An Elephantine Affair to Remember...
The Jeep is reversing on a narrow jungle track as rushed as it can. But over the loud cackling of its engine and rustling of the branches the jeep unapologetically brushed by, is one unmistakable sound - the hastening beat of my pounding heart. This is jarred every alternate second by the trumpets of the three elephants charging at us, their trunks raised, and their heavy legs kicking off the heavy jungle dust akin to leading the charge in a war.
In the still and noiseless jungle setting, the sound of every single elephant trumpet, coupled with the heaviness of their charge can pierce and shred every single assumption of well-being and security that you have ever had in your life. A panic that you have not known so far; a fear so primordial, not experienced so far..
It is clear by now, the charge is not a mock one. The elephants are sufficiently peeved to respond everytime they hear the roaring of the jeeps engine approaching.
May be half an hour earlier in the Evening, we had started on one of our routine Jungle Safaris from the K.G.Gudi Jungle Lodges. Nestled beautifully inside the Biligiri Rangan Betta Forests, it is a lush and dense forest to be in. The wildlife too is rich in the reserve, with reported sightings of tigers too. It is also Prime Elephant Territory.
As soon as you get a little inside the reserve, the sightings of chital, barking dear, jungle fowl and elephants are quite common. While passing by, the Jeep slowed and stopped, and our driver showed us a group of three elephants foraging under a clump of tall bamboo. Their heads were visible, as we patiently listened to the crackles of the branches being brought down.
Probably to add to the tourist experience, to incite a mock charge, our driver revved up the engine a couple of times, severely messing up the soundless jungle suddenly. The reaction from the elephants was swift. I could suddenly see three massive heads pushing up towards our trail through the dense bushy undergrowth and the trees. As soon as they were near enough to our trail, the jeep went ahead by 300-400 metres and started spotting for other wildlife. Until a minute later when somebody shouted 'they are coming'. It only took a look back for the driver to realise that the elephants had not stopped their charge and were still after our jeep. We zoomed a bit further ahead for a minute. A few minutes later, they were seen approaching us again with their heavy, but quick and pusposeful trudges. The couple sitting at the back of the jeep erupted again in a low voice; and this time, we felt fear for the first time.
I had seen mock charges being incited many years ago in Kabini, but they had not lasted more than 5 seconds. This instance, the situation was not resolving. The driver decided to move far off away and wait for 15 minutes. The place to where we moved and waited was where we had seen some other elephants earlier, but that was ok, since we had not messed up with these too.
Fifteen long minutes later, we headed back along the same single path we had available for the return journey, the path which we hoped would be clear by now, and that the elephants by now would have let down their guard and gone back to their foraging. Ten minutes forward, on that path, we saw the three elephants - one of them a tusker - charging right at us...! They were waiting for us.
The couple at the back was less frantic this time. It was me, at the front seat beside the driver, who was going "aa rahe hai, aa rahe hai wo"... ("...they are coming, they are coming") ...
The driver immediately initiated a reverse, and retreated the jeep with as much pace as he could. It being a narrow jungle path, with a blocking incline on one side, and the dense forested unmotorable slope on the other side, the whole thing was very treacherous. The trio continued charging at us, penetrating the jungle ether and our hearts with a bone-chilling trumpet every few seconds.
My mind racked myself to scrounge for possible ways deal with any potential situation at hand. However, there was no way I could be able ensure safety of my entire family with me.
In the minute or two that followed, it was only the driver's immense skill and probably prior practice which took us steadily backwards. Somebody shouted out to the driver a small clearing which would possible help us to quickly turn the jeep around forward-facing. He was quick to respond and adeptly turned the jeep around. At the moment he could do that, all the occupants of the jeep without exception sensed a moment-ful of redemption, before realizing again that the situation had not passed. We were still on the run, having failed just a few minutes ago at stealing a safe passage back along the sole available way.
We kept moving forward faster, knowing now the elephants would not stop either and keep on following the noise of the jeep engine.
