How it began...
“This animal census is not a fun activity. If you are coming with friends, don’t think you all will be in one group. You’ll have to eat what you cook yourself. You will have to drink whatever water is available. Once you leave the launch and go in the jungle you and your group will be on your own for 8 days. There won’t even be a doctor available if you suffer an injury or snakebite. I repeat… it’s not a fun activity.”
Every single word of Mr Pradeep Patankar, Hon. Wildlife Warden for Govt. of Maharashtra, turned out to be true. Except one, “It’s not a fun activity.” Damn wrong he was. For 8 days and 8 nights we had twice the fun as compared to how much we roughed it out, at times 13 km. at a stretch. Taking on the mighty Sahyadri range, climbing mountains and descending the narrow, steep shortcuts created by the Forest Dept. But never once losing sight of our aim - tracing any and every minute sign of tiger existence in the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary.
A point to note is that this census is unlike any other census activity carried out in most of the popular National Parks in the country. How? Let’s first understand the basic difference between a National Park and a Reserve Forest (Abhayaranya). National Parks are created with tourism in mind, whereas a Reserve Forest is meant only and only for the protection of animals. So, in a national park you’ll find pucca roads which allow you to sit in a vehicle and move around. While in a Reserve forest like Koyna pucca roads are banned. You won’t find a particle of tar anywhere in the 423.55 sq.km area of the forest. All that you have for transport are your two own feet and pathways created by animals or forest officials.
Second major difference is that unlike Kanha reserve in Madhya Pradesh or Tadoba forest reserve in Maharashtra, where the terrain is a huge flat mass of land, Koyna reserve is made up of the imposing Sahyadri mountain range. Where at Kanha or Tadoba you move around in jeeps and carry out the census, out here at Koyna you move as fast and as long as your legs can take you up and down the steep mountains.
Third and the most important difference is that at National Parks or other Forest Reserves dedicated waterholes are created by the Forest Department at specific places. There is no other source of water for the animals to quench their thirst. As a result, all animals have to come to the waterholes at least once in a day and that makes their spotting and marking a cakewalk. All you have to do is make a ‘machan’ and sit at the waterhole and animals will walk up to you to give postcard-perfect pictures and hand pug marks straight in your lap.
Now picture this. The Sahyadri range is home to innumerable natural water sources and small waterholes exist all across the range. Often these water spots are deep in the jungle (in the context of Koyna Reserve ‘deep’ means high up in the mountains). As wild animals cover a great area in a day, they have multiple water options and go to whichever waterhole that is near on that particular day.
More, because of the dense jungle, the ground is covered with a thick blanket of dry leaves in summer (the time of census) which prevents animal pug marks from registering their impression on the soft earth below. Also, the entire Koyna region receives heavy rainfall and as the forests are on the mountain slopes, rainwater washes out all the pathways and in the process even pug marks. So fixed, marked routes are rare here and pug marks even more so.
Amidst these stark differences, we started our Annual census on 13th May 2008 from Bamnoli, a small village of 10-15 houses, some 45 km. from Satara. Ajay Bahekar and myself left Pune in his car around 6.00 am. On our way we halted at Satara for breakfast and to find nails to ground Ajay’s tent. To our horror not one single hotel or shop was open by the time we reached there around 8.30 am. After exploring the length and breadth of the city we found one Hotel about to open and one hardware store already open. We snatched the opportunity and completed our tasks. We reached Bamnoli at 10.30am.
We had to pen down our name, address, occupation, educational qualification and whether we had participated in a similar activity. This we had to do at two different locations. Thereafter started the crucial briefing on what we were to do and how on the next 7 days, till the 20th. The presiding authorities were Mr Godse, Forest Ranger of the Koyna Wildlife Reserve and Mr Patankar, both from Satara. The briefing-cum-training started with Mr Patankar touching on various points. Mainly among them, about the food to be carried, places to stay, general instructions regarding the daily schedule etc. Along with it came the specialised tips to survive in the hot weather, especially in the parched jungle where we were to go.
Tip no.1 – Without fail, drink hot water in the morning. By doing this you won’t feel as thirsty throughout the day when you’ll be at the mercy of the blazing sun. (this tip was forgotten the moment we left the briefing. Who the hell wants to drink hot water, especially when hot is an understatement for the area around)
Tip no.2 – Tigers and leopards are fierce animals but won’t attack unless they are provoked or feel that their cubs are in danger. But the most dangerous creature out there is the black bear. Reason, they are most unpredictable. At times they won’t even take note of your existence and when your luck is really bad they attack without any provocation. Speak to the villagers and you’ll hear enough terrifying stories to scare your wits out when you are alone in the jungle.
One ‘kissa’ I’d like to share here. There was one Mr Taale, a big mouth Professor from Mumbai, who was in the Vasota area. As per his team members, from the moment they stepped foot on ground, whichever villagers Mr Taale met told him the same story about bears and this freaked him out to no ends. The story goes, “One woman had gone to the jungle alone to collect dry wood as usual. After stacking the sticks on her head when she rose, she suddenly saw a black bear at some distance, staring at her. Sensing danger (villagers have a great intuition as to when an animal is about to attack), she threw down the sticks, turned back and started running. But what match is she to the mighty bear. In no time the bear caught up with her and guess what it did? No it didn’t smash her skull or bite her head off or tear her limbs apart. The bear did the most gruesome thing, it gorged her eyes out. Content at that, it left her blind and bleeding in the middle of the jungle. Luckily for her, she knew the way well and managed to reach the village to narrate this horrible incident.
Poor Mr Taale.
Tip/Rule no. 3 – No one is to carry any fragrance or cosmetic item with them. Everyone is to leave behind their deo bottles, moisturizing lotions, creams and all other items that smell good. The only smell will be of you. Reason, all animals have a very sharp nose and can detect smell from a great distance. Any different smell and they’ll hide
Tip no. 4 – Arrangement have been made at nearby villages falling in each group’s respective area. The officials assured us that these arrangements won’t provide us luxury (if neone was expecting) but they had taken care that it won’t put us into discomfort as well. How comforting!
and many more…
Then came the most important part of dividing (literally dividing) the volunteers into groups. We were 25 volunteers in all. To begin with, 8 groups were made and 1 group leader (person from the Forest Dept.) was assigned to each group based on his regular area beat. Then 8 chits were made with numbers from 1 to 8. Names were called out of those volunteers who had the experience of any census earlier and they had to pick one chit. They were to go in that group of which number they pick up. Then came the rest, like me, who were novices in the census activity. After two such rounds each group now consisted of 3 volunteers (1 experienced and 2 novices) and 1 group leader i.e. 4 people in a group. Our group consisted of me, Pratik Talwad from Barshi and Rohit Sharma from Satara. Friends were separated and the discomfort clearly reflected on their faces. Requests of pairing started pouring in. But the officials took a hard stance and made it clear that any person who had a problem with the group composition was free to quit and go home then and there. I was placed in group no.3 whereas Ajay was slotted in Group no.6
The discomfort was soon forgotten the moment Mr Patankar took to explaining the Census process, the pugmark identification process. He drew pugmarks of various animals, most important of all the tiger and the leopard. He shared invaluable insights regarding how to ascertain whether the pugmark is of a leopard or tiger or wild dogs based on its size. Also tips on how to identify whether it’s a male or female tiger were demonstrated along with diagrams. Generally any pugmarks bigger than 9 cm belongs to a tiger. Whereas leopard pugs measure up to 7.5 cm and wild dogs even smaller. One can easily distinguish between a leopard and wild dog pugmark as nail marks are easily seen in a dog’s pug whereas leopards and other big cats walk with their nails retracted inside and so nail marks are absent.
Post this, the plaster casting method was demonstrated. How to make a tracing of a pugmark first on the glass, then on tracing paper, transfer it on the graph paper and then take a plaster casting of it. Armed with these and many more valuable insights we proceeded towards our launch (boat). The clock read 5.30 pm. My group was No.3 and the area assigned to us was Mhalunge-Adoshi-Ravadi. Back then, we were as blank as you are now on seeing these names. They meant nothing to us. But things were soon to change and take a definite, exciting shape. Each group was handed a ‘schedule sheet’ which detailed which all areas we were to cover on each day. The last day i.e. 18-19 were kept for ‘machan’ activity at the waterhole, the most exciting part.
The adventure started the moment we boarded the launch. With us, in the same launch, were 4 more groups each heading to their respective destination. Barely 45 mins. into the ride, as we were laughing, cracking jokes and having a gala time, the launch halted at the banks and one villager alighted. Just then we spotted a man crossing the waters in a round shaped raft, cutting the water feverishly with one bamboo oar. The forest guards immediately sensed something amiss and enquired with the villagers who this man was. The villagers said that the two men were Biharis and were catching fish. The moment the word ‘Biharis’ reached our ears, the entire Koyna range vibrated with the cheer of ‘Jai Maharashtra'. Instantly the launch was directed towards the other side of the waters where the two Biharis were.
