The Jungle an Addiction: Kanha Wildlife Sanctuary

It is said that Rudyard Kipling wrote the jungle book inspired by the beauty of Kanha. After reading the book and visiting Kanha myself, I felt that the beauty and serenity of the jungle can never be captured in words. Visit the jungle once and it becomes a part of ones existence. For me it is becoming an addiction.

On this trip, I was accompanied by Manisha. We would get up as early as 4.30 a.m. to be ready for the early morning safari.. Once out of bed, our first words would be, “will we get to see Munna today? And the other would respond with an affirmative “of course”. 

Munna is  a gorgeous tiger at Kanha famous for giving some amazing photography poses!

Kanha ka Munna:Pic by Shalik.J

The Kanha jungle is thick with sal trees, grass and bamboo. Some areas are also marked by meadows. Each and every road at Kanha has a story to it. Each and every part of the jungle is striking.

We saw numerous beautiful birds. by our third safari, we knew where they nested and caught them there almost on each each safari. We saw the knew we would find a kingfisher bird on a particular tree, the owlet on a banyan tree.

Owlet: Pic by Manisha.G

And yet each and every safari felt new. There were times when we would sit very quietly so the deer would be near our jeep or the egret would not fly away. 

The picturesque Kanha has numerous stories of tigers. It is a tiger reserve. But beyond the tiger reserve, the jungle itself is beautiful even in the harsh summer. There are water holes for animals at spots, the fire line to prevent fire. We are not allowed to get down from the jeep. They forest department tries to keep it “human free” as much as possible.

Like I said before, the jungle is known for its tigers. Each and every guide and driver is tuned to listen to the “calls”. That’s the way birds and animals communicate to be safe,, They make calls i.e a particular noise to communicate danger or to call for mating.

Manisha and I wondered what if human life was like the animals- eat, sleep and mate!! :P Our driver told us that it is not that simple for animals, including the tiger. Hunting for food, or protecting oneself from danger is a work for animals. The jungle has its own rules and animals follow a simple rule. “you don’t mess with me, and I won’t with you”.

One of our guide said” the jungle is the territory of animals. And no human should ever forget that” if he/she has to survive here.” 

Shit

It is said that the character of a person can be judged by his shoes.. after an year’s experience of visiting various villages across the country, I believe the character of a village/city can be judged by its sanitation facilities.  Sanitation across villages in India is extremely poor. We still have millions of people who do not use toilets… where the narrow lanes are filled with garbage..  and all this leading to increased diseases. This is not to say that urban India is any better… I sometimes feel urban India is worse off. We have so many educated people littering the streets and the blaming the government. It brings me back to the question that where do we stand after more than 60 years of independence… the experience which I share today, were shared by Gandhi years before…  and we still have the balls to say that we are “developing” nation…  on the verge of development, when people here are yet to work on their shitting habits. ..

so much to do

There is so much to do and such little time.. its just been a month and I have visited a 6-7 villages across India.. it seems like a different world… a different reality..

Sometimes I felt that India was like the places I k now off.. yes ive studies.. read about illiteracy.. ive read about health issues.. subjugation women.. and so many more things… but seeing it happen in front of my own eyes… it just did not feel real..

People still believe that malaria is cured by putting egg in ears.. that its disrespectful to speak before elders..  that vaccination of infants is of no importance.. that its not important to make a girl study.. .

Most these people whom I met there do not dream.. that is what there is life is all about..  they do not want their kids to go through this.. but they feel they have no option..thats what life is for them..

Its been 60 years we’ve been independent.. our country has been through ups and downs.. .the governments time and again have come up with schemes etc..  but where has all of it gone.. why is it that people still are uneducated.. that infants still die because the mother does not know the value of nutritious diet.. why is it that in schools children are still malnourished and the family doesn’t even know about it.. why is it that I see so much scope of things to be done.. to achieve.. to work for.. and others just crib about having a country with no facilities..

Food.. education.. health.. are basics of ‘life’.. only life.. we don’t even that with us today..

