TALK TO MY TAIL!

It was a beautiful winter evening in December 2020 and we had been in wait for Noor (Tigress) to walk out of the bushes. It was a perfect opportunity to sight her and witness a kill. On one side of the road, she was perched comfortably, licking her body as we could see from behind the foliage, while on the other side, three Sambars (Rusa unicolor) were on alert and calling out, as they could sense a tiger in vicinity. The rules of the jungle and the tenets of photography demanded we remained calm and seated in our gypsy for safety, but patience was running out as tourists vehicles had come to know of a sighting and were lining up fast. Constant clamour created by the excited kids and people was unnerving the beast from venturing out, twice she came almost to the road and went back only to hide behind the bushes. She was indeed acting coy!  The Sun was fast getting down and we could feel a slight chill in the winter breeze.  We could see the Sun heading west and knew it would be dark soon. The Cats always moved and were sighted most at Dawn and Dusk. We were getting anxious. An all day safari costs a bomb, and we had booked two days between the three of us. We had seen the Arrowhead earlier in the day in another zone, but "Ye Dil Mange More"! And already, the chances of Noor coming out were diminishing fast with the tourists creating a constant din in excitement . Maybe the Sambars were going to be lucky after-all. It was a tough call. One in bush or explore many unseen! We took stock of the situation and my mentor said, Let's move. I didn't know where we would go. Ranthambore is a vast reserve. But I trusted his acumen and did not argue. After all, a jungle is a jungle. When you come to a tiger reserve, you ought to be lucky to get sightings and good pictures. Bracing myself for an afternoon and evening washout, I was feeling anxious and trepidation gripped my  heart. Because, a jungle is the best example of the ephemeral nature of time.  A day gone without a sighting is a washout. You have to come again, pay for it and yet without any guarantee of success. It is sheer luck. As we drove, my mentor asked our driver to return to the zone we visited in the morning. There was no ambivalence in his voice. Arrowhead (Tigress) was on the move this morning. It was unlikely she would have gone back. As we drove, we saw her majestically walk out of the bushes. Royal she looked, the queen of Ranthambore. Swag in her gait, panache galore, she acknowledged our presence with a soft roar and walked on.  Completely ignoring our presence, she went around marking her territory, her tail raised high, she walked tall and may I say, it was truly ecstatic a moment for me. As she crossed the jungle, walking from one side to the lake, we followed her along the path. Fortunately, our driver from experience could envisage  from her movement her moves and brought us to a vantage point where we waited in anticipation of her next appearance. And our cameras just didn't stop clicking. One of the captures as she marked her territory is featured and it seemed to suggest - for all I care about you humans, TALK TO MY TAIL.

And the lesson here is, no matter what, walk with your chin up, and do what you are best at. The world would sit up and take notice!  For there is no-one like you - you are unique!  

MARKING TERRITORY - FACT: A tiger by nature is highly territorial. Speaking of Ethology, a tiger always defends his socio-geographical territory and protects it from conspecifics, marking the area with body fluids. Huge territorial fights erupt and kingdoms change as the new and fitter tigers often fight for control of partner or territory. Higher the marking, more menacing and huge it appears to others and deters the conspecifics. Hence, the body scent is always sprayed upwards, at the face level of a grown up tiger. Copyrights - Picture and write up: Kuldeepak Banda | KarBons (R)  | KarBonsbykuldeepak (Instagram)