The senior most forest guard with us got down first with a walkie talkie in his hands. What he first spotted there was a mind boggling range of sophisticated fishing equipment. Seeing this he immediately sense a big racket and in that rage he hit a tight slap to the man. Seeing this all 18 of us sitting in the launch got down and started hitting them. Anti-Bihari sentiment was ru
nning strongly in every one of us and the anger was vented out. Just then one forest guard returned with a sack with something moving inside. When we poured out the contents, to our horror we found one huge soft-shell turtle, all tied and his legs sewed together to prevent it from escaping. This angered everyone more, as soft-shell turtle are rare species and protected ones. How dare these outsiders come to our land and hunt rare species. We immediately rescued the turtle and let him into the water.
More beating followed. Amidst that, we sent them to remove all the fishing nets they had cast. Meanwhile, sensing something big we started exploring the area around. One guy found a fishing net running from the banks into the water. When we pulled out the net, we were in for a shock. Tied to the other end of the net was a sack containing 2 huge soft-shell turtles. But both dead, legs sewn together brutually. These two men had kept the turtles submerged in water because of which they died (turtles need to surface to breathe). Seeing loss of such precious lives angered everyone to no end. Everyone waited patiently for the men to return and as they did, blows rained on them.
That was not the end. One Forest guard led us to a site where turtle shells were kept for drying. That meant these men had killed more turtles than the three turtles we had found. On more beating they finally admitted that they had been in the area for 15 days and had sold many big fish (weighing 5-10 kg each) and turtles to villagers and people from Bamnoli. That meant a big nexus between the villagers and these men was operational. I wonder how the forest officials were unaware of this unlawful activity for full 15 days. Were even they…
You never know. On searching their baggage we found many cards and names of people from Bamnoli. Clearly the villagers were aware and were supporting this hunt under the nose of the Forest officials.
We were already skeptical of the Forest Department and what action they would take, and our fear came true. We later learnt that the Forest Ranger, Mr Godse was very angry that we had intercepted the hunters. To our dismay the ineptitude of the Forest Department came to the fore and they let off the hunters for a mere fine of Rs.1100/- and confiscating their equipment. It was for us alert citizens that this hunt was detected and what did the Forest Department do?? Leave them scot free for just Rs.1100/- With this kind of policing of our forests, what hope do the animals and trees have of surviving. Couple of days later a local villager admitted that it was a well planned hunting expedition. The equipment that they were using was so sophisticated that it was beyond the capabilities of even the local fishermen to handle it and put it to use.
By the time this all ended it was already dark. We were way behind our schedule. What were we to know that more happening awaited us before we touched ground. 15-20 minutes later suddenly torches started flashing… one from our launch and the other a good 100-200 meters away. We could just see silhouette of a man ahead. After hectic torch flashing and shouting (communicating) between our launch man and the villager ahead, we realized the reason for this panic. Fishermen had cast their fishing nets (called ‘bhusa’ in local language) in the water and our launch was exactly in the middle of it. Almost certainly the nets were going to be caught in our rudder and they did. Dud… our launch stalled in the middle of the river, pitch darkness surrounding us on all four sides. According to the forest officials with us they had clearly told all villagers in the region to not cast their nets from 13th to 20th as launches were to ply constantly in that area. However, the villager feigned ignorance and said he hadn’t heard of any such directive. The fact was, were stuck in a web of fish nets. After about half an hour-45 min. the men finally managed to free the boat from the nets and we resumed our journey.
The first day had presented us with more adventures and happenings than what we had bargained. And the main Census activity, for which we were here, hadn’t even started. Only one night separated us from the activity for which we had waited so long and eagerly. The launch dropped us at the designated point by 8.30 pm. Our guide Laxman told us that we had to a walk of 30 minutes ahead of us before we reach the base village of Mhalunge. Worse, the other two groups had a grueling 2 ½ hour climb before they reached their village at Parbat. With the kind of group member they had, we doubted whether they’ll climb all the way. And rightly so, they all boarded a jeep and went up.
Meanwhile we continued our steady march towards our destination village. Laxman was heroically carrying the 15 kg. sack full of raw essentials on his head. While we had the census, the jungle, the animals already transfixed deep in our minds. Koyna here we come...
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VYAGHRA PRAKALPA - PART II
14TH to 20th May 2008
We were supposed to stay at the village Patil’s house at Mhalunge. But things are not supposed to happen as planned on such trips. The village Patil was not available at home and so we shifted venue to one Sureshbhau’s hut. All that happens, happens for the better! The next 7 days proved how lucky we were to be in Sureshbhau’s house. That night, his wife treated us to Pithala, Bhakar, Rice, Dal and Dhirda. Simply yummy! (in those conditions)
Fortunately for us, Mhalunge is one of the only 4 villages in the entire region to have electricity. This is not because electricity can’t reach at other places and the government is unwilling to, but just because of more practical reasons. The process is, when the government offers electricity you have to take a meter along with it. Now there are innumerable villagers who are so poor that when the government officials came to their village offering electricity, the villagers couldn't even afford a meter and so they couldn't get access to electricity. Without proper guidance and absolutely no education, once the chance is missed it becomes very difficult to find your way in the infamous bureaucratic mess and get electricity back to your village. Mhalunge village, because of proper planning by its villagers, is not only blessed with electricity but also with 24 hour of continuous water supply (at the two taps in the centre of the village). And you can consider that an ultimate luxury in the mountains in the summer season. As we witnessed in the coming days, one after the other, all the waterholes in other villages or in the jungles were Absolut dry with not a single drop of water inside.
The water story at Mhalunge is yet another unimaginable feat. It is one ‘Swades’ that has gone unnoticed. On the other side of the river is ‘Morni’ village and behind it rises the Parbat mountain, some 2500 ft tall. On top of the Parbat mountain is one of nature’s wonder, a pond. It is from this pond that the Mhalunge villagers have laid a pipeline that brings water gushing down hundreds of feet below to their village. Cutting the sharp rocks, traversing the crevices, winding down the tree dotted slopes and finally pouring out in the thirsty ‘kalshis’ and buckets of the 100 odd villagers at Mhalunge. What a great feat that is, at a place from which the nearest place for help is 1 ½ hours away. Be it a doctor or a veterinarian.
That night sleep came fast and sweet. It was broken equally fast the next day morning by the ear-piercing ‘cuc-a-doo-coo’ of the cock in Sureshbhau’s house. And not once or twice but it kept shrieking after every 10 seconds to make sure that we were sitting up in our beds (read mats) by 5.30 am. Not in our wildest dreams had we imagined this rude awakening by a cock! Nature called immediately. Sureshbhau had informed us that Mhalunge village was under the ‘Nirmoolan Prakalpa’ i.e. each house has an attached toilet. So no defecating in the open spaces and polluting the clean, fresh air with our toxic waste. But the river bed was too inviting so we submerged the Nirmoolan Prakalpa in Koyna and headed in nature’s lap. On returning, hot ‘pohe’ awaited us for breakfast. Also ready was Laxman, our guide and protector for the next 7 days. We quickly gulped down the pohe and headed out into the jungle on our first day of the Tiger Census.
Our destination for the day was a waterhole called ‘Jambhul cha paani’. Sureshbhau was to be our local guide as he knew the surrounding jungle as well as the animals staying inside. (Just for trivia, Sureshbhau is also the ‘Upa-Sarpanch’ of Mhalunge village.) Within the five of us, we had three bags. Two bags were with Laxman and remained with him till we left Bamnoli a week later. They contained all the graph papers, tracing papers, sketch pens, rubber bands, the square glass and other essentials for the census. The other bag was with me, which had two plastic mugs and 1 kg of plaster of paris, to be used the moment we spot the prize of Rs.111/- i.e. pugmarks of a tiger. (JFYI Mr Godse had announced a cash prize of Rs.111/- to the person who finds tiger pugmarks)
Thus 5 pairs of legs marched into the jungle at 7.00 am on 14th May 2008, in full anticipation of spotting herds of animals (like in Jurassic Park) running around us. We were confident that we’ll spot leopard and find tiger pug marks on the first day itself. First we negotiated a mountain climb which lasted for an hour. That was pure, unadulterated, moderate level trekking. That was followed by another climb for 30 min. and that’s when we finally reached the mountaintop from where we were to enter into the dense forest.
