4 DAYS AT JIM CORBETT

Jim Corbett is at Ram Nagar U.P. It’s a huge huge jungle spread over 120-0 sq kms ……that’s a very large area and sure enough it has around 140 tigers according to a survey ….let me tell you about some facts about tigers ,they are territorial .So you cant expect to find many tigers in one area .The dominant ones push the weaker ones to the peripheries of the jungle and require astonishingly large amount of meat …. About a buffalo one week…and that brings it with constant conflict with humans since time immemorial .As you know India is a very populated country ,so it’s one of the last remaining places for the tigers to survive in India.Also, tigers attack the person who is last in the line and tigers attack opposite to the direction of the wind (it thinks that man can smell its presence) .Tigers don’t have a strong sense of smell and it’s a master of camouflage.You cant see it but it is definitely watching you.

I was in second year of my college when I read man eater of Rudraprayag written by Jim Corbett…..i was completely immersed in the book and in my imagination, i went with Jim in his adventure as he went about to stalk the man eater…from that moment I always wanted to go to Jim Corbett ......nothing better than going to the grandest jungle in India .....i was smitten by the sense of adventure in them ......

then again life takes control of us ....you always have this work to do .... that deadline to meet .....my days in India were coming to an end ..... finally it was now or never, and I am so happy that i finally did go ......

basically ... i think there are two kind of people in this world ... ones who do it and ones who wish that they had done that.Really, you can always come back and be in the thick of things only more refreshed and charged

I am so happy that my cousin Ginny shares my interests ...... trips that i have had with him were really full of glorious experiences…and also our dear friend Anoop who is a team leader in DELL soft ware is also very keen adventurer ……it was at Ginny s suggestion that we agreed to drive through out the night …… the idea was to cover maximum journey encountering minimum …I was not very keen as we had to drive through UP and we all know about “UP main dum hain kyonki crime thoda kam hain”as said by mr.Amitabh Bacchan.

Eventually it turned out to be a good decision as we ripped thru the night …. Without any traffic hassles .it was the first time that I drove through UP.I found it simple ,rustic and laid back …the only vehicles we met were bullock driven carts.We reached Ramnagar early in the morning …..its a typical UP town…..it revolves around tourism which comes to visit Jim Corbett.The two most common words in Ram nagar were Corbett and Tiger.corbett dhabha…..tiger taxi wala , tiger grocery store etc.

Now there are two options in ramnagar either you stay at private resorts OUTSIDE the jungle ……I feel the best among them is tiger trails …and camp fork tail creek … if you are with your wife or girl friend ….then you better stay here ……it has AC , round the clock electricity (it’s a luxury trust me,inside the jungle we lived without electricity for 2 days), they take you for a safari inside the jungle ,the safari is quite taxing because of the enormity of the jungle ,it takes around 3 to 4 hours or even more for a single safari in one area of the jungle ,the stay outside the jungle is heavy on the pocket but guarantees a good nights sleep and you are full of energy for the next adventure

The advantage of staying inside is that you are surrounded by the jungle’s beauty and you are able to enjoy one of the best views that India has to offer……. There is not much to do in the time between morning safari and the evening one ….. you can watch the bird life and enjoy the scenic beauty………… if you have patience and can seat yourself on the watch tower for a period between the morning and evening safari,say 3 hours, on the sambhar trail with a bottle of water ,binoculars etc you will be surprised with the amount of wildlife you will be able to spot

There are a number of govt guest houses in the park ….. Dhikala , Gairal , Sultan(reputed to be haunted),Loha chaur………… the most important information foe an Indian visitor is how to book a guest house ???? there is a website wildlywise.com…… you will get the details that is the contact number of the reservation office ….etc … the problem is that the sarkari babus don’t pick up the phone ,they never bother, why should they?? the govt is paying them whether or not they are efficient .In desperation I tried calling the the tourist office of Uttar Pradesh of New Delhi… but the guys there tried to mislead me telling me that every thing is booked until the winters …so, don’t believe everything they say ….the guys in Punjab can try the Tourist office at the bus stand of Chandigarh …..and they HAVE a certain number of bookings , a quota , try bribing them too …the best and a little costly option is get the contact numbers of the private lodges or resorts from the Internet.. and tell them to get your bookings done at the govt houses INSIDE the jungle … .the other option is drive straight to Ramnagar ….. at early morning say 5 o clock go to the govt reservation office at Ramnagar …. Don’t waste time, write your name on the reservation list of that day and the number of days you want to stay there ……and come back at 8 am when the babus come to the office …. Stand in the queue …and get your reservations …..

