Monday, June 16, 2008

Views from the Hancock

Photos from the Observatory in the John Hancock Building, Chicago









Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Mensa May MHK: Kudremukh

Mensa May MHK trip to Kudremukh. Trip report by Rathi, photographs by Roshin. Cross-posting from A World in a Grain of Sand.

Route


Bangalore - Tumkur Road - Nelamangala - Kunigal - Channaraipatna - Hassan - Belur - Chikmaglur - Balehunnur - Kalasa - Kudremukh

Kudremukh - Kalasa - Kottigehara - Mudigere - Belur - Hassan - Channaraipatna - Kunigal - Nelamangala - Bangalore

Except for the stretch from Kalasa to Kottigehara, roads quality varied from moderately good to excellent. The road from Belur to Hassan requires special mention, one can easily drive at 100+ kmph on this road.

Trip Report

Kudremukh is a quintessential picturesque valley lying in the bough of the Western Ghats. Surrounded by peaks and dense jungle is this quaint little town with a population, numbering a few thousands. Previously an iron ore mining reserve, it is now purely a naturist's delight! The mining operations came to a halt after the Supreme court passed a judgment to shut down the factory in 2005. The town was inhabited only by the employees of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited, now with the closure it is close to becoming a ghost town.


It was midnight on the 23rd of May, 2008 when we 7 Mensans and 3 guests started off from Cunningham Road, in two cars, with Kudremukh as the destination in mind but no route chalked out. We thought we will take it as the road curves. After brief stops at Nelamangala, Kunigal and Chanraipatna, we were thrilled to get on to the Hassan - Belur road. At Belur, we mulled over the map to take a decision on our next move. Well, it was Chikmaglur that finally won and we headed off in that direction. Fortunately for us the roads till that point were excellent. At Chikmaglur, around 5 AM, we were happy to find quite a few people strolling around. With some assistance we got on to the road that headed to Balehunnur.

Dawn breaking over the mountains

From Balehunnur to Kalasa, we drove through the ghats, with the sun rising just behind the mountains. The sky with a hue of indigo was simply breathtaking. Irresistible as the scenery got, we stopped randomly to capture nature in its naked form either through the eye or through the camera. Almost close to Kalasa, we crossed this bridge with huge bamboo trees on either side of the river, Tunga, caressing the water. It was a mini Amazon of sorts! At this point a few of them had rumbling tummies and munched on idlis while the rest headed off to "Sahyadri Bhavan", our hotel in Kudremukh.

Misty river

It was 8:30 when we finally reached the hotel. A quick breakfast and a long freshening up later we were all set to explore some of the unknown terrain. Our local guide, Srikanth, took us to Samse, the closest village to Kudremukh (his hometown). After offering us some delicious home grown bananas and a refreshing drink, the 11 of us, yes the whole lot of us got into one jeep with the driver! Totally unprepared were we, to experience the rickety ride that took us through tea estates, up a hill through the jungle to finally stop a few hundred meters from the summit of a hillock. We got off and started to trek to reach a height from where we could see the valley extend till the eye could see.

View of the valley

Exhilarated and famished, we gobbled our packed lunches in the shade of a tree, surrounded by a herd of cows that had come to graze. The cowherd suggested we try and climb another peak, apparently from where the view was even more stunning. Getting adventurous, we started the climb and about 25 minutes later reached the point from where it felt, we will never get enough of this! Srikanth constantly reminded us that we have been really fortunate to view this as the skies were unimaginably clear that day after a thunderous downpour the previous day.


Content and rejuvenated, we headed down, and traced our path back to Samse, just in time to be saved from the rains which could have severely curtailed the movement of the jeep in the slushy muddy trail. It was at Samse that quite a few discovered they had brought along leeches on their legs! With a dash of salt the leeches were gotten rid off and a hot cup of coffee was welcomed by all. Heading back to the hotel, we thought of spending the rest of the day, generally doing nothing much.