Luck shined on us the moment we entered the dense vegetation. We found the ‘vishta’ (stool) of a leopard. We had no difficulty in identifying it as it had many hair strands and some small bones in it. The size also suggested that it was a leopard. How could we miss that! (back at Bamnoli, during the training, Mr Godse had visually shown the size of tiger stool by making a big round with his thumb and the 2nd finger). We immediately photographed it and collected the sample in the plastic bags provided to us. Never before had we experienced such immense joy at handling someone’s stool! Laxman showed us a small patch of land next to the ‘vishtha’ that
looked scratched and cleared of the grass. He explained that leopards and tigers have a habit of first scratching the ground and then depositing their silt. So such ground patches are indication that a cat has travelled on this path sometime soon (‘soon’ in jungle terms doesn’t mean minutes before but maybe the night before or couple of days back). That done, we made the entry in the book given to us. We were to record every minute sound of animal we hear. Every sighting of any animal or bird was also to be recorded along with the location and the time. Since Rohit’s (real name Raghavendra) Marathi handwriting was legible and cursive he was entrusted (did we give him a choice?) with the book and recordings.One stool sample in our kitty, that too of a leopard, that too on the first day, on top of that within the first few hours of the starting of the census activity took our spirit to newfound heights. Hopes touched the sky and the blazing sun now felt like the cool moon. We surged ahead, now confident of even wrestling the tiger and bringing it back to Bamnoli with a leash attached. How naïve, we were soon to find out! The time was around 8.30 am and we were already feeling the heat. Where there was no tree cover the sun burnt us. Once we were in the arms of the foliage, the humidity sapped us of energy. In such conditions we had to keep our eyes and our thoughts firmly on the ground all the time (as briefed by Godse). A tough task that was. But what happened next made us forget all our sufferings. Barely 15 minutes ahead (I’m measuring in time because you can never gauge the exact distance in jungles. At times we used to struggle for 30 minutes through thick vegetation, making way through the maze of dry short plants jutting their thin, sharp branches out waiting to pierce our tender soft skin and clothes, and realize that we had covered barely a few hundred meters) we found more leopard ‘vishtha’, this time fresh. It also smelled of flesh. Barely a few feet ahead we found one more leopard vishtha. That meant that there were multiple leopards in the area. Not to mention, the normal procedure of collecting, noting down the details and then rejoicing on the find ensued immediately.
But we hadn’t yet found any pug marks. Not even of the leopard(s). Reason, every inch of ground was covered with a thick, soft blanket of dry leaves. So it was impossible for any footprints or pugmarks to leave its impression. Our way now took us on the edge of a cliff. On our left we could see the panoramic view of Kokan area. The majestic chain of Sahyadri range showed off in great style. Far beyond, nestled in the mountains, we could see an organized township of fairly big size. Sureshbhau shed light by telling us that it was the newly developed MIDC at Lotte village. Further ahead we spotted tiny fans. Immediately Pratik’s sexy Russian-made binocular was put to use and we discovered that the tiny fans were actually tens of milky white windmills operating with full efficiency. It was a delight to watch the huge blades cutting the air so effortlessly. That was Thoseghar, a famous tourist destination in the monsoon because of its scenic waterfall.
Within the next 20 minutes, we reached Jambhul cha Paani. On our way we found one more leopard vishtha. That made it the 4th vishtha on the 1st day itself. By now we were losing interest in stools of leopard. While leaving the base we had the notion that a waterhole will be the normal waterholes we see on television. A wide enough pond of full of water, dotted with trees on one side and high grass on the other. What we saw at Jambhul cha Paani shattered all the myths we harboured in our minds. Booooo to Nat Geo and Animal Planet for showing dreamy images of Savannah and Masai Mara. The famous waterhole was a small pool of water measuring barely a 5 feet in diameter. The area around it was all rocky. On one side the ground rose high and we could see thick jungle on that slope. The way we came was very narrow and covered with leaves. On the third side was a steep fall, probably it was a waterfall that originated from this waterhole in the monsoons. Because of the rocky landscape around and the leaves our hopes of spotting or taking plaster cast of any pugmark vanished in thin, hot air. Bang in the centre, on the way towards the water spot we noticed a squarish enclosure of 3 feet height, properly fortified with tree branches and stones. Laxman explained that it must be a watch point created by someone, maybe forest
Jambhul cha Paani waterholeofficials, maybe poachers. But even he wondered that how come it was so close to the waterhole and so low on the ground (though it was 3 feet high it was barely strong enough to hold the charge of a bison or wild boar). It looked pretty and inviting but Laxman immediately discarded the idea of us sitting in that tacky enclosure on our night of animal spotting on the 18th.
There itself, next to the waterhole, we ate our lunch of chapattis and chatni (the batata bhaji that Rohit had got from home had gone bad). Since we were at the waterhole where the machan was to be made, we started discussing the possible sites. There was a tree next to the waterhole. But Laxman overruled even that because the animals will easily catch our smell as it was too close. A bit before there was yet another big tree. But Laxman ruled that one out too saying that we three will not be able to sit on tree branches for full night. And what if someone falls off the tree at night. If you fall, you might just break a limb, but if you fall when an animal is present below then forget Laxman and Sureshbhau, even God won’t be able to help you. So with trees chopped off (as an option for building Machan), we turned to our 2nd best alternative. Laxman identified an area just above the waterfall for our machan (but on the ground). Its position was such that on the left of the area lied the waterhole and in front lied the jungle slope from where they predicted the animals would come down to the waterhole at night for their fill. We made basic preparations on that day, like collecting big but dry tree branches that formed the protective railing around our enclosure. Emphasis was on collecting dry wood as we wanted to avoid cutting of living trees. That also was one of the reasons why Laxman had decided against erecting a ‘machan’. A ‘machan’ would normally require lot of good quality wood for it to hold the weight of 5 men. And that meant massive cutting of trees (by retail standards).
Since morning we had covered and inspected the following spots, ‘Ghoghal Dhaar’, ‘Mhalunge chi Dhaar’ and ‘Pipal cha Paani’. Satisfied with our progress on Day 1 we headed back to Mhalunge village. By now the sun was at its best and by the time we got back to Sureshbhau’s house we realized that our skin color had already darkened. My neck suffered the most. It looked as if a black stalk of bone and flesh had joined my fair face above and my fair body below. Really comic. It was 2 pm. We filled our tummies with the lunch Sureshbhau’s wife had cooked and then headed straight to the village tap (remember the tap which is fed by water from 2500 feet height). A refreshing bath in the open, full view of the villagers awaited us. But who cared, all we wanted was a cool splash of water to wash off our tiredness. And indeed it was so refreshing that we hardly felt the aching or after effects of our hectic climb. Only in the afternoon when we saw the adjoining mountain ranges, which was the area we had covered, that the feeling of how tough it was going to be over the next 7 days sinked in. We realized that we had covered almost 13 km of area (including the climb and descent) only in our morning expedition. Phew!
Around 4 pm Sureshbhau left for the river on a fishing expedition with his small fishing net (bhusa). Pratik and I followed soon to see their exciting fishing while Laxman and Rohit headed to the nearby Aarav village to buy a torch and batteries (Aarav was the only hamlet in the vicinity to have a general stores). The river was almost a narrow stream where Sureshbhau, along with 5-6 young boys from the village were fishing. What they had done was they had cast the net from one end of the river to the other end so that no fish can escape. Boys manned the net at regular distance. The moment a fish got caught in the net, the boys would dig it out and fling it on the banks of the river. Vaibhav, a tiny 8-10 year old boy, was kept on standby on the banks. His job was to collect all the fish flung out and store them in a plastic bag. The boys catching fish had a great way of preventing the wriggling fish from escaping from their hands. They simply pressed the area just below the fish’s neck and ‘pop’, the eyes would jut out. That meant the fish is dead. Employing this crude but highly effective way of fishing they managed to net around 100-150 small fish in the 2 hour period. Quite impressive, isn’t it? The catch was then distributed equally and without any questioning among the 6 guys. Woww! That night we were treated to an exotic dinner of river fish and rice. Pratik and I had great difficulty in eating the small fish, high on bones and less on flesh. But we fought on and didn’t let the struggle rob us of the joy of enjoying fresh river fish in a desolate location.
15th, the next day, was going to be tougher than today as we were to descend into Adoshi village which falls on the other side of the Mhalunge mountain range. It was a long hike. Plus we were to carry our entire luggage as we were shifting base. In the beginning itself we were told that we’ll be shifting base 2 times during the Census. Our three halts were to be Adoshi, Babucha Wada and Mhalunge. Learning from the first day’s experience, we decided to leave early in order to avoid the sun as much as possible. The cock ringed… oops… cuck-a-cooed in the morning without fail. While we were at the river (you know for what) we were generally inspecting the wet river bank for any pugmarks left from the previous night. We found numerous pugmarks embedded in the mud. Most of them were of the cattle, some were of dogs (as we could make out coz of its nails) while some of birds, jungle hens and so on. But one pug caught our eye. It was big, wide, with a big paw, fat fingers and most important NO fingernail marks. We leaped in joy and rushed back to the village to fetch Laxman and show him our find. On returning, we found to our great disappointment that fresh cattle marks had further clouded the area. The only pugmark we thought we had seen some 15 minutes back was dismissed as that of a dog by Laxman with a simple nod of his head. So much for our alertness and jungle instincts. Humiliated and humbled, we proceeded towards our today’s destination Adoshi village. It was 7.30 am. Our plans of starting early met an uncharacteristic end because of the pugmark episode.