We did not have any reservations ….we pushed our luck … I got my name on the list quite early at 5 30 am …. I had to grapple with the babus for 3 hrs and finally got reservations …..meanwhile Ginny , Anoop slept and got some rest ……..finally we were on our way inside the biggest and the grandest jungle that India has to offer

We booked a rugged 4by4 gypsy run by our driver cum guide Nabhi ……..who turned out to be a drunk …..but he was a harmless fellow ,humorous and witty , we tolerated him ….At the entrance ,there is natural museum …..it contains two stuffed man eating leopards ,tigers ,elephant skulls …..etc ….so, one must visit it to have the feel of what lays ahead …. And how rich a wild life India had ..

I advice people to carry a BSNL sim card ….because it’s the only network inside the jungle …I was cut off from my wife for the entire period which was a mixed blessing for me ….

The first thing that hits you is the jungle ,the massiveness of it ,how small and puny you feel compared to the vastness of the jungle …a city bred guy like me was completely in awe of the scenery in front of my eyes.

The road from the entrance to the Dhikala guest house is a long and winding one …..its about 27 kms …. Inside the jungle you have to drive slowly given the condition of the road and the richness of the flora and fauna …..we came across a sad sight ….. a beautiful porcupine was done to death by a rash driver ….but it was a boon for a group of Canadian nurses who spotted a tiger at that very spot the very next day (my surmise is that the smell of porcupine attracted the tiger),the route was very picturesque ,Ginny drove the entire way ……he was very happy …..coz you don’t get to drive a gypsy inside the jungle and he was at liberty to stop where ever and whenever he wished like ……

The very first wild life we encountered was huge blue bull or a nilgai …it is the largest antelope you find in India ..i remember the first time I saw them my friend uday Jose took me on a scooter right into the centre of a herd and we started chasing them in …it didn’t thrill me exactly because it is very common in Bathinda where I live ……….we came across a gargantuan monitor lizard …..it was really awesome ,it was like watching a komodo dragon …Ginny got adventurous and caught the tip of its tail lightly while we distracted its head ……it bolted ..I never knew that they could run so fast …the most thrilling adventure was yet to come …….. half way between the gate and dhikala ,we came across a group of elephants …at first sight they looked like a fairly docile group of animals …how ever it was group containing babies …the mothers were very protective about their calves …….we had stalled the jeep and were observing them fairly closely , when suddenly whump!! The leader of the group thwacked its head against a tree nearly uprooting it ….it was meant as a warning telling us to get out of there ….we stood our ground partly because of our ignorance and partly because of the fantastic show that the elephants were putting up ….(all the while our driver was drunk silly)..and then it happened the elephant trumpeted and charged straight at us .It took split seconds for the massive mammoth to reach us .....we stood pole axed …the weird thing was all this while (during the charge),all I kept thinking was, how similar the sound of an elephant is to a bugle !! meanwhile Ginny was the first among us to gather his wits and drive us to gypsy .The elephant still kept on chasing us as we sped away ,the scene was straight out of Jurassic park .

Finally we reached Dhikala the famous guest house where the stars of “KAAL”the movie stayed …..we were dusty and weary to the bone but we were very happy and satisfied …. The guest hose allotted to us was a pretty good with aircooler to ward off the heat …front porch with a view to kill for …..the view was fabulous ,the entire dhikala chaur(chaur means grasslands) sprawling in front of us ….with herds of deer grazing , groups of elephants roaming around …all this while sipping your morning tea ….

……the thing that strikes you after some time is that you don’t see any other soul (outside the camp I mean)….no human settlement …no vehicles and not even the omnipresent BHAIYAS of UP and Bihari….if you know what I mean , I mean they are every where in India

Inside the camp ,the one thing that strikes you is the number of Indian people are very few and the camp is like a global village ….english,American,german,Australian etc .It gives one a nice opportunity to flirt with the beautiful girls from the various countries.We were well stocked with abundant alcohol (Punjabis seldom go anywhere without their booze)although the rules state no drinking in the guest house but as you know it always easy to bend the rules in India ….we drank with a friendly couple from England they were from Norwich county and a humorous Australian…..they were very curious about how we managed our waste and frankly I didn’t have any answer to that ….The evenings in Dhikala were romantic, a throw back to the medieval times when the only entertainment was a nice talk with your friends or family members under the stars with the sound of ones laughter merges with the rippling sound of the river ……

Dhikala camp should be renamed as camp partridge ….as the camp is surrounded by many beautiful black partridges .The “chit chit chiterrrrrrrr”sound of the partridges was music to my ears and made Ginny long for his .22 rifle so that he could collect some for his bag.