The tree lined avenue of Kudremukh campus

Sunday was a late morning for most of us. Few of us went about discovering the town on our own and then finally packed to leave by around 12. A second round of breakfast was devoured at a nondescript restaurant with the TV playing out the Karnataka election results in the background. Thereafter, it took us almost 30 minutes pouring over a detailed map of Karnataka to decide that we should go back the way we came! So that meant the two cars would sync up at Chikamglur.

The three "guests" on the trip

But as luck would have it, both the cars lost the track and ended up heading in two different directions. We reached Kottigehara from Kalasa (bad roads) while the other car somehow managed to land in Balehunnur. It was then decided to meet in Hassan at the Kamath. Then again, we were one and a half hours apart, and so after having a bite at Kamath, we moved on to Bangalore. Reached Bangalore at 9:30 PM, ate dinner at Casa del Sol and reached home by 11:30 PM. The second group reached Bangalore at 1 AM after spending some quality "pool-side" time at the Taj, Chikmaglur.

We couldn't have asked for a more favorable weather, what with a few showers and the whole place being green and teeming with life.


Photography

All photographs shot with Canon EOS 400D with one of the following lenses:

Canon EF 50mm F1.8
Canon EF-S 17-85 mm F4 - 5.6 IS USM
Tamron 28 - 200 mm F3.8 - 5.6 XR

Raksha. Canon 50mm, ISO 1600, no flash

Moon was visible even close to sunrise

Sunrise

Early morning mist adding a surreal feel to the trees


Clouds proved favorable enough to get this shot





Had to wait quite a while to get a person at the right point in the picture

The tea bushes clothed the mountain side like a lush green carpet

Rathi. Fill in flash alleviating the harsh shadows of the midday sun to an extent.


Sugandhi

Rana


View from the small peak that we climbed first




Captured Tharunya against the blown-out sky while she was admiring some distant mountains




We found this nice rock where you could dangle your feet hundreds of meters above the valley below


Manz

The tree under which we had lunch

Su decided to take a quick post lunch siesta

The summit outcrop which we reached after a short trek

Inside Kudremukh campus

This bee was having a feast with all the flowers around

Monday, May 26, 2008

Gender & Leadership

Browsing through my laptop, I found this essay I'd written as the final report for the Gender & Leadership elective during my Post Graduate Program in Management. The course instructors were Profs. Lynda Moore and Stacy Blake-Beard from Simmons Graduate School of Management.

Thought it might be an interesting read for some out here.

The most memorable learning came right in the first class. Through the readings and the experiences share by classmates, I realized that although the modern workplace has come a long way in trying to ensure equality of opportunity for men and women, there is still a long way to go to obtain genuine equality. Women continue to face covert discrimination in terms of appraisal parameters and pay as well. A woman’s simultaneous role as a wife/mother is seen as being competitive to her career interest whereas the same is not the case with a man’s role as a husband/father. Although the attitude is slowly changing, many companies still believe that women are less committed to their careers and will sooner or later sacrifice their career for the sake of a family.


The class discussions revealed that many successful career women have had to make a forced “choice” in choosing their careers over families and inwardly miss the comfort of a family. In the Indian context again, many successful career women are either single or have very strong family support systems. (As per the reading Top 25 most powerful business women in India). Even so, having such supportive husbands who are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the wife’s career is a very rare occurrence.

The readings also emphasised the benefits of having a mentor at the workplace and the implications of mentorship for a successful career. Not so obvious was the research that revealed that women do better if they have men for mentors, because having a man mentor helps them “break into” the “old boy’s network” and gain acceptance for their competence as it is vouched for by the man who takes her under his guidance. However, the implications of such a strategy are quite profound. First, not all women may find it comfortable to request for a male mentor. Second, even if they do request, they risk alienating other women who may have agreed/wanted to mentor them. Thirdly, there is a fine balance that must be maintained in a man-woman mentor-mentee relationship. There is the risk of office gossip, and any contact outside of office may be misconstrued to have sexual overtones. One possible way of averting this is to have a small group of 2-3 senior colleagues take responsibility for a group of junior colleagues. That way all activity, designed to promote mentor-mentee relationship, outside of work will have to be as a group and the chances for malicious gossip is minimised. Another memorable framework for analyzing networks was the matrix based on agreement and trust to classify contacts, and using this to understand when and how to leverage each type of contact. For example, when the need is to get a contrary but honest opinion, it is best to go to an opponent.