I stole a look at the driver. He was visibly calm. That did give a positive thought in this melee. I did have an unanswered question though - how do we get back now? I realised the driver was already working on this question via his walkie-talkie. He was speaking in quick rural Kannada, and I was able to get only a few words. I saw we were now reaching the same place we had paused earlier for 10-15 mins, when a chill when down my spine when I heard him mouthing the words 'Dead-end...dead-end' a few times into the walkie-talkie. In between his interrupted bouts of wireless chatter, I hesitatingly asked him whether were were blocked now, and if we still had a way.
His response always was sparse - there is a way. I was hesitating to ask him often, not because I was afraid of a reprimand on disturbing him in his actions, but more because I dreaded hearing the answer I did not wish to hear.
He stopped the jeep and waited at the same spot again. The darkness was strengthening. So was the anxiety, and the fear was setting harder. The danger was becoming more clearer and present.
The wireless chatter was becoming more frequent. The individual decision making and efforts scope was over. Now it was clear that some guidance and decision-making was expected from some of the senior guys in the other jeeps in the vicinity. The message from other jeeps was unanimous in that the elephants were not moving away.
The tightening suspense on the decision and the stress thereof lingered on for more than what our hearts and minds were prepared for. The occupants of the jeep now could feel their muscles tautening and their hearts racing away, and their minds could feel the elephants coming after them, though they were not able to see them as of the moment, and probably a few minutes still far away. still It was ld have
Finally the driver revved up and entered a small wet mudpath, clearly grassed over implying not so frequently used. We asked and he said - another path. We asked and he said - half an hour longer than the normal one.
No sooner had we entered that path, than the jeep stopped again. A falled tree lay across the path. Nobody needed any coaxing. The moment the jeep stopped again, the 3 young males including me from the jeep jumped down instinctively, and instantaneously applied themselves hard to pushing the huge fallen tree off the path down the slope. It was probably the adrenaline pumping, because under plain circumstances I would probably not have even attempted this at all.
A few minutes were taken, but the tree was pushed away.
The jeep started again. We breathed a sigh of relief. The jeep sputtered ahead.
Nobody spoke. The jeep was passing through varied terrain. Sometimes on slopes, sometimes dense shrubs and trees, sometimes a small grassland type clearings within the jungle.
As we tended towards half an hour, the worry crept up again. It was completely dark by now. There was no sign of us nearing the lodge. On the contrary, we seemed to be heading into denser jungle.
A discomfortingly quiet unease enveloped the jeep. The fear that was being effortfully suppressed was the fact that this was prime elephant territory. Just three elephants had pushed us already to the edge of our courage and equilibrium. Herds of 20-30 elephants are common. Leave 20, just the sight of even a single one moving towards us would have left us unnverved whatever composure had been gathered by us. And god forbid, if a herd came across our path, and happens to get agitated by the headlights and the engine cum rattling sound, then we had had it. All without exception would have simply capitulated speechlessly. This dread I realised was in everybody's subconscious. When somebody broke the stony cold slience in the jeep by lighly mentioning that we would not be encountering elephants anymore, the mere mention of the word made the occupants gulp hard hard at having the already strained chords of composure pulled harder yet.
The queries started being voiced at regular intervals. When will we reach. another 20 mins was the answer everytime. We sat hard on our seats wishing those 20 minutes pass by quickly without our realising it.
The jeep stopped abruptly. The strong headlights of the jeep illuminated a huge dark animal. Our hearts missed a beat. We were only a bit better on realising it was a bison. He was glaring at the headlights, and ready in a head lowered butting stance. We hoped he did not charge in and cause any damage. I still sat tight ensuring no limb of mine was exposed out of the jeep, and tried to ensure the canvas hanging covered any outside visibility\ exposure - not knowing to what extent it might help.
The impasse remained for two minutes. The bison was not moving, or very little if at all. It struck me to ask the driver to switch off the headlights. He did so. Another couple of minutes later we switched on the headlights again. The animal had moved off further away, giving us space to move ahead. The jeep purred to life ahead, and the bison descended quickly down the undergrowth to the right of the path.
Half an hour later, we saw some lights, and hope suddenly resurged to the surface. We had arrived at a camp of forest rangers. Though we were relieved at seeing some semblance of habitation, I realised we were not welcome visitors in this part of the reserve forest. Nobody except the rangers were supposed to enter deeper till here into the jungle. The driver spent good time explaning the situation to the rangers and taking the directions forward. These few minutes let us find our voices again. In fact the let up was instant, so much that the rangers had to ask us to quieten down.