Next day at the crack of the dawn ,the jungle was at its best the sun wasn’t up ………..we drove through a really thick jungle ,I kept on thinking that I standing on the rear of the gypsy would provide easy meat to a man eating tigers as tigers usually target the person last in line…..there were so many deer around …. It seemed that the tiger didn’t had to sweat it to earn its next meal ….the drive was through one of the most spectacular sceneries in India …..we went to ram ganga reservoir ….home to the mugger the biggest predator of fresh water ….unfortunately they come out in the after noon to bask in the sun …..we couldn’t see because the sun was to come out yet ….

It was quite spectacular , there were a lot of brahmini ducks there….the way which we took back was a famous route ,it was at this place that Ajay

devgan was introduced in the movie KAAL …..”jungle hai saab, kuch bhi ho sakta hai”.Our guide said that the tigers were digitally placed there through computer in the shot in Kaal.

After that we took the Ram singh marg , it’s a very useful spot if you want to spot elephants …..we then took the Kamarpati road …..the jungle surrounding this road was very road …..it has Saal forest on both sides ..since the trees block most of the sunshine ….it tends to be very eerie there …..you almost feel that you are being watched by the Tiger ….areas such as these are the homes of sambhar deer …because they eat coarse leaves as compared to grass needed by the other smaller variety of deer….

Then we came to the road to the core of the jungle ……the road was blocked by thick chains containing spikes on them(the spikes were to deter the elephants from breaking them) ….tiger is termed as the lord of the jungle ….but I felt the elephants to be the real lords of the jungle …..they are fearless of humans …..the signs left behind them are present everywhere ….broken trees ,their dungs ,their pad marks everywhere where as there is no sign or trace of the tiger …..

The road to the core seemed enticing …..it was full of dangers and thrills but it meant breaking the rules and inviting trouble so we deterred …and we went to the chuha paani road instead ……chuha paani road …nobody goes there because the last recorded attack on a human took place there…the person was a mahout, bahadur khan if im not mistaken ,he was attacked but the tiger was a novice, it managed to peel his scalp but couldn’t choke him as he was lying with his face down .Eventually,he was rescued by his co mahout who came on his elephant and the tiger was caught and sent to a zoo. this place has gained notoriety because tigers (who were not man eaters )have attacked and killed people here before .So it’s a strict no no …..but our driver was one who was bored with his regular job ,wanted us to feel what the deer feel all their lives …it had rained the day before and a tree had fallen ,we drove our gypsy right over the fallen tree to reach that place……

The place really silent and eerie …..not a leaf stirred ….it was as if even the animals knew that this was a place was not right….

As we started to drive back , we heard a barking deer barking towards our right ,our driver lost no time in parking the gypsy behind a thick shrub.we waited with bated breath for the lord of the jungle to show up .We heard some twig snap,as if some body stepped on it …..we waited and waited but the tiger remained elusive as ever ….it never showed up …We never managed to spot a tiger through out our stay at Jim Corbett,its as if Jim Corbett him self wanted us to come back for a second time to see the tiger.

That evening we crossed the Ram Ganga river and into one of the pristine jungles man has ever set his foot into …the trees I saw there will remain etched for ever in my heart……the trees were huge ,some struck by lightening ……Jim Corbett in summers is invaded by moniter lizards ,they all go into hibernation during winters …..these huge lizards thrive on bird eggs and small prey…..

And finally ,it was time to go back ,we had a tasty breakfast (the cook in dhikala was excellent) and set off ……we took the sambhar trail ,we were feeling a little depressed that we didn’t get to see any tigers .But, as soon as we took the first turn we were awarded with a glorious sight…………… we were lucky to witness a fight between a mongoose and a 12 ft grey king cobra!! ….they were so engrossed in the fight that they failed to acknowledge our presence ….what a scene it was ….these fights usually end with the cobra ending up as a meal for the mongoose ,as they are immune to its poison ….but, in this case ,they suddenly got aware of our presence and since man is the worst animal,they left each other and ran for their lives …I guess,it was the cobra’s lucky day …..