Despite being capable and having adequate qualifications, on the ground realities also sometimes affect women adversely, such as the restriction placed on women’s work roles in conservative cultures, not being taken as a serious professional, or that traditionally, women are expected to make career moves keeping in mind their partner’s career choices, whereas reciprocity remains rare. In this matter, I see that the policy followed by some of the Indian IT firms, which firstly encourage people to refer and have their significant other join the same company, and secondly, help such couples to be geographically close (catering to the familial need) while working on separate projects (to prevent overt in-office competition), as a good policy.

Highlighting the simultaneity that women face, Dr. Uma spoke of her career journey and how she has achieved significant success as a businessperson, mother, and wife. The most striking insight I obtained from her talk was the fact that successful women have to typically endure office gossip as they climb the ladder of success. While she advised budding women managers to take such things in their stride, I’ve determined that as a male manager, in the future, I will not only refrain from indulging in some gossip but also actively try to reduce such gossip if I see it occurring within my team/organization. Publicly congratulating women for their professional accomplishments – as and when they are achieved – will reduce such gossip during promotion times. Also, a possible best practice that can be initiated would recommend that if a male and female colleague have to meet outside of office, it would help to meet in a public place (such as a coffee-shop) as against either one going to the residence of the other, which could lead to unnecessary gossip.
Modern women are every bit as focussed on and committed to their careers as men are and expect to get the same opportunities for career advancement. This can present some practical challenges as was illustrated by Ellen Moore’s case where she desired to take up an opportunity available in Saudi Arabia, but her male manager expressed reservations because of the country’s male dominated culture that would not make enable her to be taken seriously. It is easy to understand the woman’s disappointment and feeling of being marginalized in the corporate world in such a situation, but the lesson for managers is to handle such situations with tact. Managers can research and present precedents where the company genuinely tried to experiment by sending a woman into such situations but failed due to extraneous circumstances. Further, the managers must explain the nuances of the situation and then leave the final choice to the woman. If she wants to go ahead, the manager must let her. If she succeeds, it is good for the company and if she doesn’t (due to external circumstances beyond her control), she would admit it and then can be recalled into the previous assignment. It is important to note that during such recall, a manager must not consider the woman to have “failed” and it must not negatively affect her appraisal or career path. After all, the company was well aware that the chance of success was very slim, anyhow.

While the case of Ellen Moore may appear to be demonstrating the boundaries presented to geographical cross-boundary movement for women, it also has a subtle theme that becoming culturally sensitive and learning to working within the boundaries of the host country is paramount, irrespective of gender. A male manager may not face constraints in entering the country, but once there it is his cultural intelligence that will help him motivate local employees and achieve the organizational objectives.

As organizations become aware of the importance of giving women equal opportunity and to retain talent, there is a concerted effort on the part of companies to recruit, train, promote, and retain women employees. An example of this was in the Montreal Bank case. Such initiatives must be encouraged and driven by the CEO office, but the caveat is that programs designed for this purpose must be careful not to reverse discriminate against men or to be construed as promoting women based on gender rather than for capabilities. If such perceptions pervade the organization, there is likely to be intense discontentment among the men who will only resent the success of their women colleagues even more. Carried to an extreme, the remedy may actually turn out to be worse than the disease.