After the rangers had confirmed the deviation, we could start again. And we relapsed into our quietitude when the camp was left behind and we resume our jouney through the depths of the forest.
Another twenty minutes the driver said.
Everytime the jeep neared any clearings, I would be on alert to scan around for elephants. I had also tightly bound the canvas of the open window to ensure no reptiles were brushed in from the branches\ shrubs which the jeep was ceaselessly scraping against.
We kept on moving. I kept on glancing at my watch to follow the drivers 20 minutes. 20 minutes passed, then 30, It was uncomfortable as now there was no countdown; only a count up. The driver mentioned to us that a jungle lodge jeep was expected to come to the other periphery of the forest to recieve us. 45 minutes passed. Then an hour.
After surely an eternity, we saw headlights coming. When the jeep in front came sufficiently near, our driver stopped, shut the engine down. He hurriedly got down from the jeep, embraced the other driver and let his weight be supported by the other driver. He now let himself open up the floodgates which we now realised he had kept so tightly shut. The tears did not stop for the next 15 minutes. All the while for the last two hours when we were seeing a stoic face and sparse answers, he had been sewing his composure together with the same threads of fear that were running loose in his mind. Kudos to him. His stance and unaffected exterior and purposeful driving effort had ensured all the others who were dependent on him solely, remained manageable. His driving skill of course had also saved us earlier during the faceoff too. His discerning eye had also been able to snake his way through the unclear rained out unused path for the last two hours, a difficult and tiresome feat at anytime.
The two jeeps then together reached our Jungle Lodge in the next twenty minutes.
All the occupants of the camp were waiting for us in anticpation, having come to know of the situation.
We found that we had had to circomnavigate the entire forest and emerge on the other side to ar nother road flanking it.
The experience surely lent me a lifetime remembrance. I had felt Shubham at his 3 years might not have understood the gravity of the situation we were possibly going through. But I later realised that he did recollect some of the elephant chase. I also sensed he had imbibed some of the fear when, during our trip to Vythiri, we had to cross the Bandipur forest. He kept on asking me if we had crossed the forest already.
To tell you the truth, I kept on asking myself too...
In the still and noiseless jungle setting, the sound of every single elephant trumpet, coupled with the heaviness of their charge can pierce and shred every single assumption of well-being and security that you have ever had in your life. A panic that you have not known so far; a fear so primordial, not experienced so far..
It is clear by now, the charge is not a mock one. The elephants are sufficiently peeved to respond everytime they hear the roaring of the jeeps engine approaching.
May be half an hour earlier in the Evening, we had started on one of our routine Jungle Safaris from the K.G.Gudi Jungle Lodges. Nestled beautifully inside the Biligiri Rangan Betta Forests, it is a lush and dense forest to be in. The wildlife too is rich in the reserve, with reported sightings of tigers too. It is also Prime Elephant Territory.
As soon as you get a little inside the reserve, the sightings of chital, barking dear, jungle fowl and elephants are quite common. While passing by, the Jeep slowed and stopped, and our driver showed us a group of three elephants foraging under a clump of tall bamboo. Their heads were visible, as we patiently listened to the crackles of the branches being brought down.
Probably to add to the tourist experience, to incite a mock charge, our driver revved up the engine a couple of times, severely messing up the soundless jungle suddenly. The reaction from the elephants was swift. I could suddenly see three massive heads pushing up towards our trail through the dense bushy undergrowth and the trees. As soon as they were near enough to our trail, the jeep went ahead by 300-400 metres and started spotting for other wildlife. Until a minute later when somebody shouted 'they are coming'. It only took a look back for the driver to realise that the elephants had not stopped their charge and were still after our jeep. We zoomed a bit further ahead for a minute. A few minutes later, they were seen approaching us again with their heavy, but quick and pusposeful trudges. The couple sitting at the back of the jeep erupted again in a low voice; and this time, we felt fear for the first time.
