Kahna II

It was after 10 years that we took a holiday to Kanha and it was a very rewarding experience in every way.

Not only did we see the wild life so closely, we learnt a lot of lessons on a personal level as well.

Visit to the jungle made us respect its laws. Mankind no longer belongs to the jungle, he has been alienated from the jungle much too long to even decipher them. It takes a while to realise that it is the tiger who is giving you a privilege of sighting him – so what if you are on an elephant back – one leap and the tiger can reach you at 10 feet. One slap of his paws and a man can be disemboweled. Its when you realise that you can be on the menu of that beast you start to respect him. That he did not even roar at you is his privilege. Tigers in the jungle can not be compared to those kept in the zoo. These beasts of the jungle live their own lives at their own terms and quiet a few have been known to turn into man hunters (if not man- eaters).

Like any other species, each animal has a character, out of a population of 128 tigers of Kanha, about 8 or 10 are show-offs they make themselves visible and pose for our photographs! How we capture them is our skill as long as we respect the space they demand. You cant get down from the elephant, set up a stand, wait for the sun to shine brightly to photograph wild animals. When it comes to capturing the wild, its your skills with the camera that matter –À mauvais ouvrier point de bons outils. To prove the point there are compositions which Aasim has taken with a 1MP camera which are better than any of ours.

Talking of blaming and pointing fingers, says here that he was disappointed and pointed fingers at the guide for not showing us anything. Why, the same guide showed brainz a sloth bear and a leopard the very next day and the same jeep driver who was with us on first day evening went with Uncle Stevens to show a tigress on mud road and tracked her for more than 45 min. When we are in a jungle, the beasts we see are the ones that willingly come out and show themselves off. Animals and birds are far more sensitive to sight and sound than us, I am sure that scarlet minivet sitting on the tree top spotted us and allowed itself to be photographed, so did the peacock that almost posed for us and I am humbled at the thought.

Another incident that I now feel ashamed about was directing my disappointment towards our tour guide whose vehicle broke down while we were returning -it wasn’t his fault, there was no way he could have anticipated that, I knew it, but at that time, I did point fingers and again a talk with Uncle Stevens made me realise how wrong I was. We, in a fit of anger, and disappointment, find it very easy to point fingers and blaming everyone else for what we think as wrongs done to us – this not only is a sign of immaturity but also that of a weak person, a loser!! never do we introspect and rationalise.

Both above incidents combined also put in perspective how we most of the times tend to focus on the trivial details and lose out on the much grander bigger picture – À bon entendeur, salut.

This jungle trip taught me to be more patient practical and put the perspective where it belongs – In wide angle

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