Inheritance and the series

And Eragon is told that most of the battles are won by mental strength and not physical strength alone. So he learns to calm his mind to make himself stronger. He already knows hez physically fit. And is it not what we also require in our daily lives to fight our daily battles. It is said just think positive and things would fall into place. And yep.. it is so true.. Roran.. Eragon’s brother manages to defeat the a soldier without his wards, or magic... it wasn’t cheer luck.. he was driven by the fact that he had to save his wife and the unborn baby.

The book portrays Earagon and his like as very powerful, but alas, they are nothing if they are not supported by others. Earagon’s strength is his own and yet is’nt. He wins the battle but with the support of an army of lakh of men, the wisdom and power of other races, the animals…. He cannot attribute his victory to himself alone.

There are so many other things that the book speaks about…. listening and respecting others. Be it animals, or humans, or a different group altogether. It talks about growing on the wisdom old, not cling to them but share there experience for a better future. Change is inevitable, but one can make it more fruitful by drawing from there wisdom…

I was able to relate to each and every aspect of the book to my own life.. and the ones around me… I wonder… how people call it young fiction!

My final Exam

"Stop writing your exam in the mobile light! Its a final exam for Gods sake..."
The invigilators shouted.... scolded but to no avail....
And why the hell should we have listened... there was no freaking light!!Ha Ha!!!

This is how we gave one of our papers.. final exam!! A big joke!!!
I shouted to Trupti.. on one end.. and divya was calling me from another.. Rinu helped me with my points of an answer.. i'd forgotton a few.... It was crazy Fun.. Ramu kaka missed it!!

After half an hour of time Pass, we got huge torches to write our papers.... but our work was already done in the dark... even the invigilators laughed at the whole thing.. I mean... this incident has completely changed the definition of the final Exam!! Especially in this College....

My classmates would understand what I am talking abt..
Guys i want ur vaulable comments!!!

Water Kingdom

From the Black Demon to.. Water Coaster.. Raffia Fafia..Amazon Adevnture …. Rain Dance .. we 3 freaked out at Water Kingdom…..it was one of the most memorable trips wid my frends…. and and.. it was not because of Water Kingdom.. or the slides.. or the tolerable crowds… but it was because we 3.. and only 3 of us were together!! At last.. after all the restrictions from office.. religious… personal.. we 3.. at last were together…… hahahhahhahahhahah.. and we made d most of it!! Our trip began with changing clothes.. (just near office)…. We wanted to look nice after all for our trip… then there were deliberations on the mode of transport…… starting from train to bus… we zeroed down to the rickshaw…. The rick guy was super dumb.. didn’t know the way.. but at last we did reach the Gorai creek and after a short breakfast we headed towards the raft… the journey to the raft was full of fish stink… and the at the raft, we didn’t get a place together to sit… terrible..
After a 2 hour journey.. from changing clothes.. to the rick.. breakfast and the raft.. we went entered the ticket counter of the Water Kingdom!! At last!!!
but still there was a long way to reach the WATER… There were Qs for the tickets, lockers, costumes.. piss…. But but.. we fought through all odds…and.. we saw WATER….at last.. after about an hour in the vicinity.. we enetered the pools… It was just and just water all around.. and it was beautiful… we went to the wave pool 1st .. .. and I swam…… after ages… I felt… ALIVE..

Wcompletely forgot everything…. There was no office.. or mom dad…. Or work… We irritated each other…. Fooled around…. And tried to keep a vigil.. (u know how men get)

GUYS.. dey behaved as if they had never seen women in water.. seriously al u guyz.. wen u stare.. girls only feel like.. just imagine the worst thing possible and that’s exactly wat we wanna do to u....
And And And.. we came across super ***** couples… who were in serious need of a bed.. and we wondered why they choose water full of people..
We went on to the slides… and I shouted… LYK AN ASS.. I SHOUTED.. I have never ever done slides.. or rides.. im super scared of dem.. but these ppl encouraged.. and I went.. it was awesome… the scariest slide was water coaster.. in which I felt I’ll never be able to see my office… house.. mom..dad.. I almost got a heart attack.. and the dullest was “Lazy River” where I shouted at guys who were fooling around.. and my shouting had no effect…
We danced like mad at the rain dance.. we lost ourselves dere… in fact we got senti.. and Paru said.. “Thank God no1 else is dere” Paru thanked us like a 1000 times.. dunno why.. but we luv u Paru.. muah…