I had seen mock charges being incited many years ago in Kabini, but they had not lasted more than 5 seconds. This instance, the situation was not resolving. The driver decided to move far off away and wait for 15 minutes. The place to where we moved and waited was where we had seen some other elephants earlier, but that was ok, since we had not messed up with these too.
Fifteen long minutes later, we headed back along the same single path we had available for the return journey, the path which we hoped would be clear by now, and that the elephants by now would have let down their guard and gone back to their foraging. Ten minutes forward, on that path, we saw the three elephants - one of them a tusker - charging right at us...! They were waiting for us.
The couple at the back was less frantic this time. It was me, at the front seat beside the driver, who was going "aa rahe hai, aa rahe hai wo"... ("...they are coming, they are coming") ...
The driver immediately initiated a reverse, and retreated the jeep with as much pace as he could. It being a narrow jungle path, with a blocking incline on one side, and the dense forested unmotorable slope on the other side, the whole thing was very treacherous. The trio continued charging at us, penetrating the jungle ether and our hearts with a bone-chilling trumpet every few seconds.
My mind racked myself to scrounge for possible ways deal with any potential situation at hand. However, there was no way I could be able ensure safety of my entire family with me.
In the minute or two that followed, it was only the driver's immense skill and probably prior practice which took us steadily backwards. Somebody shouted out to the driver a small clearing which would possible help us to quickly turn the jeep around forward-facing. He was quick to respond and adeptly turned the jeep around. At the moment he could do that, all the occupants of the jeep without exception sensed a moment-ful of redemption, before realizing again that the situation had not passed. We were still on the run, having failed just a few minutes ago at stealing a safe passage back along the sole available way.
We kept moving forward faster, knowing now the elephants would not stop either and keep on following the noise of the jeep engine.
I stole a look at the driver. He was visibly calm. That did give a positive thought in this melee. I did have an unanswered question though - how do we get back now? I realised the driver was already working on this question via his walkie-talkie. He was speaking in quick rural Kannada, and I was able to get only a few words. I saw we were now reaching the same place we had paused earlier for 10-15 mins, when a chill when down my spine when I heard him mouthing the words 'Dead-end...dead-end' a few times into the walkie-talkie. In between his interrupted bouts of wireless chatter, I hesitatingly asked him whether were were blocked now, and if we still had a way.
His response always was sparse - there is a way. I was hesitating to ask him often, not because I was afraid of a reprimand on disturbing him in his actions, but more because I dreaded hearing the answer I did not wish to hear.
He stopped the jeep and waited at the same spot again. The darkness was strengthening. So was the anxiety, and the fear was setting harder. The danger was becoming more clearer and present.
The wireless chatter was becoming more frequent. The individual decision making and efforts scope was over. Now it was clear that some guidance and decision-making was expected from some of the senior guys in the other jeeps in the vicinity. The message from other jeeps was unanimous in that the elephants were not moving away.
The tightening suspense on the decision and the stress thereof lingered on for more than what our hearts and minds were prepared for. The occupants of the jeep now could feel their muscles tautening and their hearts racing away, and their minds could feel the elephants coming after them, though they were not able to see them as of the moment, and probably a few minutes still far away. still It was ld have
Finally the driver revved up and entered a small wet mudpath, clearly grassed over implying not so frequently used. We asked and he said - another path. We asked and he said - half an hour longer than the normal one.
No sooner had we entered that path, than the jeep stopped again. A falled tree lay across the path. Nobody needed any coaxing. The moment the jeep stopped again, the 3 young males including me from the jeep jumped down instinctively, and instantaneously applied themselves hard to pushing the huge fallen tree off the path down the slope. It was probably the adrenaline pumping, because under plain circumstances I would probably not have even attempted this at all.
A few minutes were taken, but the tree was pushed away.
The jeep started again. We breathed a sigh of relief. The jeep sputtered ahead.
Nobody spoke. The jeep was passing through varied terrain. Sometimes on slopes, sometimes dense shrubs and trees, sometimes a small grassland type clearings within the jungle.
As we tended towards half an hour, the worry crept up again. It was completely dark by now. There was no sign of us nearing the lodge. On the contrary, we seemed to be heading into denser jungle.
