“Tiger!” said Ram Kumar without any preamble and we all stood up dutifully and taut with excitement.

 

Not that it does not happen. Sometimes tigers appear smack in the middle of the path without any warning. There are no alarm calls. Not a single deer has seen the tiger. Monkeys have not seen him either and so their throaty, bronchitic alarm calls have not filled the air with excitement. There is an utter absence of even the trademark pugmarks to tell you that a tiger has gone ahead of you. And suddenly there is the tiger – smack in the middle of the dirt track, staring at you.

 

Maitreyi (daughter) and Udayan (son) silently pointed towards where the tiger was walking in the same direction as us. But pointing was not needed at all, it was just a reflex action. We had taken a path through Indri and then turned left just before entering what is called the Nakti Ghati. Upon reaching the area known as Dewani Behra, we had just taken a left turn and there was the tiger, walking straight ahead, just about 7-8 meters from us. It was totally unmindful of our presence. It must have heard our jeep approaching and then the sudden application of brakes and the sound of gravel protesting beneath the tyres. But it did not even as much as glance backwards. It walked with a royal grace and pace. It was his territory and the rules here were dictated by him. So we had to adjust our speed so as to maintain a respectable distance.

 

“It’s a male tiger,” informed Ram Kumar. Again, this was totally unnecessary piece of information. We were seeing it from the back and the two balls that spew the essence of maleness into the animal blood were quite clearly visible from the close quarters at which we were watching the tiger.

 

 

But guides are guides. Since we go to the Kanha National Park quite too often and since we have been doing it for several years now, virtually all guides know us well. They also know that we do not need to be told most of the information that is new wisdom for an average tourist. And yet, by sheer force of habit, they have to tell us the same thing that they have told us countless times before. Not that Ram Kumar is our guide for the day. He is our driver (I do not remember who our guide was that evening) and we are lucky to have him with us. Ram Kumar was born here and is therefore as much the denizen of the jungle as the tiger is. He knows much more about the jungle than an average guide does. He is a young, handsome guy, sharp of eye, tongue and wit, a wonderful driver and an avid birder. He can recognize a bird in mid-flight, can tell the identity of a bird by its call, and if a bird has more than one call, he knows them all. Sharp of the eye, once he pointed out a tiny scarlet minivet sitting at the topmost perch of a very tall tree. And its not just birds. He is equally good with the mammals of the jungle too.

 

The tiger walked in front of us with the same gentle pace never hurrying even a bit. He went in a generally straight line but moving from one side of the path to the other. Tigers love walking on the path created for the jeeps and the human beings. Their foot-pads are soft and they feel good walking on the dust cushions of these paths.

 

But I felt that something was not quite right with the tiger. There was no reason to think so. The tiger was walking the way tigers walk. And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that all was not right with the striped beast. To me it seemed a bit irritated. Why I thought so I do not know.

 

In front of us the tiger moved to the left and started smelling the saplings. It smell every sapling and every blade of the grass and that made him even slower. We had to all but halt the jeep. Then it went to a corner near a tree and sat down to defecate. If you have ever seen a cat defecating that is exactly how the tigers shit.

                   Out with it!

 

There was a sudden stench in the air. The four of us, Udayan, Maitreyi, Kakoli and I

looked at each other and smiled even while we covered our noses. Later Ramkumar

would tell us that the stench did not come from the tiger-scat but from the clutch plate of

the jeep. He told us that the scat of the tiger does not have any smell. Much as I respect his knowledge of the jungle, I cannot believe this. The tiger himself has such a rank smell even though it keeps itself scrupulously groomed. And the things it eats – it has such a varied diet. How can the scat be pious?

 

The tiger finished the business at hand, got up, crossed the path and went to a tree on the other side. Till this day we had merely seen the scratch marks that tigers make on the trees. This is their territorial behavior – the scratch marks are like our McMahon or Radcliffe line, marks to tell others to stay off, trespassing not allowed. For the first time we saw the tiger actually making these marks. It rose on its hind legs, stretched itself full-length and appeared to embrace the tree. It put its head into the thick foliage hanging down from the tree and smelled it.

 

Then it got down, turned away from the tree and then sprayed its urine on the same tree. So, double territory markings – visual and olfactory.

 

It moved again and we followed. But it only went some 10-20 meters before it again started smelling the ground and the saplings on the side of the path. It sat down to defecate again! Again there was the same stench. Clutch-plate? I don’t think so.

This much work tired him out. So it selected a spot and rested. It tossed and turned and made itself comfortable. And then it yawned.

There is another point worth relating here. We associate tigers with the word ferocious. While trying to defecate, the tiger looked anything but ferocious. Actually, the way it screwed up its face, it looked rather comic. My son observed, “I think I look better sitting on the pot than him!”

 

He stayed with us for almost an hour and this was one of those rare occasions when ours was the only jeep near it. Normally about 10-12 jeeps gather and the tourists create such a ruckus that half the pleasure in watching the tiger is gone. Also, the tiger too is less pleased.

 

During the hour he spent with us, he tried defecating four or five times. We came back looking after he left. There wasn’t anything at those places at all. He was severely constipated for sure. Whatever did he eat? 

TRAVEL INFORMATION:
Where to stay: You can go to Kanha from two different gates, Khatiya and Mukki. Tiger sighting is supposed to be better from Khatiya than from Mukki. But Mukki is cheaper and quieter than Khatiya.
At Khatiya Baghira loghuts (MPTC) are the best place to stay. Rs. 4000 (deluxe) and Rs. 3500 (AC) per night which includes breakfast and meals and all taxes. If this is too much, there are several private resorts at Khatiya starting right from Rs. 500 per night going upto 10000 per night.
At Mukki, MPTC has huts which retail from around 2500 per night. These are good. But bar facility is not available at Mukki.
Distance: Khatiya is 256 km from Nagpur and Mukki is 282 km from Nagpur. The distances are less coming from Jabalpur.
Jungle Safari: Jeeps are available and can be booked for around Rs. 1600 per day. Book well in advance during peak season.
Clothing: Avoid loud colors. From November till February take warm clothing with you.
Best Season: Although all seasons are good because the jungle offers different colors and sounds in different seasons, if animal sighting is the only objective, summer months from Mid March onwards are the best.
Hotel booking can be done online by visiting MP Tourism website.