“Tigers, except when wounded or when man-eaters, are on the whole very good-tempered…”, but, “A tiger that has made up its mind to avenge an injury is the most terrifying animal to be met with in an Indian jungle.”
~Jim Corbett, The Talla Des Man-Eater
India is a land of tigers. The big cats are India’s ‘national animal’ – a revered pride. Once abundant, their numbers dwindled in the last two centuries due to unchecked gaming and limitations of space and resources. However, tiger population has been protected by India’s fifty-year-old Tiger conservation program and a surging support from the masses for their preservation. Tigers live a hard life which is rife with violent battles for dominance, territory, mates, and food. Most tigers don’t live more than a decade in the wild. And most of them don’t become man-eaters. But man-eaters are what we celebrate and narrate stories of. These stories have been told by many shikaris (hunters), but none as eloquently as those by Jim Corbett.
Jim Corbett wrote extensively about tracking and killing many man-eaters. His books are freely available on the web for your reading pleasure. Unknown to many however, Corbett also tried his hand at photographing tigers. Fred Champion's 1927 book 'With a Camera in Tiger-Land' greatly influenced Corbett, who later in his career dropped the gun and picked up a camera. Using a Bell and Howell 16mm, Corbett ‘stalked through many hundreds of miles of tiger country’ for ten years but ‘did not succeed in getting one satisfactory picture’. As a final attempt, in the winter of 1938, Corbett designed a 'Jungle Studio… an open ravine fifty yards wide, with a tiny stream flowing down the centre of it, and flanked on either side by dense tree and scrub jungle.' Artificial waterfalls were created in the tiny stream to drown distracting sounds of the noisy camera. Then, he ‘cast around’ for his tigers and drew them to his jungle studio where he filmed six of them over four and a half months ‘in daylight, at ranges varying from ten to sixty feet.’ A bit of smart Googling will take you to these photos.
Jim Corbett’s tiger photos were on my mind during our recent visit to his namesake National Park. This park has the highest density of tigers in India but the odds of seeing one is often not great. While packing for this trip, I half-heartedly brought the 200mm lens along acknowledging in my heart the disheartening possibility of never needing this lens on the tour. With my limited time in the area, will I find a tiger to shoot decently? Chances, in my honest assessment, were slim to none. Such assessment almost turned into the proverbial prophecy. The park permits tourist only in open-air jeeps with registered guides and never on foot. After two such jungle safaris, I only acquired photos of tiger paw prints on sandy jeep tracks. Some prints were eroded around their edges, but others were fresh. These latter ones caused a bit of regret for missing the big cat by hours or minutes. Beginning to believe my own prophecy, I took a few photos of those paw prints. … 'Perhaps, these foot-prints are the closest I will come to a wild tiger.'
On the last day of our stay, we took our third and final safari around dusk in the Phato zone, a relatively less visited area of the park. The sun had rolled over the west a few minutes ago, and this three-hour long safari was about to end. Time spent in nature is always rewarding, but as of now, along with the reward, there was a tinge of disappointment for not encountering the jungle’s royalty. As the jeep slowed down to make a L-shaped turn, my sixth (or, seventh) sense awakened me from my stupor, and I looked far into the narrow dirt track we had just turned into. One and a half hundred of yards ahead of us, a bundle of striated orange mass was lying by the right side of the road. I alerted the driver, who immediately stopped the vehicle. Responding to vehicular sounds, the animal lifted its head slightly. Unmistakably now, a hundred yards or so ahead of us, it was a royal Bengal tiger lying in wait to intercept my destiny.
The next minute or two passed quickly as I handed Rishabh the smartphone and steadied the 200mm in my hands. I took a few long-distance shots. From Corbett, I knew that ‘tigers are troubled by flies and do not lie long in one position’. Now it was a matter of waiting out the tiger’s patience, which happened soon after. The tiger –which I quickly realized was a young tigress– rose with a dash of tetchiness, drew a visually delightful yawn, and started walking towards us. Her walk was slow, rhythmic, and lyrical – a visual poem. However, in the moment, an approaching tigress did not elicit poetry in any of us; as a matter of fact, a member of our group panicked and wished to leave. But there was no exit ramp for the jeep. We were locked in with the tigress and her whims. Quite whimsically soon, about fifty yards from us, she crossed the road and came over to our left side and kept walking towards us looking straight ahead. The dusk light was fading fast. I took a final glance at my camera settings and bumped up the ISO. The close encounter was about to happen soon, and I did not want it to be blurry.
As the tigress was walking past the jeep about 10-12 feet away, she turned her head and looked straight at me. My perception of time snapped for a moment as I locked my eyes with her grace. Time slowed down or perhaps stood still, I wouldn’t know. I did not see William Blake’s fire in her eyes. Instead, in them, I saw the carelessness of a flowing river. Later I would note that when our eyes met, her head was perfectly still for a few moments despite her body sustaining the forward inertia (note motion blurs throughout her body). I also noted later several lacerations on her body (most notable was the one on her nose), telling tales of hardships she has endured in her young life. Soon after, she disappeared like a phantom beyond dense bushes behind us.
