Alice in Wonderland
A chance encounter with the matriarch striped feline and her cubs forms a great tale to tell, as the author recounts her experience at tiger sighting in Pench.
Alice in wonderland!
That’s exactly the feeling I have at being in the forest. The jungle has always been a fascinating wonderland for me. It is never the same. Even when you visit the same forest several times, you will be surprised every time. Each time it has something new to offer. A photograph is just a two-dimensional glimpse of what you experience. It takes you back through the time, to the place. A perfectly good photograph and even the imperfect one also does the same thing.
I was in this beautiful forest of Pench some time back. It was my fifth early morning safari, first jeep in the cue. We entered the jungle and in just a bit of drive; I heard a guide utter the word ‘Tiger’. Yes, 4 of them – a Tigress and 3 Cubs walk ‘Head on’ towards our jeep. It took me a while to believe my eyes. I lifted the camera (which wasn’t ready too) opened the lens cover and clicked a blurry photo.
Totally Imperfect picture
The drama happened for a minute. Tigress saw the herd of Gaurs and chose to leave with her subadult cubs. One of the cubs sat down facing the other side, lingered a while, so I could alter the settings and take a shot.
Alice In Wonderland
I even tried to click the mother peeping through the woods along with a cub.
Hide-and-seek
Just like Alice from the wonderland; overwhelmed with the drama happening around and never knowing “what’s the right amount of mushroom to achieve the right size”.I could not get the right settings in a given time. It all happened under low light. So, I do not have a single picture that could do justice to what I saw or experienced. But then these record images absolutely serve the purpose, to give me the memory of the moment. That trip turned out to be a party with great company, amazing sightings. Got to see some birds, mammals and of course 5 tigers (4 twice so 9 sightings overall) in 5 safaris.