Nevertheless, it was a hectic trek. We were climbing, descending, negotiating the cliff edge, in the middle entering into thick jungle only to come out on another ridge. All the time wiping buckets of sweat under the hot sun and in the middle of the humid jungle. By 11.30 we came to ‘Babucha Wada’. The wada is actually a sole hut situated on top of the mountain range. All around it is dense jungle and on the other side is the descent to Adoshi village. In the sole hut a sole ‘dhangar’, Babu, lives with his family (wife and two kids). However, there was no one when we reached there. Laxman saw the two kids in the house but the moment they saw Laxman they ran away and disappeared in the thick jungle, never to return till we were there. Sureshbhau, being a local, knew the hardships of staying at such a desolate place. He told us that during summers Babu has to go all the way down, a good 1 ½ hour steep descend, just to fetch water. True to his words, when we visited the only well nearby, we found only a 15 feet deep pit with no water in it. One can only wonder how these people stay in such harsh, inhospitable conditions.
Babucha Wada was where we were supposed to spend one night and check the jungle area around. But there was no way we were going to survive in the hot sun without any water. We were carrying just 2 litres of water, expecting a refill midway. Finally with great difficulty and with very limited water Sureshbhau prepared Rice and daal for lunch. And we had an equally difficult time pushing the half-cooked rice down our throats. But did we have an option? We finished our lunch and then set out into the jungle. Because of the pathetic water condition we decided to alter our plans. We went and checked the surrounding area for pugmarks or ‘vishtha’ in the afternoon itself so that we won’t have to stay there for the night. To our dismay we didn’t find anything there. Understandably so, if there’s not a drop of water in the area then how will even the animals survive and why will they stay there. They’ll move to greener or at least survivable pastures. We wondered how the Forest Department didn’t realize this simple fact. Or is that they had never been to the area and wanted us to explore.
Laxman told us later that there are plans to demolish ‘Babucha Wada’ as forest laws don’t permit anyone to stay so deep in the jungle. It disturbs the wildlife and also they cut a lot of trees for their survival. Seeing the futility of the schedule we moved towards Adoshi village, a steep descent from there. The same descent which the the dhangar family at Babucha wada does every alternate day, or even every day. Simply unthinkable. But then, Impossible is Nothing. In order to reach Adoshi village faster Laxman decided to take us through the shortcut that the Forest Department had created for their men. We didn’t realize the seriousness till we started descending. This shortcut was nothing but a descent straight down the mountainside. No good footholds, no proper pathway, nothing. Just loose mud and a steep 80 degree slope, that too with our heavy baggage on our back. It was a real back breaking experience and took a heavy toll on our knees and thighs that day. With the 15 kilo (now maybe 13) sack on his head, even a seasoned campaigner and a tough local like Laxman felt the heat of the descent. Sureshbhau was anyways made of steel and it didn’t make any difference to him whether we walked for 2 hours or 20. He would’ve again gone back to work at the end of 20th hour. A real superhuman, though his thin body frame would suggest otherwise.
Luckily for us, we reached Adoshi village without any eventualities by around 3.30 pm. It was a ‘Gawli’ village (i.e. all the villagers were Gawli , a caste who tend and survive on rearing cattle) divided into two parts. One part which was on a height made up of 4 huts, while the other half villages was located near the river and consisted of 10-12 huts. Since Laxman himself was a Gawli, the hut where we were camping happened to be one of his relative’s. The first thing we did was drink gallons of water to replenish our body with essential fluids, and then we crashed in their verandah. Sureshbhau had some work at his village so he departed, promising to come back the next day. Mannn what stamina!
In the evening we went to the nearby waterhole for a chilling bath. We were fortunate to spot a water snake in the water but it immediately dived in before our snake-catcher Pratik could get hold of it. Later, while we were searching pugmarks in the area we stumbled upon a skeleton of a dead bison lying in another dried up pond nearby. The villagers told us that the bison had died after eating some poisonous plant in the jungle. As it goes, if an animal eats that plant accidentally and then drinks water, it effects seizure on its heart and the animal dies within a few minutes. The bison had met the same fate a fortnight back and was still stinking. Out there, what raised our hopes were occasional cries of ‘Bhekar’ or antelope. That meant that a predator was somewhere in the area. Most probably a leopard.
In the evening the villagers told us that the last time they had heard the tiger was during Diwali, when he had also killed couple of cattle from the village. That meant the tiger was not in the area which we were to explore tomorrow. Without exploring the area how could we be certain? One villager explained how. “When a tiger is up there, even on the mountaintop which is quite high, and if he roars the entire valley shudders. That includes every single villager, inspite of spending their whole life in similar surrounding. The roar is so loud and distinct that you won’t even realize that the hairs on your arms are pointing skywards.” Such is the terror of a tiger. And it’s the same all across. They say the one who has seen a tiger at close distance in the wild will continue to live the terrifying moment for 7 lives.
We also met a young boy from the village who reluctantly agreed to come with us the next morning to ‘Pipal cha paani’ waterhole. For reasons best known to him, he seemed very afraid to venture out in the jungle and tried his best to avoid us. He told us that he sells wada pav at Chiplun Railway station and had come to his native village to help his mother and father in the harvesting work. And so he has lot of work to attend to and won’t be able to assist. As we were sitting and chatting in the verandah, we suddenly noticed hundreds of big, black ants coming out of nowhere. Within seconds the entire floor was teeming with the stinging ants. Luckily they seemed to be in a good mood and didn’t sting. Guess these ants come above the ground only when the ground cools down after sunset. We had a tough time preparing the ground for sleeping. We slept that night under the open sky and facing the jungle that lied just in front of us. Secretly hoping that we’ll hear a tiger roar in the middle of a night. Or a leopard will ventjure into the village and we’ll spot it. Now that’s called day dreaming.
At Mhalunge it was the cock who disturbed our sleep and at Adoshi it turned out to be the stupid dog who couldn’t recognize its owner and kept barking at him at 3.30 am till the owner reached the house. As they say, every dog has its day. This dog had his night.
Finally 16th May, Day 3 of our census, dawned. As expected the boy ditched us and we decided to go it alone. We started at 7.00 am. This part of the jungle was exceptionally dense. Sunlight rarely touched the ground and we were walking on a thick blanket of leaves all the while. Laxman also didn’t know the way and we wandered off in the jungle, hacking our way through the dense vegetation. At times it felt as if the jungle was resisting us and preventing us from going deep inside. Finally after a bitter struggle we reached ‘Pipal cha paani’ waterhole, only to realize that it was in an even worse state than ‘Jambhul cha Paani’ waterhole. At Pipal… the water storage was lesser inspite of the jungle being denser. What a mismatch. After examining the entire jungle area we returned to base, empty handed. No pugmarks, no scratching on the trees, no animal calls. By now we had even lost faith in the term ‘sighting animals’. Back at the hut, we were greeted by a letter sent by Mr Godse. He had enquired whether we had found any tiger pugmarks. Balls we had! Even a layman would understand after roaming in the jungle for 3 days that a tiger doesn’t exist in this area. But the irony was that these forest officials didn’t. Godse’s letter directed us to take plaster casting of leopard pugs which measured above 7.5 cm. If the pug mark was less than 7.5 then we just had to take tracing on graph paper.
Afternoon was spent giving rest to our much abused legs. In the evening we went to the river that was a good 45 min. walk from the village. We couldn’t swim as whatever water was left seemed deep and the river bed was all soft, wet mud. Rohit and I decided that since we couldn’t swim it was dangerous to venture into it. After much hemming and hawing Pratik took a calculated jump into the river, only to realize that he could stand comfortably in waist deep water. Pooh! Even on the wide river banks we found no special pugmarks. Cattle and bison ruled everywhere. While returning we halted at the other half of Adoshi village. There too the villagers had the same story to tell. There’s no tiger in this area since Diwali. According to them the tiger has migrated to the Kokan jungle on the other side as it was denser there and water was also available.
While sipping on sweet, black tea we suddenly had an urge of eating ‘gavathi’ chicken. Laxman immediately enquired in the village if anyone had a chicken to sell but none were willing to. We didn’t lose hope. On our way back we enquired with any and every villagers if he had a chicken to sell but met with no luck. Finally when we reached our hut we decided to give it a last try and asked the owner. He immediately produced a healthy chicken. After negotiating we decided the rate at Rs.125/-. Immediately the ‘koyta’ was brought out and the chicken was cut. For the first time I saw the entire process, right from cutting of the chicken’s head to removing its feathers, chopping into pieces and finally preparing chicken.
Pratik, the master chef, cooked the chicken with whatever little masalas were available and we enjoyed a sumptuous dinner of chicken that night. What a treat!
You should know this. The dining are in this house was strange. The cattle shed was inside the house with no wall separating the living room from the cattle shed. So when we sat for dinner, the buffaloes used to be 10 feet away from us, munching on their dinner of hay. The whole enclosure smelled of dung and hay and it was difficult to ignore the slow, continuous ‘munch munch’ sound in that calm, serene surrounding. But what was one unique experience for us was a way of living for them. That night the dog behaved like a man’s best friend and thankfully didn’t interrupt our sleep.