I think we made a different kinda bond on this trip.. the 3 of us… it was like we were destined to be together.. coz no1 else agreed to come..its a memory..itched in our minds forever!
Evening came.. and again we danced to the songs by some wierdos… apparently Water Kingddom completed 12 years that day.. and there was a concert… we danced to stupid songs at the wave pool…
Nitha called to leave.. and we made long faces.. and she joined us…. We spent about half an hour.. .. with the practical mind telling us to go and heart telling us not to leave.. we choose the mid way.. we spent some more time.. and then quietly ,left…. We dance dour way back to the changing rooms.. content…

Trip to elephanta

My trip to elephant began with me being late by almost 2 hours and still getting a treat of double bun maska from Anilu.. Lemme introduce u to Anilu.. hez bin my chuddybuddy since my MSW years…hez a hard core social worker wid sum weird ass philosophies which r understood only by him!!! And yet.. yet…. I had loads of fun!! Ha ha
We bought tickets to ferry ride to the caves…ferry ride was super fun!! We talked about college… and our group…how things change suddenly…. How we all wud be married one fine day (sigh) .. We saw…SUPER HUGE ships… real big.. and real beautiful!! And we noticed that people carrying the most bags were gujjuz ;)
On reaching there, we treated ourselves with kairi..which was yummy!! And then took the mini train… now train ride was almost like a local train ride wid people, pushing and jostling just to get a seat on dat stupid train… we missed one train, and den we got on the next one where in I didn’t get a seat again.. so we were making plans for me to sit on Aniluz bag, but an uncleji got up 4 me and I sat comfortable.. There are advantages of being a woman after all!!
We made our way to the caves through some 200-300 stairs wherein vendors sell beautiful jewellery. bags.. marble carvings.. wood carvings..posters.. post cards, guide maps etc… its beautiful to just look at… they r pretty expensive… I mean u get cheaper..same stuff at Colaba..bandra.. we took frequent breaks though.. we were sipping at nimbu paani..water….. and climbing where no1 went!! Haha… anilu was happily checking out firangi women… !! Oh and guys!! I bought a hat.. My bestest, the most beautiful HATS!!!

At last .. we did reach the caves… beautiful and majestic… the carvings were so big and huge.. there were a few shivaling temples surrounded by the huge carvings of Shiva Parvathi.. brahma….. actually a site museum has been established there to familiarize the tourists with the carvings… the interesting part is that the museum is completely in English. There were people who wanted to know wats it all abt, but language became a barrier. However, the museum explains that sculptures, the different forms of Shiva and Parvathi and speaks of the ancient Legends…..
We roamed from one cave to the other, climbed rocks, saw weird ass water tanks.. I wonder why.. for what purpose were these made…I mean, if it was just for love for architecture, its just beautiful… Its very exciting and adventurous for me to visit places 1000 years old… I wonder how they must.. how they must have travelled from land to these caves… who must b dose artists… hats off to them…
I bugged Anilu to click pictures at every juncture!! I guess I super bugd him!! Since it was a Sunday it was crowded, and we also had a hard time clicking the God.. everybody wanted to click him since he was the centre of attraction, but wen we didn’t get the opportunity, we started clicking each other! In the structures, we saw peple.. couples… sitting.. lazing… and the Bag Vala aunties were out wid d dabbas!! Oh, and yes.. there were a few monkeys.. being referred to as “hanuman”.. I mean.. luk at d respect dere!!
The journey back was.. tiring.. sleeping.. both of us were sloshed by the time we sat in the ferry.. and half slept…
I found Elephanta caves to be very exciting.. romantic place.. I would luv to go there again in the rains!! Guyz.. you are welcome to accompany..
(check out more pics on my orkut profile )