Stereotypes continue to pervade the workplace. Men leaders are expected to be aggressive, independent, competent, and dominant whereas women are expected to be emotional, submissive, gentle, and tactful. If a woman’s behaviour exhibits traits associated with male leaders, she isn’t perceived to be a leader, but as someone who someone who is “pushy”. Similarly, if men exhibit traits associated with women, they are perceived to be “soft” and not leadership material. Such stereotyping may force people to try and fit into the expected mould and thereby diminish their effectiveness as leaders because they are trying to be someone different from their natural selves. Possibly, such stereotyping is the result of childhood experiences where children are taught to behave in ways expected of their gender. Research has proven that children who play with toys marketed for their gender are joined by their peers, whereas children who play with toys meant for the opposite gender are left alone (Maccoby, 1998). As parents, it is important to be aware of the long term implications of such behaviour on the psyche of the child.

These stereotypes also affect work-life balance. While many (typically male) managers expect and understand women’s dual commitment to work and home, the same benefit is not accorded to male employees. Implicitly, the assumption made is that all men are driven, aggressive, and career-oriented and will happily put their personal family life on the backburner for corporate advancement. (An example of this can be seen in the company policies many companies in India follow. While women are given the legally stipulated paid maternity leave of 3 months, men get at the most 5 days of paternity leave, but in many cases even this is not given. In other cases, the policy exists purely on paper as men are reluctant to avail of leave for fear of being perceived as not committed to work.) This is a gross generalization, because many men want to accord a high priority to the family as well. If men are seen to be openly giving their personal life a high priority, they run the risk of being typecast as not being committed to work and it could have implications for career promotions. It is important to understand that both men and women need to have a healthy work life balance and that this is in the company’s best interest. Recent media reports are rife with stories of rising lifestyle diseases in urban India due to long excessive work hours and excessive stress. Losing valuable talented employees due to lifestyle diseases is far worse for a company than to retain the employees but keeping them happy by giving sufficient avenues to achieve a work-life balance.

For me, as an aspiring manager and corporate leader, another significant revelation lay in the experiences shared by my classmates. A vast majority of them who had had male managers typically attributed transactional leadership qualities to them but those who had had female managers attributed transformational leadership to the women. And these opinions are not without basis. My first manager when I was a fresh engineering graduate was a woman who I would describe as calm, understanding, and supportive. A few years later, I was working under a man who was aggressive, blunt, and task oriented. Both of them demanded performance but it was how they demanded it that differed. As a rookie in the industry, I found it comforting to have a manager who was relationship oriented, but prompting me to raise the bar higher and propelling me beyond it required someone who was more demanding. In addition, in a previous elective course (Managing Teams), we learnt that neither transactional nor transformational management techniques are always appropriate. Hence, men and women managers have a lot to learn from each other. This was proven by the research of Cann and Siegfred (1990) who say that “effective leaders, those who can respond successfully to the variety of demands and situations encountered by leaders, must be behaviourally androgynous.”

The underlying current to all the classes was that while the realization for the need for change was growing, there was little consensus on how such change must be effected. Making radical, full blown changes (such as replacing half of top management with women) are fraught with the dangers of being viewed as unmeritocratic and rousing resentment against the women so chosen. Besides, corporations being risk averse will simply not make radical changes, no matter how desirable. Simple verbal/written commitment to empowerment of women at the workplace can appear to be paying lip sympathy. A fine balance must be achieved, and the idea of tempered radicalism that was introduced seems perfect to achieve change while ensuring that everybody understands the reasons behind the policies, gets buy-in so that future efforts are not sabotaged, and then implements it effectively.

I took this course in order to sensitise myself to gender related issues at the workplace. In the class where we discussed voice, I noticed that many of the women students came up with personal anecdotes where they had to stand up for themselves – often against convention and family – to do what they believed was in their best interest. That really hit home, because I’ve rarely felt the conventional pressures to conform and I realized that we men get away relatively easy with being rebels. That class has been imprinted in my mind and it has implications on my decision making skills at the workplace.