17th May 2008 – Day 4 of the census began with no noteworthy event. We were to head back to Mhalunge village today. On our way inspect and explore the ‘Ravadi pathar’ that lied in between. Sureshbhau hadn’t returned as promised. We thought even he ditched us.
The previous night itself we had shot down Laxman’s plan of going back to Mhalunge by climbing through the same route via which we had descended down. According to him that would save 1 ½ hours of time. But our legs were in no condition to take on needless climbing and we forced him to take the normal route, which still was through gorges and jungle but less steep. Another hectic day, the 18th, lied ahead of us. That was the day for our ‘machan activity’. A day we had waited eagerly since the start. Little did we know that today was to be our lucky day!
The way back took us along the river bed. While walking Laxman deviated from the path and went away to inspect pug marks on the river banks. As we waited, he returned with a triumphant expression on his face. He had found clear leopard pug marks that were big enough to trace. Without delay we rushed to the spot and indeed there they were. Big, multiple pug marks, all leading to the water below. Overjoyed, we whipped out the glass on which the first impression was to be made. Then as Pratik transferred the impression on t
racing paper, Laxman and I measured the distance between two pug marks. That determined the length of the leopard. Finally the pug mark was traced on the graph paper and it measured a good 7 cm. Still it was smaller than 7.5 cm, as specified by Godse, so we decided against the plaster cast. Flagged spirits got a fresh breath of air on finding a perfect pugmark. Finally with one quality tracing in our kitty, we marched towards ‘Ravadi village’, our next destination before we touched the comforts (relative) of Mhalunge village. We reached Ravadi around 11.30 am. Ravadi was yet another advanced village (again relatively) in the Koyna belt. It had electricity and even had a primary school. We even met the very young teacher who hailed from Nandurbar district of Maharashtra. A very positive sign that was. But one thing that worried us was that Ravadi, as a village was much closer to the jungle than any other village. It shared its boundaries with the dense forest. How on the earth will animals come near. How much area does that leave for the animals to roam freely.
While chatting with the village ‘sarpanch’ he told us that he had fresh news that a tiger had killed a bison near ‘Chorvan Vaat’ on the Ratnagiri side of the mountains some three days back. Some villagers had seen the carcass of the bison and that meant the tiger was in the vicinity. Going to the Kokan side meant going back to Adoshi village, climb all the way to ‘Pipal cha paani’ and then descend to the other side from there. That was a good 6 hours of continuous trekking in the mountains, over and above the 2 hours of distance we had just covered. And that required superhuman strength on our part. The rigorous routine of the past 3 days has robbed us of that kind of energy. Only Laxman was willing to go, but not alone. He needed someone to go with him, but none of us were in a condition to. Later even he dithered. He had had enough.
Throughout our way to Mhalunge, we met villagers carrying branches and wood on their heads. Their path went right through the jungle. With such large scale wood cutting and disturbance to animals, their future indeed looks very bleak unless drastic steps are taken, villagers are removed from the jungle and are given alternate sites to stay. The task is surely difficult but not impossible.
We were forced to take yet another halt at a Dhangar’s hut in order to escape the unforgiving sun. Thus we reached Mhalunge around 5 pm. A trip to tap was warranted and it instantly infused enthusiasm in our body. We met Sureshbhau at his house and that’s when we came to know the reason for his ditching. His daughter was down with jaundice and he had to rush her to the nearest hospital which was a good 2 hours away by boat. She was still very weak and under medication. That night, as we sat chatting in his verandah, Sureshbhau told us that the sarpanch of ‘Ravadi’ had found a tiger pugmark on the river banks. According to the sarpanch he had erected a stone wall around the pugmark. Obviously he expected money in return for the pug mark and so he hadn’t told us when we were in Ravadi couple of hours before. This time we were raring to go back to Ravadi and trace the pugmark (as it was a straight walk). But Laxman was skeptical and doubted whether it was a tiger’s pugmark in the first place. He strongly suspected it to be a leopard’s.
That night a few more villagers had come to Sureshbhau’s place to just chat with us. Whenever you meet a villager at such places you are enriched with a stream of exciting stories. This night was no exception and jungle stories poured out like there was no end to it. Stories of the ferocious wild dogs, of cunning bears, of revengeful snakes and the mother of all stories of encounters with a tiger. But these stories will have to wait as they have their deserved space marked in the last Part i.e. Part III of the Tiger Census experience.
We bid good night to 17th May with our heads full of adventure stories. 18th was going to be a cracker of a day, and night.
The ‘Machan’ day
18th May was a Sunday, and it felt like a typical Sunday back home from the moment we woke up. All three of us, Pratik, Rohit and myself spent the morning lazing around in Sureshbhau’s verandah. Laxman kept roaming here and there, never once settling at one place. No bath, no going to the jungle in the mornings, no tension. The only thing on our mind today was the ‘machan’ to be built at ‘Jambhul cha Paani’ and the night ahead in the company of animals. In the free time I once again gave a shot at repairing my handycam but it simply refused to operate. Meanwhile Sureshbahu kept working tirelessly, cleaning the tiled roof on his hut (kaula) in order to prevent rainwater from accumulating and seeping down into the house.
After a filling lunch we prepared for our climb to the waterhole. We packed couple of biscuit packs, Rohit took all the farsan and ladus he had preserved from Day 1, while Sureshbhau packed 6 bhakris along with batata bhaji. That was for our night dinner and the morning breakfast the day after. I had taken a full sleeves Tee to protect myself from the mosquitoes and also the morning chill you feel in the jungle. I had also taken Odomos with me as everyone had warned us to mosquito menace at night. Sadly I had to leave my handycam behind as it was dead for now. We started climbing at 3 pm, in the peak sun. Pratik was sad since morning since he hadn’t spoken to his Mom since yesterday. A true Momma’s boy and a true Gemini too. When we got to the top of the mountain and into the open, the range returned and Pratik got onto his mobile without wasting a second. First followed a call to his Mom, describing how hard he was working and how hot it was. Then he spoke to his Dad about how the food was still not enough and nutritious (oh god!). Then he called his ‘Sir’ (Forest official back home in Barshi) and described to him what all he saw and gave him the status. Then he called his girlfriend and that’s when we finally decided to move on leaving him behind else we would’ve had to build the machan there itself. By 5.30 pm we were at Jambhul cha paani. We had already done the basic groundwork and marked the area. Now Sureshbhau got to work and with his sharp Koyta started chopping off all the grass and roots jutting out from the ground. Meanwhile we cut some small branches with leaves to camouflage ourselves. The ground machan properly created we laid blankets on the ground and took all our belongings inside. Soon it was going to be pitch dark.
They had corresponded the animal spotting activity at the waterhole with the Buddha Pournima which was on the 19th so that there’ll be maximum light at night. Unfortunately, dark clouds had made their presence felt since morning and the night was no different. The moon was nowhere in sight and soon it was going to be pitch dark. We quickly ate our dinner and braced ourselves for a night out, just in this case inside the jungle. Suddenly we heard a snake hissing sound behind. To our relief it was just Pratik inflating his air pillow. Looked like he had come in full preparation to doze off. Till sunset we could see numerous birds flying back to their homes. Some birds had decided to take a bath before they retire for the night. The chirping was omnipresent throughout the jungle. I put on my full sleeve Tee. We all had selected dark coloured clothes for the night, except Laxman, the forest guard who was supposed to know everything in the jungle. We were flabbergasted. But what could we do now. Just then two giant flies started harassing us. These are the same flies that suck cattle’s blood and even deliver a painful sting to humans. We had no intention of spending the night with these blood suckers. Rohit managed to squash one fly but the other remained on the loose.
When light started fading and darkness engulfed us couple of obvious and unexpected changes took place. First the chirping of birds stopped completed, creating a void in the jungle ambience. The next moment the chirps were replaced by the terrifying humming sound of thousands and lakhs of mosquitoes, right above our heads, on the right, on the left, here, there, everywhere. Without thinking for a moment I whipped out the odomos tube and we all applied Odomos on our exposed body parts, unmindful of the light fragrance.
We had three big torches with us. Sureshbhau’s torch was the most effective one. The big, square rechargeable types. Laxman disappointed in this department too. He had a torch which was hardly of any use in this pitch darkness. As all sounds ceased, I looked at Rohit. He was silent too. I was more skeptical of Rohit and his immature nature and had anticipated him to keep blabbering all night and disturbing animals. Even though we had conditioned him since morning to not utter a single work once up I was not sure of Rohit. To my utter surprise, Rohit behaved himself. And to my surprise Pratik, a self-professed avid nature lover and protector, turned out to be a complete fag. As darkness fell, the great Pratik fell asleep only to be woken up the next day morning. So much for being a nature conservationist and a ‘NisargaMitra’. Neways, ignoring him we sat with our eyes wide open, ready to spot and hear the slightest of movement around. Laxman was at the extreme left in the enclosure. Next to him, asleep, was Pratik. Next to Pratik was me, listening to his periodic snoring and heavy breath. On my right was Rohit, uncharacteristically silent today and Sureshbhau was in extreme right. So the two most experienced people, Laxman and Sureshbhau were guarding the two ends of our ground machan. Of course, Sureshbhau had fallen asleep, tired by all the hard work during the day.
