm. Local guides accompany game drives and are provided upon at the park entrance. Having said that, Jeeps are free to follow their own route along tracks, using pugmarks and alarm calls as indicators of a nearby predator.
My very first trip to MP—and central India for that matter—was something I was looking forward too ever since I decided to do a short weekend trip to take in the wild charms of Pench. Albeit a little less famous and popular than the other star attractions of the MP tiger circuit that includes Kanha and Bandhavgarh, Pench always held some great sway in the mind of an adventure lover like myself. For it was here, that the great Rudyard Kipling set his epic The Jungle Book in. Yes, Mowgli, Baghera, Balloo and the dreaded Sher Khan were all denizens of this enchanted forest. Well, at least in Kipling’s ever-fertile imagination! But here’s a bit of information that might surprise you: Kipling never actually ever visited Pench in his lifetime…
The Pench Sanctuary itself was created in September 1977, with an initial area of 449.39 sq km. Renamed as the Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park, the Pench National Park was created in 1983, carved out of the Sanctuary. And while the number one attraction at the park has got to be the tiger, other fauna like the jackal, wild dog, sambhar deer, spotted deer and nilgais are aplenty. And of course, how can I leave out those pesky-yet-cute rhesus and langur monkeys that will keep you entertained with their comical antics!
The park opens twice daily to visitors: In summer (April-June) from 6.30am - 10.30 am and 3.30pm - 6.30pm and in winter (October-March) from 7am - 11am and 3pm - 6pm. Local guides accompany game drives and are provided upon at the park entrance. Having said that, Jeeps are free to follow their own route along tracks, using pugmarks and alarm calls as indicators of a nearby predator.
Humble
Luxury
Nestled in the heart of the fecund tiger reserve in the MP part of the national park is the modest, but perfectly appointed Kohka Wilderness Camp that I chose to stay at for my two nights. Located in the heart of the village Kohka a mere five minutes’ walk away from the Kohka Lake on the periphery of the forest boundary, the resort lets you experience nature at its very best. Here, you can safari in the wee hours of sunrise or in the late afternoon, go for nature walk or simply picnic by the lake. They also offer a guided tour of the typical Indian pottery village, fishing, bird watching and other indoor activities that will ensure that you’ll fall in love with the jungle, the surroundings and the small, but beautiful Camp Kohka.
The camp itself is a collection of local dwelling styled cottages (with all the mod cons including aircon and private bathrooms), surrounded by a main reception, dining room and leisure activity building. The outdoor pool, gazebo area and lawns are perfect for lounging about in post safari.
Nestled in the heart of the fecund tiger reserve in the MP part of the national park is the modest, but perfectly appointed Kohka Wilderness Camp that I chose to stay at for my two nights. Located in the heart of the village Kohka a mere five minutes’ walk away from the Kohka Lake on the periphery of the forest boundary, the resort lets you experience nature at its very best. Here, you can safari in the wee hours of sunrise or in the late afternoon, go for nature walk or simply picnic by the lake. They also offer a guided tour of the typical Indian pottery village, fishing, bird watching and other indoor activities that will ensure that you’ll fall in love with the jungle, the surroundings and the small, but beautiful Camp Kohka.
The camp itself is a collection of local dwelling styled cottages (with all the mod cons including aircon and private bathrooms), surrounded by a main reception, dining room and leisure activity building. The outdoor pool, gazebo area and lawns are perfect for lounging about in post safari.
Tiger,
Tiger Burning Bright…
Speaking of safari, my very first one began at the ghastly hour of 5.30am when my driver, Amit turned up bang on time at the camp gates ready to whisk me off towards the Turia Gate. It was there a half hour later, when after completing our entry permit paper work that we picked up our mandatory guide Suresh. As one of the first vehicles to enter the park at the Turia Gate that morning, we set off into the dark that was slowly beginning to get dusky with flecks of orange sunlight beginning to appear every now and then as the sun made its debut.
One of the first sights that greeted my sleepy eyes was that of a family of spotted deer gracefully crossing our path with the leader of the pack looking majestic with his antlers glistening in the rays of the early morning sun. A group of raucous long tailed langurs with their incessant chattering brought me out of my reverie as they darted from a flame of the forest tree to a black myrobalan tree with the dexterity and grace of a gymnast. While the French couple in the next Jeep were most impressed with seeing their national bird, the rather plain and boring rooster, it was my time to whoop with joy on seeing our very own national bird the majestic peacock a little while later as we coursed our way thought the thick foliage over the rough terracotta-hued mud path of the jungle.
‘Wagh!’ I suddenly heard the word I was waiting to hear come though over Suresh’s radio transmitter. His colleague had apparently spotted a tiger on the banks of the watering hole that was close to where we were. So off we went in hot pursuit of the King of the Jungle. Once at the spot, we parked a good 200 meters away and took in the spectacle that was unfolding before us. Only our ‘King’ turned out to be a ‘Queen’. Yes, Collarwaali as the 10-year-old Tigress is known as—thanks to her lost radio collar—was preening in all her glory, least affected by our tiresome intrusion into her domain. Not wanting to cramp her space any further, once we were done with our enthusiastic shooting (relax… with movie and still cameras only!) we drove off with a cloud of swirling mud surrounding us.