A discomfortingly quiet unease enveloped the jeep. The fear that was being effortfully suppressed was the fact that this was prime elephant territory. Just three elephants had pushed us already to the edge of our courage and equilibrium. Herds of 20-30 elephants are common. Leave 20, just the sight of even a single one moving towards us would have left us unnverved whatever composure had been gathered by us. And god forbid, if a herd came across our path, and happens to get agitated by the headlights and the engine cum rattling sound, then we had had it. All without exception would have simply capitulated speechlessly. This dread I realised was in everybody's subconscious. When somebody broke the stony cold slience in the jeep by lighly mentioning that we would not be encountering elephants anymore, the mere mention of the word made the occupants gulp hard hard at having the already strained chords of composure pulled harder yet.
The queries started being voiced at regular intervals. When will we reach. another 20 mins was the answer everytime. We sat hard on our seats wishing those 20 minutes pass by quickly without our realising it.
The jeep stopped abruptly. The strong headlights of the jeep illuminated a huge dark animal. Our hearts missed a beat. We were only a bit better on realising it was a bison. He was glaring at the headlights, and ready in a head lowered butting stance. We hoped he did not charge in and cause any damage. I still sat tight ensuring no limb of mine was exposed out of the jeep, and tried to ensure the canvas hanging covered any outside visibility\ exposure - not knowing to what extent it might help.
The impasse remained for two minutes. The bison was not moving, or very little if at all. It struck me to ask the driver to switch off the headlights. He did so. Another couple of minutes later we switched on the headlights again. The animal had moved off further away, giving us space to move ahead. The jeep purred to life ahead, and the bison descended quickly down the undergrowth to the right of the path.
Half an hour later, we saw some lights, and hope suddenly resurged to the surface. We had arrived at a camp of forest rangers. Though we were relieved at seeing some semblance of habitation, I realised we were not welcome visitors in this part of the reserve forest. Nobody except the rangers were supposed to enter deeper till here into the jungle. The driver spent good time explaning the situation to the rangers and taking the directions forward. These few minutes let us find our voices again. In fact the let up was instant, so much that the rangers had to ask us to quieten down.
After the rangers had confirmed the deviation, we could start again. And we relapsed into our quietitude when the camp was left behind and we resume our jouney through the depths of the forest.
Another twenty minutes the driver said.
Everytime the jeep neared any clearings, I would be on alert to scan around for elephants. I had also tightly bound the canvas of the open window to ensure no reptiles were brushed in from the branches\ shrubs which the jeep was ceaselessly scraping against.
We kept on moving. I kept on glancing at my watch to follow the drivers 20 minutes. 20 minutes passed, then 30, It was uncomfortable as now there was no countdown; only a count up. The driver mentioned to us that a jungle lodge jeep was expected to come to the other periphery of the forest to recieve us. 45 minutes passed. Then an hour.
After surely an eternity, we saw headlights coming. When the jeep in front came sufficiently near, our driver stopped, shut the engine down. He hurriedly got down from the jeep, embraced the other driver and let his weight be supported by the other driver. He now let himself open up the floodgates which we now realised he had kept so tightly shut. The tears did not stop for the next 15 minutes. All the while for the last two hours when we were seeing a stoic face and sparse answers, he had been sewing his composure together with the same threads of fear that were running loose in his mind. Kudos to him. His stance and unaffected exterior and purposeful driving effort had ensured all the others who were dependent on him solely, remained manageable. His driving skill of course had also saved us earlier during the faceoff too. His discerning eye had also been able to snake his way through the unclear rained out unused path for the last two hours, a difficult and tiresome feat at anytime.
The two jeeps then together reached our Jungle Lodge in the next twenty minutes.
All the occupants of the camp were waiting for us in anticpation, having come to know of the situation.
We found that we had had to circomnavigate the entire forest and emerge on the other side to ar nother road flanking it.
The experience surely lent me a lifetime remembrance. I had felt Shubham at his 3 years might not have understood the gravity of the situation we were possibly going through. But I later realised that he did recollect some of the elephant chase. I also sensed he had imbibed some of the fear when, during our trip to Vythiri, we had to cross the Bandipur forest. He kept on asking me if we had crossed the forest already.
To tell you the truth, I kept on asking myself too...
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