We heard the first rustle of the leaves by around 8.45 pm. Every single muscle in our body tensed. Laxman motioned with his hands to stay still. The rustle was coming from the slope in front of us. It suggested to me that it was a bison but Laxman whispered that it’s a wild boar. Then it stopped at the top of the slope. And then it went further deep into the jungle opposite. Laxman explained in whispers that the boar must’ve caught our smell and sensing the danger went without drinking water. Phew! We relaxed our muscles and again sat like statues, waiting eagerly for the next sound. It was getting chilly now. We had only two blankets and a shawl between the five of us. Laxman took one blanket while Rohit, Sureshbhau and I were sharing a shawl. We even wore our monkey caps.
The second rustle sound alerted us around 9.30 pm. By now even Sureshbhau was awake. We froze again. The sound kept drawing nearer and nearer and nearer. Suddenly Laxman put on the battery and directed the beam towards the sound on the slope in front. In an instant we spotted a wild boar trying to descend down to the waterhole. This time it was the boar’s turn to freeze and it did so. For a second it stood still and then made a dash for the jungle. We spotted another wild boar along with it.
Sureshbhau explained when you hear a loud grunting noise or sound of heavy breath, it’s that of a bison. If it’s a low grunt then it’s a wild boar. And when a leopard or tiger comes, there’s no sound at all. They are the stealthiest creatures.
The next sighting was at 11 pm, again of a wild boar. This time the boar escaped on the slope and went below to drink water. Within minutes 3 more wild boars came running down the slope, as if charging at us. But they too went below the ravine, towards the waterhole. By now Laxman was also in sleep mode. It was only me and Rohit who were awake. We decided that we’ll take turns sleeping. But none of us could sleep. Guess we were too excited for that.
As I was lying back, waiting for the next sound, Rohit suddenly touched my hand. Something was moving on the branch just above us. We both froze in terror. Was it some predator? Was it a bear? Was it a leopard? Or what was it? Laxman was fast asleep, so was Sureshbhau. Then in the faint moonlight we saw the slim silhouette moving further up in the branches. Once the size of the animal was ascertained and found safe Rohit aimed and flashed his torch beam on the moving shape. By now Pratik had woken up, so had Laxman. We couldn’t recognize what we saw in the torchlight. It was a black cat, but much bigger and longer than our domestic cat. It was moving stealthily further up on the tree. Pratik immediately recognized it. It was a ‘Civet’, a creature that’s very rare in these parts of the jungle around Sahyadri. Or for that matter anywhere in India. We were the fortunate ones on 18th. Unfortunately we didn’t have a good enough camera to capture images. But our eyes captured and stored the rare image for a lifetime.
It was pretty chilly by now and it was a constant struggle to keep our feet covered by the shawl. More so because we three were sharing it. Minutes ticked past. Exactly at 1.15 am we again heard a loud rustle on the slopes. This time the sound was different. I woke up Laxman from his slumber. With his movement the rustling stopped moving instantly. We waited with abated breaths, hoping for animal to move again. Fortunately for us it moved. It came down on flat ground and cautiously approached the waterhole. We couldn’t see the animal but could only guess its location from the sound. Laxman was sleeping with his white vest on. Sureshbhau got angry and told Laxman to cover himself with blanket else animals will spot the white color immediately. After 10-15 minutes the animal moved back on the slope, this time going back to the jungle. Immediately Laxman flashed his torch. Half asleep, he missed the animal. Luckily there was another animal behind it and for a moment we saw what it was. It was a huge, black bison. The next moment is disappeared into the jungle. Finally after 5 full days had we spotted a bison in the wild.
At 2.30 am we again spotted 4 wild boars. This time Laxman was completely off the mark. The movement was somewhere else and his torchlight illuminated a different area. It was for Sureshbhau that we could see the boars. We thought it was better for Laxman to sleep else he would’ve spoiled the entire night. So the next time we spotted boars we never woke him up. By 3 a
m the activity seemed to have stopped. Rohit and I decided to catch some sleep, along with the others. But we snoozed with our ears open. Every now and then we could hear sounds. At times they were false alarms and at times real animals. We spotted couple of more wild boars in the night but soon got bored. 6 am came in a jiffy. When we woke up the birds had resumed their chirping. A magnificent sight greeted us. Clouds had descended in the valley and we could barely see the area around us. The weather felt beautiful, especially after our days in the sun. The surroundings had assumed a blue tone. We skipped brushing, gave nature some rest and headed back to Mhalunge village. Satisfied at sighting the animals, at the same time not quite satisfied because as we hadn’t seen a single big animal. Last time when we had been to Jambhul cha Paani, we had created pads at strategic locations. But animals seemed to have smartly avoided the pads and walked around it. Or animals had given the area a skip.
The descent was enjoyable as now there were no targets to be met. All our tasks had been accomplished. We had one tracing of leopard pugs. All our ‘vishtha’ bags were full. We had successfully completed the census. As we realized soon, some volunteers hadn’t. When Pratik got range on his mobile he called up Mr Taale (remember the ‘blinding’ bear story) to enquire about their group which was in Vasota area. Mr Taale’s words are as followed (verbatim), “Pratik aata asa bagha, tumhala mhanun sangto gele teen divas me gharich ahe ho. Kaay sangu, tikade maazhe khanyache khup haal zhale ho. Paani hi neat pyayla navhta. Mala te sagla nahi zhepla.” The next moment we all were ROTFL (Rolling On The Floor Laughing). We could visualize Taale complaining in his typical tone and then heading back to Bamnoli. We laughed all the way down to Mhalunge village. So one member had dropped out without completing the activity. As I later came to know even Abhay, my partner from Pune, had abandoned the activity on the 3rd day.
When we reached Sureshbhau’s house his father told us that Godse had come to the village the previous night and was enquiring about us. He told that Godse had come quite late at night and waited at the Patil’s house. He enquired what time we had left in the morning. We had told the household members to tell any official that we had left in the morning and not in the afternoon. But kids being kids, one kid from the house told him that we had left around 4 pm. No harm done. Just then Baalu Bhosale arrived. Balu was supposed to be our original guide but couldn’t come because of his daughter’s marriage on the 15th. Laxman was his replacement. Though older than Laxman, Balu was an interesting character. He gave us a letter from Godse which said that today we were to go back to ‘Pipal cha paani’ near Adoshi village, the place which was 7 hours away and from where we had just come the previous day. Had he gone mad! AS per his letter, Rohit was to accompany Baalu to Pipal cha Paani while Pratik, myself and Laxman were to go back to ‘Jambhul cha Paani’ tonight. Impossible is everything.
Baalu understood the problem and suggested we take rest at Mhalunge itself while he and Laxman will go to Pipal cha paani near Adoshi. You should’ve seen Laxman’s face the moment Baalu said this. That meant Laxman had to walk another 5-6 hours to Adoshi, climb for another 2 hours and then spend a full night awake there. His eyes were wide and we thought they’ll pop out any moment. Two minutes back when Laxman was overjoyed on seeing Baalu. Now he was relieved of the duty as the originally designated guide had arrived, through after the entire census was over. But things change in an second.
Yet, without complaining Laxman agreed. He had to. We all knew that Baalu and Laxman would just go to Adoshi and rest there. Keeping yourself awake on consecutive nights, after 6 days of rigorous physical activity in the sun is no child’s play. Not even Laxman could endure that. On top of that, courtesy Laxman not being from the area, he had mixed up the schedule and we had climbed to the same spot twice (Jaambhul cha paani), thereby undergoing more physical strain than what was expected from us or any volunteer at the census.
After a sumptuous lunch, Baalu and Laxman left for Adoshi via the mountains. Poor Laxman, but he didn’t have an option. In the evening we decided to visit the nearby ‘Aarav village’ where Rohit had met his heartthrob ‘Saakshi’ at the shop. Right from the 14th, Pratik was complaining that he hadn’t seen a single snake in the jungle. But today was his day. As we were passi
ng through the fields, suddenly we spotted a huge snake. Immediately Pratik’s face lighted up and after a bitter struggle he managed to catch the snake from a thorny shrub. It was a ‘Dhaaman’ snake, a non-poisonous snake that’s found only in the fields. It is termed as a ‘farmer’s friend’ as its main prey is the rats which are a nuisance to the farmers. Unfortunately, the villagers are so terrified of any and every snake that they kill it the moment they spot one. Even if it is a non-poisonous and completely harmless snake like the Dhaaman.