Prior to ISB and this course, I would rarely have considered approaching work-situation related problems using the lens of Gender. But now, I realize that there is a practical reason to look at situations and decisions from the perspective of how both genders would perceive it. I’m now able to appreciate that rationalizing a business situation or decision from a Gender perspective is not an exercise in bashing either men or women, but simply being cognizant of the role interplay each gender is expected to play at work and in the society and to harmonize those expectations for mutual benefit of the company as well as the employee.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Bangkok Massage Parlour

Titillating as the title may appear, this post is about a genuine Thai massage parlour in Bangkok. On my first visit to Bangkok, I was a bit hesitant about entering massage parlours considering that some (most?) of them are fronts for more carnal activities. Then I found Center Point Massage and have been a fan since - havent made a single visit to the Land of Smiles without a pit stop at Center Point Massage.

This place is located on Sukhumvit Road (Nearest station: Asok on BTS or Sukhumvit on MRT). Though I dont remember the exact address, it is located between Sukhumvit Soi 24 and 33, and if you get to the road from either of the above mentioned stations and then walk towards Soi 33, it is on the left side.

The rates (as of April 2008) are a very reasonable THB 300 for a 1 hr Thai massage or THB250 for a 1 hr foot massage. The ambience is soft and soothing and the massueses are well trained, courteous, and do a great job! If you like the service, dont forget to tip!

Friday, May 9, 2008

My Days in Corbett

During the last week of April, I managed to fulfill one of my lifelong ambitions - to stay inside Jim Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal, India.

An Idea is hatched

They say that life is what you make of it. Sometime ago, I took an online personality test , the feedback was that I typify a conventional, insipid, risk averse individual and that my life is as normal as it could get. My recent past has been anything but that - It made me realize how unpredictable life is. I learnt that, from being easy and happy go lucky, life could get pretty complicated pretty quickly.

I was vexed, rueful and rationalizing. A combination that made me want to just get away to serenity.

Himalayas is usually my default choice when I think tranquility. But I was obsessed with the Tiger ever since my first wild encounter. So, I sacrificed a trip to the Himalayan region and was destined elsewhere.

Jim Corbett National Park

Jim was a hunter from England who lived in India during British rule; in the early 1930s he realised he had erred and turned to conservation. He fought for the cause of saving the Tiger and was instrumental in setting up protected areas. He avowed to hunt only man-eaters then on and became a legend.

In memoriam, the Indian government named the park after him. In 1973, the project tiger campaign began there as well, leading to what is now called as the 'Corbett Tiger Reserve' (CTR) - which at 1300 Sq KM is the largest & possibly the wildest reserve forest in India.
For me, it was not only the call of the wild but also the call of Corbett.

Gearing up for a Sojourn

After several inquires and information gathering. I wrote to the Project Tiger Office at Ramnagar and also booked train tickets to and from Delhi. Once the approvals and arrangements were done, I negotiated for my transport and accommodation within the Reserve.


Unpredictability - present continuous

On arrival at Delhi, I asked to go to the Delhi Railway station as per my ticket. The taxi driver assumed New Delhi station, dropped me off and left in a hurry. A few moments later, amidst people who swarm like bees in the busy, humid station, I realized that I was at the wrong station and that someone had slipped his hands into my pocket to rid me of my spanking new cell phone.

There was no time to do anything but hitch a ride to the old Delhi railway station where the train to Ramnagar was to leave within the hour. As luck would have it, I reached in time. Once at the platform,I noticed that my train ticket was also stolen. Several deliberations and explanations to the TC resulted in me shelling out a hundred to get on the train instead of the stipulated Rs. 50 if one does not carry a reserved ticket.

Fortunately, everything else I had carried was intact.

A Bright Monday - Day 1 at CTR

Tahil, my driver cum caretaker for the coming days was enthused on arrival of the train from Delhi and had gone looking for me. In the meanwhile, I was enthused about finding him and located the 4WD jeep which I would use. We finally met a few minutes later and proceeded towards Corbett. After completing formalities at the forest office, I started what is easily the best wildlife outing to date.


We took 5 hours to cover the 30 km stretch to Dhikala camp stopping en route on every sighting. Tahil narrated several incidents of tiger spotting and also the information he had on the local tiger population and habitat. The highlight of the first safari in Corbett was the sighting of the Crested Serpent Eagle in close quarters.