Our next sighting was something I was waiting to see ever since I had heard of them. Being an avid dog lover, even the wild kind like the dholes or the Indian wild dog fascinates me no end. These dogs that have a reddish-brown coat and bushy tails are said to be related to jackals and their bark is a low whistling sound sans any howls or growling. Although I wanted to get out of the vehicle and get up close with them, better sense (along with Amit’s horrified shrieks) prevailed and I decided to end my safari with all my digits and appendages intact, as we made our way back to the gates and to the camp beyond utterly satiated and enormously thankful to the bounty nature had bestowed on us that day.
Speaking of safari, my very first one began at the ghastly hour of 5.30am when my driver, Amit turned up bang on time at the camp gates ready to whisk me off towards the Turia Gate. It was there a half hour later, when after completing our entry permit paper work that we picked up our mandatory guide Suresh. As one of the first vehicles to enter the park at the Turia Gate that morning, we set off into the dark that was slowly beginning to get dusky with flecks of orange sunlight beginning to appear every now and then as the sun made its debut.
One of the first sights that greeted my sleepy eyes was that of a family of spotted deer gracefully crossing our path with the leader of the pack looking majestic with his antlers glistening in the rays of the early morning sun. A group of raucous long tailed langurs with their incessant chattering brought me out of my reverie as they darted from a flame of the forest tree to a black myrobalan tree with the dexterity and grace of a gymnast. While the French couple in the next Jeep were most impressed with seeing their national bird, the rather plain and boring rooster, it was my time to whoop with joy on seeing our very own national bird the majestic peacock a little while later as we coursed our way thought the thick foliage over the rough terracotta-hued mud path of the jungle.
‘Wagh!’ I suddenly heard the word I was waiting to hear come though over Suresh’s radio transmitter. His colleague had apparently spotted a tiger on the banks of the watering hole that was close to where we were. So off we went in hot pursuit of the King of the Jungle. Once at the spot, we parked a good 200 meters away and took in the spectacle that was unfolding before us. Only our ‘King’ turned out to be a ‘Queen’. Yes, Collarwaali as the 10-year-old Tigress is known as—thanks to her lost radio collar—was preening in all her glory, least affected by our tiresome intrusion into her domain. Not wanting to cramp her space any further, once we were done with our enthusiastic shooting (relax… with movie and still cameras only!) we drove off with a cloud of swirling mud surrounding us.
Our next sighting was something I was waiting to see ever since I had heard of them. Being an avid dog lover, even the wild kind like the dholes or the Indian wild dog fascinates me no end. These dogs that have a reddish-brown coat and bushy tails are said to be related to jackals and their bark is a low whistling sound sans any howls or growling. Although I wanted to get out of the vehicle and get up close with them, better sense (along with Amit’s horrified shrieks) prevailed and I decided to end my safari with all my digits and appendages intact, as we made our way back to the gates and to the camp beyond utterly satiated and enormously thankful to the bounty nature had bestowed on us that day.
FACT FILE
Getting There
From Mumbai, Nagpur is the closest airport and railhead to reach the main Turia Gate of the Pench Tiger Reserve. The Kohka Wilderness Camp will make arrangements for an airport/train station pick up and drop and as well as for daily safari excursions at an extra cost.
From Mumbai, Nagpur is the closest airport and railhead to reach the main Turia Gate of the Pench Tiger Reserve. The Kohka Wilderness Camp will make arrangements for an airport/train station pick up and drop and as well as for daily safari excursions at an extra cost.
When To Visit
Right from November to June, when the wildlife sighting is at its best and when the fauna is thick and verdant is the time when you should plan your visit to this paradisiacal part of Central India. But if seeing a tiger is your ultimate goal, then the best period for sightings is between Feb and April.
Right from November to June, when the wildlife sighting is at its best and when the fauna is thick and verdant is the time when you should plan your visit to this paradisiacal part of Central India. But if seeing a tiger is your ultimate goal, then the best period for sightings is between Feb and April.
Contact:
Kohka Wilderness Camp
Pench Tiger Reserve
Post Turia, Kohka,
Madhya Pradesh 480881
Tel: +91-9827271101, 9820282307
Email: info@kohkawilderness.com
Kohka Wilderness Camp
Pench Tiger Reserve
Post Turia, Kohka,
Madhya Pradesh 480881
Tel: +91-9827271101, 9820282307
Email: info@kohkawilderness.com
(A shorter, edited version of this article appeared in the 16th January 2018 issue of the Afternoon Despatch & Courier newspaper, India on page 20 http://www.afternoondc.in/48-hrs/call-of-the-wild/article_216229)
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