But if you think from their point of view, they are justified in doing so. There are also poisonous snakes in the area. A snake bite can be fatal in these parts as reaching to the nearest hospital or doctor is not easy. First, you need a launch for it, which is not available 24 hours. At times you’ll have to wait for 2 hours for a launch. Then the doctor is another 1-2 hours away. In all probability the clinic will be so ill-equipped that they won’t have the anti-venom dose required. So a poisonous snake bite spells almost certain death. In these conditions why will anyone take a risk of catching a snake, ascertaining whether it’s poisonous or not and the killing or releasing it. What if it bites in the process? Who’ll risk their lives? So they adopt the simple and safe way, they kill the snake when they see one. Sad but true.
Pratik decided to carry the snake back to Mhalunge to educate the villagers and drive the fear away from their minds. We realize how difficult the task is when we reached Sureshbhau’s house. The moment we said we had a snake in the sack (we had procured from Aarav village), everyone instinctively moved away from the sack. Even Sureshbhau, our local hero, sat 10 feet away. Later Pratik brought the snake out to give a demo. By now half the village had assembled to see the magic man’s magic (the one who handles a snake is considered to have divine, often black powers, by the villagers). The verandah was filled with shrieks when the Dhaaman was shown to the villagers. Questions started pouring in from all corners. Doesn’t the snake bite? Aren’t all snakes poisonous? Do you possess special powers that you can hold a snake? Are you a tantric? Can we catch snakes the next time we see it? And many more… by now they were almost certain that Pratik possessed black magic powers.
As Pratik was giving the demo to the startled villagers, suddenly a shriek pierced the atmosphere. Someone had seen death in the corner and had shouted in terror. We saw a jet black, striped snake sliding in the corner of the verandah. Pratik immediately sprang to his feet. Why, we came to know soon. The comparatively small, striped snake was ‘Maniar’, one of the most poisonous snakes found in India. And with 20-30 people around, at 8.30 pm at night, a bite from the lethal snake would’ve been disastrous. But Pratik being an experienced snake catcher handled the situation well and managed to bottle up the snake (literally) with bare hands. I’m proud to have assisted him, holding the Bisleri bottle in front of the snake, my hand barely 1-2 feet away from the snake’s fangs. The villagers were terrified on seeing the snake. But once the snake was in the bottle, they came near. Some just inspected it while the smaller members wanted to handle the bottle. Pratik then made holes to the bottle to allow air to pass inside. Now the villagers were doubly sure that Pratik was a tantric as he had captured even this snake, that too with bare hands.
Pratik later explained that back at Barshi whenever he is called to give a lecture on snakes, he uses a stick or a metal hook to handle snakes. This is purely for cosmetic purpose. It gives the people a feeling that catching snake is a specialized job and this discourages them from indulging in unwarranted adventures with snake without proper knowledge. We tucked away both the snakes in Pratik’s bag and zipped it properly. We decided to release them back in the jungle tomorrow. That night too we had fish for dinner. It was the last night at Mhalunge. We were to leave for Bamnoli at 8 am the next day morning. That night we enjoyed a content sleep. We had begun the census on an unexpected note, catching the poachers. And the census had also ended on an exciting note, saving two snakes from being killed by the villagers. And needless to say the 6 days of census was an experience that’ll stay with me throughout my life.
The next morning, 20th May, we bid farewell to Sureshbhau and his family and expressed our heartfelt thanks to all. Really, if not for Sureshbhau, our census experience could’ve been a lot different, not necessarily better. Whenever we were at his house, we were well cared of. On all days, without exception, we were served with hot breakfast of sweet ‘pohe’ (there they put sugar instead of salt in pohe). Along with it black tea, again sweet. Lunch used to be ready on time or whenever we asked for. Sureshbhau even treated us to a delicious fare of fish on two days. And never once did anyone complain or bicker about our presence in their household. If you see theirs was not a prosperous family. But they shared whatever they had with them with an open heart. As his wife confessed on the last day, “We can’t serve you vegetables or cereals as anything other than rice and jowri has to be bought from Aarav village and that is not possible for them. Rice is what they grow in their fields and so have ample supply throughout the year.
One point I’d like to share on Sureshbhau’s family’s generous nature. Since the rice which we were provided with was not of good quality (though expensive), they kept it aside and served us with their rice on all days. Looking back, it was impossible to survive on the ration that the Forest Dept. had given us. It would’ve been a hellish experience if not for Sureshbhau and his family. Thanking him profusely we headed for the launch waiting for us at the ‘Sangam’ (joining of two rivers). We bid adieu to Koyna Forest which had enriched our lives with a unique experience and invaluable memories. The census had brought us face to face with the ground reality and the dangers that threaten the existence of the forests and the amazing wildlife in it. We reached the launch site around 8.30 am. But since no other group had arrived we utilized that time and went to the nearby jungle to release the snakes. The boatman also came along as he was curious. For the first time, I took any reptile, in this case Dhaaman snake, in my hands. It was a terrifying experience. It didn’t bite, it didn’t even try to. All that the poor creature wanted was to escape to its natural surroundings and be left alone. Pratik also released the deadly ‘Maniar’ back to where it belonged.
The noble task done, we turned our attention to the other riches nature offers. The jungle was fully loaded with mango trees which in turn were fully loaded with the precious fruit. Competing with it for numbers were jackfruit trees, equally loaded with jackfruit of all sizes. Right from small, mid, large, to XXL. On our way back to the launch we were delighted when the boatman gifted us with XXL size jackfruit to carry back home. Finally the other two group members arrived and we left for Bamnoli by 10.30 am. The other groups had equally exciting stories of their own. One was quite unexpected. And if you think this is the end of our eventful census, you’re wrong. The census was officially over, but it was not yet over. Much drama awaited us at the Forest Office at Bamnoli.
I promise to share with you soon that and along with it real stories of encounters with animals as told by the villagers. Also, how can I forget the romantic story of ‘Vanraani’. Whenever I think of her, Laxman invariably pops up next to her. Unbelievable but true.
Till then take a look at the complete set of Census photos at the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dhavalr/AnimalCensus1320May08
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...continued
VyaghraPrakalpa (Animal Census) Part III
13th to 20th May 2008
Jungle Stories & the Mother of all Stories (the ‘Vanraani’)
Let me conclude my tiger census experience with a few interesting stories which the villagers claim to be true life incidents. All relate to their face off with wild animals in the jungle. All accidental, none deliberate. No villager wishes to see a wild animal or go tracing their path. They are quite content going their own way as they know that an encounter with a wild animal is the last thing you’d want in your lifetime. They very well know the reality and the dangers of facing a ferocious animal. As against, us townies, who think it’s cool to meet animals in the wild. Because ‘Ignorance is bliss.’
Let me take you through a few real life incidents which I heard from the villagers, some during our evening chat sessions, some sipping on the sweet, black tea during our brief stopovers at someone’s house, while some wading through the dense jungle with no place to escape in case of an attack. Even our guide Laxman was not far behind when it came to wrestling with animals and had one of the most astonishing experiences to share of his encounter with a wild bear. And mind you, I’ve seen ample proof by way of stitch marks on arms, 2 feet long cut marks on thighs and deep gashes on stomachs to believe their stories and not dismiss them as mere boastful talk of the village folk. That also explains why these villagers are not overtly courageous and do not tread where fools like us dare to. They know the feeling when your life is seconds away from being snuffed out by an animal charge. It is precisely this feeling that we are unaware of and so feel courageous to take on the jungle.
FYI, during our machan stay at Jambhul cha Paani waterhole, the most nervous person was ironically the most experienced and knowledgeable person in that situation, Sureshbhau. He knew the jungle in an out, knew where you can spot animals, their habits and which animal behaves in which manner. But one look at his face when the light started fading that night was good enough for you gauge the dangers lurking in the jungle at every corner. If you are fortunate or if your luck line runs long you’ll walk right past these dangers. If not, you’ll walk right into them. Sureshbhau very well knew that. As they say, again, ‘Ignorance is bliss’, and we were very much close to being in utmost bliss on that particular night.
While we were at Adoshi, on the night when Pratik was busy preparing the delicious chicken, one villager or Laxman’s relative got going and shared his encounters with us. Here’s the first.
“I once went along with a fellow villager on a routine wood cutting trip in the jungle. We were walking on the path we could tread blindly by now. But that day didn’t seem to be a particularly auspicious day, or maybe it was. So as we were walking through the dense jungle we approached a turning around the bush. Not sensing anything unusual, we carried on. Sweat glands exploded the moment we came near the bush. We saw a huge bison in the bush, huffing and panting. We instantly knew that it was going to attack.”
Apparently the bison must have been feeding when these two men came. Sensing danger the bison must have froze on the spot. When the men still kept coming and came dangerously close, the bison did the only thing it knows in such situations, it charged at the men. And seeing a 1.5 ton hood charging at you at 40 miles an hour can drain away the energy from your legs in a jiffy.