She was no man-eater and therefore this story will very likely not find a long life out there. But in that moment, when both the tigress and I were bare without our shadows in dying twilight, and our eyes met, I realized the deep truth of my ‘prophecy’… I would not really need the 200mm after all. My eyes would be enough.
Tags: JimCorbettNationalPark PhatoZone India Uttarakhand RoyalBengalTiger BengalTiger PantheraTigrisTigris PantheraTigris Ramen Saha SingleExposure
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[Viewing recommendation: 80% or more monitor brightness]
In a faraway land somewhere deep within, the water fell in a hurry and sloshed up a froth. The froth silently billowed a mist. The silent mist gathered in the eyes and squandered the spirit. The defeated spirit stood in chilling waters with a hurting body and a melancholic mind. Time pitilessly hurried past. So did many trusted people. Loneliness percolated the defeated in silence. In silence, the defeated considered resigning. Letting go must not feel any worse than feeling defeated.
But then something bubbled within. Je ne sais quoi. The defeated looked up. He looked up at a mirror of memories. The reflection in the mirror smiled and nodded. He may have been weak, but now he felt adequate. The world has ignored his existence, but now he felt connected. Grumpiness and gloom made room for self-love. Self-respect. Self-adequacy. Forgiveness followed. He felt defeated no more. Instead, he felt moored… he felt beautiful… compassionate… and he felt tender-strong. His beary beautiful spirit effused. And sloshed up a froth that silently danced with his ghosts.
PS: Guess, who was I talking about above? The untamed bear from Katmai, you, or was it I? As you ponder, let me remind you that you too have je ne sais quoi and no matter how it feels every now and then, you are always utterly beautiful! You are you and that is enough! For the coming year and always, I wish you the deepest, kindest, and tender-strongest version of yourself. Happy New Year to you and your beary beary beautiful spirit!
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PS, again: As an annual tradition, I have curated ten of my personal favorite 2023 images, which are now also my beloved memories. If one or few of your minutes need killing, I could give you ten excuses to do so. Thank you for taking the time.
Older Annual Albums
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
Tags: Brooks BrooksFalls Katmai KatmaiNationalPark KatmaiNationalParkAndPreserve BrooksCamp BrooksRiver BrownBear Bear UrsusArctos AlaskanBrownBear Alaska Ramen Saha Long exposure Handheld SingleExposure
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In the 1800s, about 30-60 million bison roamed the larger Yellowstone area, a part of which was set aside in 1872 as the first National Park. To enhance access to this exotic land, the railroad arrived by 1880 and brought along men with guns and greed. In days to come, poachers like Edgar Howell rampantly killed bison and shipped their meat and hides back to the Midwest; an estimated 200,000 buffalo were killed annually. By 1890, only a handful bison remained in the park. Sensing the impending danger of losing the land’s prime species, the army increased its surveillance. In 1893, cavalry soldiers apprehended Howell in the very act of killing and skinning his game and charged him with wanton bison killing. Later, these soldiers posed with eight confiscated bison heads for a historic photograph that subsequently received significant media attention and led to a large public outcry. Within two weeks, Lacey’s bill was introduced in the house, and soon after passed without debate. The Lacey Act prohibited hunting, capturing or killing wild animals in the park.
Despite the Lacey Act, poaching continued shamelessly and by 1902, only 20 bison (estimated) remained in the park. To repopulate the park herd, Congress authorized $15,000 for the purchase of bison from private ranchers around the country. These purchased animals were combined with park bison and settled in a ranch in the Lamar Valley. Today’s impressive herd – displayed above – grew from it.
Roaming the Lamar valley on a partly cloudy day, I couldn’t help but fathom how this place might have looked without everything man has done to and for the bison herd over the years. It piques me that the Lamar Valley is often referred to as America’s Serengeti. Serengeti – I presume – is beautiful. So is the Lamar Valley, which – like every beautiful woman – deserves praise without parallels drawn with someone else. This valley of bison and cottonwoods is a canvas of the American spirit that raised from ashes of human atrocities into an incredible success story of resilience that will inspire coming generations to protect, preserve and celebrate beauty.
Tags: Bison American Bison Bison bison Yellowstone Bison Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone NP Yellowstone NationalPark LamarValley Buffalo AmericanBuffalo Ramen Saha Wyoming Wildlife BisonHerd Cottonwood CottonwoodTrees
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Standing alone next to a rushing stream under a cloudy sky, this Bambi looked lost. After putting down my camera, I did mumble a faint 'good luck' to this young fellow. I still remember his/her wondering eyes.
Location: Yellowstone NP, WY
Tags: Bambi Deer
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Within 25 miles of Cape Cod, MA shores.
Tags: Whale
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