On reaching Dhikala and settling down, I was ready for my first trip into the core areas of the jungle. Not too long into the safari, all vehicles roaming the forest converged and stopped in anticipation of a tiger coming out of the bushes for water. Nothing happened for 45 minutes and we decided to move on. I heard on my return to the camp that the tiger had indeed come out in the open. I was just philosophical about not seeing it and wondered whether I would see another during my stay at all.

However, the evening trip was extremely fruitful, I got a chance to observe elephants in the grasslands and spotted many other mammals and rare birds.


A Sultry Tuesday - Day 2 at CTR

Tuesday was extremely hot. I got a chance to explore deeper areas of the fantastic natural forest. All through the morning and evening rides, all I saw was pug marks and all I heard on my return to the camp was stories of a glimpse of a tiger here and a spotting there.




There was no shortage of other wildlife though, the opportunities I got to observe various animals and birds in their natural habitat was exhilarating. The elephants were godsend at the grasslands, I could spot about a hundred! I kept telling myself and also mentioned to Tahil - "I'm here to see Corbett and not the tiger". Although, this was true to an extent, it was always in the back of my mind that I had kept my fingers crossed about the tiger ever since I dreamt of going to Corbett.


Later, I chanced to walk around the camp after sunset and noticed that the horizon beyond the Dhikala grasslands had lit up. The forest was on fire! At that time, it looked more like an aura. Forest fires during summers are common - I stopped worrying and retired for the day as the extreme heat had completely drained me.


That sinking feeling - Day 3 at CTR


I woke up with thoughts of my missed opportunity on Monday and was starting to get worried about my chances. I guess Tahil was worried as well, the first thing he mentioned to me that morning was, "Sir, aaj sirf tiger specific safari karange" ( let us look only for tigers today).

We roamed the forests for about 3 hours that morning before entering the paar region of the forest, even there, it was only a case of fresh pug marks but no tiger. But there was something else to greet us, the fires were raging beyond the mountains which resulted in thick smog cover in the area. We had no choice but to turn back. On our way out of the paar region, which involves crossing the ramganga river a couple of times - trouble was waiting.

Corbett is unique in some respects, for instance, it has patches of elephant grass between wooded forests. As we were making our way back through the track between these grasslands, I noticed the grass moving and immediately signalled Tahil to stop.

Just a few meters ahead a giant tusker popped out of the grass!! we expected him to crossover and disappear in to the grass on the other side. But that was wishful thinking - He looked at us for a few seconds and started walking towards us. He looked agitated by our intrusion into his home.


In a track that is as wide as the jeep we were travelling in, going in reverse gear is a difficult proposition. It gets tougher if the road is curvy. But, when the road is surrounded by grass that can hide elephants - It was a case of nowhere to run.

Nevertheless, we braved our way backwards in the hope that the tusker would feel less agitated and let go if we maintain a respectable distance. With great difficulty, Tahil started to work his way backwards, I was in part guiding him and mostly keeping an eye on the now charging Tusker.

After about 50-60 meters of going backwards during this rather uncomfortable time. We decided to stop and see what happens; apparently, the Tusker had made up his mind and was unrelenting. He started to close in and we negotiated another 50 meters doing two things at a time. Fear gripped us, I wondered why I ever ventured into his territory. I suspect Tahil must have had similar thoughts.

After several such stop and tread back jeep tricks, our hopes of the tusker letting go faded. To add to our vows, we were soon faced with the prospect of crossing a timber bridge that was as wide as the jeep and had no railings on either side. It was one of those moments when you get that sinking feeling. But adrenaline also makes one brave I suppose - after all, it is all about fight or flee when adrenaline flows. At this time, the chances of fleeing were rather grim, we decided to fight.

It was the final go backwards, stop & watch if the tusker recedes step before we had to hit the river. We decided to stop and wait. And thankfully, the giant finally decided that he had done enough and started walking into the grass. I guess watching him go away itself was cause for another adrenaline rush. We thanked our stars and moved on.




