They say you don't know when you fall in love and then to deepen it you should have no expectations. I do know when I fell in love with Meghalaya, it was love at first sight. As I was leaving for Kaziranga, I was sad. I was leaving a love behind, or so it felt. But what happened was that the clouds and the weather followed me to the plains. The cloud covered mountains were visible even as we entered Kaziranga. The weather maintained its hum and I just felt that the love had followed me. So to ensure that this love only deepened I had no expectations from my morning Safari. I wanted to enjoy the experience and that was it.
As the Jeep rolled into the National Park my heart just swelled with the beauty that my eyes encountered. It was lush green with specks of brown and purple. It was pristine and fresh with bursts of scents and the aroma of wet sands. It was tranquil and calm with spurts of birds chirping and animals calling. This natural ecosystem was the result of the consummation of the perfect marriage between the masculine and the feminine.
I stood up at the back, holding on to the bars on the side and soaking in the beauty around me when I spotted the herd of elephants. These were female elephants on their morning graze. I learnt that day that female elephants do not have tusks and walk in the middle of the herd to protect the young ones. Tigers in the forest only attack the young ones and not the grown up male or female elephants. Kind of obvious right, I meant one swing of the trunk and the carnivore would be pulverised.
After the
"Sri Ganesh" of the safari we moved ahead on the narrow roads, once
in a while crossing another Jeep. This trail was only for vehicles and the
elephant safari trail was a separate location. Trivia - Kaziranga has sperate
elephant safari trails for Indians and foreigners. As the Jeep rolled on
suddenly I thought I saw a rock move. My sleep deprived brain was playing
tricks but before we moved ahead I squealed because the deer raised its head
and I saw the two beauties resting close to one another. The driver halted and
I took a couple of shots. Oh how I wished I had bought a telephoto lens! The
150mm zoom was not doing justice to the view that the naked eye was capturing.
At least the raw image capture would be some silver lining!
These were the hog deers that we saw and soon we came by a bevy of swamp deers or barasingha as we call it in India. The animals were lazing early in the morning and it seemed as if some were fighting slumber still. We stood there for a few minutes and some heads came up only to go down, some stood up, walked a few steps and then retreated but a large number just were not interested in us. Once again the lens was inadequate but the raw image helped. Trivia - Hog and swamp deers are not spotted deer species.
Now was the
time to go and find the Rhino, the Wild Buffalo and the Tiger. As we entered
the woodland (the deeper forest) I was told to stop any expectations of the
Rhino or the Buffalo but to be on the look out for species of snakes. It sent
creeps through my skin and I sat down right in the center of the seat at the
back. I was absolutely fine if we missed all reptiles altogether. Trivia -
There are no crocodile or alligators in Kaziranga.
Back to the
grasslands my eyes were starting to lookout for the big ones. We came by a jeep
of documentary film makers who told us they had spotted a tiger just a few
meters ahead but it had wandered into the trees. Wanting to take a chance we
headed in that direction and before we left I almost asked the photographer if
I could borrow his telephoto lens, but hesitating I just kept shut.
At the designated spot we waited for ten minutes but the tiger was no where to be found. We saw two pelicans in flight, once again the naked eye rejoiced while the camera cried. As we decided to wait a while longer it started to rain and I realised that the tiger had decided it did not want to oblige me. With the hood tacked on, we moved ahead where in my world I saw the most beautiful sight - golden ducks all in a row. The golden Siberian ducks or the Ruddy shelduck is a gorgeous migratory bird that flies from its home in Siberia to India to tide over the harsh cold. At the end of March, these were the last lot left before they flew back home. How could these small, tender looking creatures undertake such a long and arduous flight ! They were gorgeous and I got some good shots. Trivia - Ruddy shelduck pair and mate for life. The male has a black ring on the neck which is missing in the female.
Rejoicing in
the chance encounter I was lost in my thoughts when we stopped at a point where
the wild buffalo, the rhino and deers all grazed side by side. Not one
distracted the other, not one ventured towards the other and not one animal
made a sound. Live and let live seemed to be the personification here. As I was
trying to capture the animals in my SD card, as best as I could, I saw a bird
go and perch itself on the buffalo. The endearing interaction lifted my spirits
to say love exists.
We were now
on our way back when a Bharadwaj flew by and perched itself on the brown grass.
The blessing was welcome and the proximity was a blessing for the camera.
Taking a few shots I was ready to get back to the hotel and leave for
Guwahati.
As we moved
towards the exit we saw the bevy of barasinghas yet again. They were l content
as was I. Closer to the exit I spotted elephants again and this time, the male
in the distance raised his trunk as if in salute and I saw the tusks in all
their glory. It was the perfect goodbye.
On the way
to the hotel all I could think and hope was that falling in love should always
be this easy. I was glad to know that another species subscribed to my view
that mating and pairing should be for life. I kept thinking that if only
respect, affection and compassion would really be as unconditional as I encountered
that morning how wonderful the world could be.
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