We ran into a herd of wild boars up ahead ,they were grazing .They hardly took notice of us ,indicating that animals are not hunted here and therefore,not shy of humans.Also.we saw the jungle fowl…a dominant cock has a group of three to four hens with him .The males are colourful and vibrant compared to the hens ,which are dark grey to black in colour .I found the cry of the jungle fowl similiarl to our common poultry . They too were unconcerned about the close approximity to us.

We went all the way from Dhikala to Gairal,we drove slowly listening to the jungle ,we heard a barking deer bark indicating that something had frightened it(could have been anything a snake or even a tiger)….we stood there for quite a while but then again nothing….

We stopped at the high bank,the chances of spotting wildlife is good here ,only you have to have the patience of a saint.The Ram ganga flows quietly here …there are plenty of the golden mahaseer in the river ,the water is so clear that one can spot them from the high bank .

From there we went to the crocodile pool ,it was full of Gharial (it’s a fish eating crocodile with a thin snout incapable of eating anything larger than a fish)…..they are so well camouflaged that they look like rocks …inspite of you knowing that they are there ,they are still so hard to locate ,the mahaseer are massive near gairal .They are ,I surmise, tweny to twentyfive kilos atleast.Gairal is a beautiful,but its more suitable for families and couples .

The setting is beautiful,there is river right beside the guest houses .

There are electric wires all around these guest houses ,inorder to keep the wild life away .

In the 1970s and the 1980s ,you could walk about in the park .But ,it all came to a tragic end when a british ornithologist was killed by a tiger .The electrical wiring came up when a tiger came inside a guest house to say hello .

At Gairal ,our guide gave us two choices, we can take the easy way or the hard way .Naturally,we took the hard way…..and the road was awe inspiring …..seldom have I seen such dense jungles ..the sun shine was not able to reach the floor of the jungle .There were huge mango trees and fruit trees inside the jungle.What a pity !! there was such a treasure waiting to be plundered ……but, I was happy for the birds coz I were a bird I would have loved to be here . suddenly there was a sound of something large gliding through the air ….. I strained my eyes to see what could it be ……I saw some large black thing flying through the air …..suddenly I fel;t afraid ….all those stories you hear of churails flying in the jungles wearing black . How wrong I was !! I was rewarded with a beautiful sight of a flock of The great Indian hornbill.These magnificient birds are fruit eaters and are now on the verge of extinction. Their feathers are greatly prized by the Naga tribes .The female after laying eggs sits on them while the male seals her inside the hollow of the tree with mud plastering it with its saliva.Once the chicks are grown up the living tomb is broken with the help of sharp beaks and the birds come out .That is the true example of love and faith shown by the female bird in the male bird,wish we as humans could learn from them .

We saw them to our hearts fill and sadly moved on .The road was completely abandoned and deserted .That was thrill of the journey ,if our gypsy broke down we would be left on our own against the elements.The sceneries I saw on that road will be forever etched in my mind.Finally we came to Sultan guest house .This guest house has been named after the famous Sultana dacoit… the robin hood of India ….he used to loot from the rich and be benevolent to the poor …he had quite a sizeable gang under him …..he took cover of the jungles and was a head ache for the English eventually he was hanged , by the English.Jim Corbett has written about him and his virtues .coz at one point of time Jim corbett was in the cross sights of his gun ,but sultana let walk by .Jim was of course not aware .

This guest house is supposed to be haunted by a spirit of a man who died of thirst,may be by sun stroke or by snake bite .Any way on a hot sultry day ,if you happen to sleep in this guest house ,he ll come and wake you and ask for a glass of water.

The guest house was built in the old English bunglow style and had a royal look to it .I really want to come again and live in that guest house like the English sahibs lived .

Alas ,like all the good things in life , our journey too was coming to an end..The rest of the journey from sultan to the entrance was uneventful and we hoped against hope that we come across a tiger …At the entrance Ginny took out his frustration at the stuffed cotton tiger a vendor was selling at the gates… but I think the tiger will grace us with his presence may be the next time we come .May be you guys will be luckier compared to us.