The evening safari provided great sightings and photography opportunities. On our return to the camp, I noticed that the fire had crossed several mountains over the course of a day and was now clearly visible. Each and everyone of the forest department staff was fighting it, to no anvil. All said, everything is so well balanced in nature that, there was a natural boundary beyond which the fire could not rage, the ramganga river.





At the end of the day, I had the stark realization that I would be on the train to Delhi the next evening - that sinking feeling got to me again, but, I did not let myself down - "Tomorrow is another day".


Corbett's Personality Test - Day 4 at Corbett

Talim was grim-faced when we started the final safari to the core areas of Dhikala. Both of us kept our fingers crossed and hopes alive - we also did our part to give ourselves the best chance to spot the elusive tiger by leaving the gates at 5:45 AM sharp. As usual, we went through sambhar road and climbed back to the main road without much luck.

Talim then drove in to a cul-de-sac known as Ram Singh road that ends near a river bed . This jungle path is infamously named after Ram singh, a forest guard who was killed by a tiger in the region. As we approached the river bed, we saw two sets of pug marks. One was of a huge tiger and another was of a relatively younger, smaller one. As was the case with hundreds of other pugmark sightings, we were speculating the directions in which the two tigers could have gone when Talim pointed me towards yellow streaked bushes about 100 meters ahead of where we stood and asked me to look through my camera lens.

Human emotion is a strange phenomenon. What makes one happy makes the other sad; what one likes the other dislikes, what one loves the other may hate. The state of being emotional too is similar.

To me however, what I saw through the looking glass churned out feelings like butter is extracted from milk. I whispered to talim, "Haan, yea tiger hain" (yes, that is a tiger) with tear filled eyes. He looked up to the skies and thanked god for what we had just set our eyes on.




After more than thirty hours of searching with a unrelenting resolve and after every effort I had put to make this trip possible, I was finally face to face with one of 1300 or so tigers left in the wild today. It was one of those moments when emotional spikes cannot be contained.


I quickly wiped my eyes, and got to work, through the lens I studied this magnificent specimen for about 15 minutes before the jungle king decided to cross the river and head into the grass on the other side. His walk was phenomenal, every living thing in the vicinity screamed their lungs out to warn others that the king was on the move. It was amazing to experience what was going on.




As the prowler disappeared into the grass, we heard an alarm call from a deer behind us, we rushed to where the calls were coming from and within minutes of my first tiger sighting in Corbett, I was just a few meters away from a crouching tiger who waited no more than a minute before stealthily disappearing in to the bushes.

No more than 15 minutes later, there were more calls further down, a huge sambhar deer sprung out of the bushes and ran for its life. The calls were deafening for there was a third huge tiger in the vicinity which calmly walked around in the grasslands and lay down in the grass.

Thus, within the span of an hour on this eventful day, I had spotted and studied three wild tigers. Others who were on safari picked up the cues very quickly and started rushing to the spot - which forced me to recluse into a quieter part of the jungle as I continued my day long study of the Corbett forest.

It was exactly 6:30 PM, the park's closing time when we reached the main gate of the park after having spent hours in water holes and observing various wild phenomena. I found the first telephone booth and thus was back to civilization.


Talim then drove me to the local barber who ecstatically worked and dressed me up for urban society so to speak. very soon, it was dinner time and sooner still, it was time for the train to leave. I bade farewell to the humble nature lover and boarded the train back to seeming normalcy.

Epilogue


Although it was my personal ambition to spot wild tigers in corbett, it was by no means the only reason for my visit there. I was there appreciating the ecology and spotted tigers by pure chance. Every wildlife enthusiast must visit corbett for its ecology of which tigers are a part.

In retrospect, my days in Corbett was fascinating and unforgettable, every corner I turned had something to offer and the action was non-stop. I'm sure I will remember May 1st, Ram singh road for years to come.

And finally the Photos. Your feedback is much appreciated.