“But we, being the hardy men from the village, turned back and broke into a run with the bison at our heels. I was behind so when we turned and started running I was automatically ahead. I don’t know what came to my mind at that point of time and I dived to my right into the thick growth and kept moving. Before my fellow villager could evade the bison, the bison struck with its razor sharp horns. The bison gorged him and his horns ripped his thigh apart. The impact of the 1 ton+ bison was so huge that while he was being gorged he was flung in the air and landed hard on the ground a couple of meters away. With both of us now out of his way, the bison had space to escape which it earlier didn’t have and it ran off. Its intent was not to attack us but it was self-defense and it escaped in the jungle, not once turning back to attack or kill.”
But his self-defense left one person with a slashed thigh. Had the horn struck a few inches up, it would’ve ruptured the man’s spinal cord and that meant death in an instant. It was escaping by your skin’s teeth, literally. Fortunately, the villager who had survived the gruesome attack was right there, sitting with us and listening to the story. To prove the point he immediately lifted his ‘dhoti’ a bit and showed us the long, black scar the bison had left on his thigh. Having escaped death once, we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s extra cautious and looks nervous the next time he ventures out in the jungle.
The other interesting talk used to be about tigers. Almost all the villagers we met were in awe of the tiger. “You’ll not see a bigger animal than the tiger”, they would say. And along with this they would invariably join their two palms together to show the huge size a tiger’s paw. Even if you consider that an exaggeration, it still gives you a fair idea how big and powerful a tiger’s paw is. In the beginning the Forest Officer, Godse, had cautioned us about the talk difference between us and the villagers. We, in Marathi, call the tiger a ‘waagh’ and the leopard a ‘bibatya’. But in the Koyna belt, a leopard is called ‘waagh’ or ‘bibat’. And the tiger has only one unmistakable name. It is called ‘Dhaanya’ and the moment you ask them, “have you see a ‘dhanya waagh’, you’ll see eyes widening, terror in them. When we used to ask whether they had heard a tiger in the area recently or know of its existence they would laugh and say, “What do you think, the tiger stays at one place? It travels great distances. One day it might be on this mountain while the next day it might be miles away. But if the tiger would’ve been here then you wouldn’t’ have been able to sleep. When it roars on the mountaintop, every person shivers down here. Such is his terrifying and loud roar.”
The day we returned to Mhalunge from Adoshi the night turned out to be a perfect setting for stories. There were the four of us, Sureshbhau, his old but agile father, and another man from the village (he was considered as the most fearless man in the village). One after the other stories started pouring out. We began with discussing why there are so few animals left in the jungle and that’s when Sureshbhau shed light over a very interesting and logical fact. He told us that couple of months back this jungle was infested with packs of wild dogs. And we all know wild dogs are very efficient and relentless hunters. “It is they who have wiped out the entire deer population”, said Sureshbhau. “They come in large packs and attack. They are not even afraid of villagers or of sound or din.”
With that one more story tumbled out. Continued Sureshbhau, “Couple of months back we heard a deer barking in the jungle behind us one night. It was followed by sounds of wild dogs. We instantly sensed that wild dogs are hunting the deer. The sounds swiftly shifted towards the river bank. That meant a chase was on. Suddenly the sounds stopped. By then many villagers had gathered in the centre of the village as the dogs were very close to their village. We immediately set out towards the sounds to drive the dogs away. It was barely 10 minutes and we saw the carcass of the deer near the river. To our utter surprise, within that short span of 10 minutes we took to get there, the dogs had eaten 3/4th of the deer and all that remained was a skeleton and a bit of flesh here and there.” Sureshbhau’s eyes were big and wide and we could see sheer appreciation for the dogs in his eyes. With such appetite and ravaging spirit little wonder the animals vanished in thin air.
Another story regarding wild dogs was terrifying just to imagine. Yet another night the Mhalunge villagers heard unusually loud sounds of wild dogs in the jungle on the mountains behind the village. Sensing danger the villagers rushed at the base of the mountain with drums, whistles and utensils to create a din and drive them away. When they flashed light on the mountain, a chilling sight greeted them. The entire mountainside was teeming with wild dogs. They were spread all over the slopes. It was like an attack by an army of wild dogs. By the villagers’ estimate they must be numbering at least 50 and all ferocious and determined. The villagers instantly created a huge din with whatever they could gather. But this failed to deter the dogs. They just stood aggressively on the mountain, within striking distance. By now the villagers were seriously worried. What if all 50 dogs attack the village. It would be virtually impossible to save the livestock and even small kids from their meticulously planned attack. So they started waving their bamboo sticks in order to scare off the dogs. But the dogs stood their ground staring back at the villagers. Now the villagers were convinced that the dogs were going to attack any time. Just then a villager picked up a stone and hurled it towards the dogs. The moment the stone was hurled the dogs started dispersing. What a great din couldn’t do, a single stone did. The villagers don’t know why and how that happened. But it happened and they heaved a sigh of relief.
The moral of the story is never underestimate wild dogs. They might be small in size and much less intimidating. But they make up for it with their unbelievably well-planned attacks and unity. We had discovered a new, amazing creature that night.
But the story that takes the cake is by Laxman. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or hail him as the hero of the jungle. This happened on the first day of our census. On reaching Sureshbhau’s house, we were eating the staple dinner of rice and dal. That’s when Laxman started, probably wanted to impress Sureshbhau and maybe us newcomers. If you don’t know, Laxman is the only Forest Guard with the Forest Department who claims to have seen the tiger in the wild in the Koyna belt. There’s no way of verifying since the Department doesn’t have a camera so no records are possible. So we were quite happy to have him as our guide. And how did he see the tiger?
“I was 13 years old then. My village is near Vasota, an area which has the densest forest cover. I was walking on the pathway in the forest one fine morning. Suddenly I saw a tiger emerging from the bushes on the left of the pathway. He was obviously crossing when his sight fell on me, a poor, tiny 13 year old boy. I was shit scared and started counting my last moments. I froze on the spot. Even if I wanted to run I couldn’t have because I was terrorised to no ends. But the tiger didn’t seem to have an appetite for just bones for breakfast so it looked at me and then looked the other way as if dismissing me and started walking ahead. Seeing this I immediately retracted a few steps, but without turning my back to the tiger. An amazing thing happened. The tiger just looked back over his shoulders and looked straight into my eyes as if to warn me not to cross his path again. It kept looking at me for a while and then strode away. And here I am, living and still roaming in the jungles at this age.” FYI the sturdy looking Laxman, with jet black hair and slender body packed with tons of stamina, has three kids. The eldest, a daughter, is happily married and so is her younger sister. The youngest son is studying. And Laxman’s age is a cool 43 years.
But this is not the story I was mentioning about. During the same dining session Laxman pulled out the best story which is also his worst out of his memory bag. Here’s how it goes…
“Bears. You don’t know how dangerous they are. I know it. Once a black bear attacked me. I was young and strong then (he still is). When it attacked, I instantly held both his arms and didn’t let him hit me. Usually one hit by the bear and one part of your body is gone. But I fought on. I could see his finger long teeth 2 inches away from my face but I courageously held his arms for a full half an hour. I never once lose my balance or fell down. I knew if I had fallen down then the bear would’ve snapped at my neck in a second and I would’ve been dead. After a long time the bear finally relented left Laxman alone.”
Waah Laxman waah. We literally didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We couldn’t do either.
‘Vanraani’
The Queen of all the stories happens to be the episode of Vanraani. The lead characters of the story were of course ‘Vanraani’ and Laxman. While the audience was me, Pratik and Rohit. Sureshbhau joined in later.
One fine morning (on the 2nd day) at Mhalunge village the cock was at its crooning best. We grudgingly woke up only to realize that it was still 6 am. But what greeted our eyes made us sit up and take notice. Laxman was sitting in the verandah, visibly fresh after a bath. He was holding a small travel mirror in his hand and was combing his moustache, taming and moulding each and every hair with utmost care. He didn’t even realize when we came and stood there with our mouths open. Even when we were joking and pulling his leg he just smiled shyly, but never revealed anything specific. Even we didn’t suspect anything out here in the midst of the jungle. That day we were to go to ‘Babucha Wada’, which is a lone hut situated right on the top of the mountain with the Ravadi valley on one side and the jungle on the other. We reached the hut around 11.30 am. Since morning Laxman seemed very restless and in a hurry. We thought that since the distance to be covered was great he must be hurrying us up.
When we reached Babucha Wada, Laxman saw two small kids in the hut. But before Laxman could speak to them and ask about Babu’s whereabouts the kids ran way and disappeared in the jungle, never to return till we were there for the next few hours. Just then two women appeared out of nowhere. They had also come to meet Babu. Sureshbhau knew them well and so he and Laxman chatted with them for a few minutes. As Laxman came inside the hut to get something, he realized that the women had taken the opportunity and vanished. After that, every 5 minutes Laxman used to wonder aloud, “chyayla tya baya kashala palun gelya astil? Sangitla hi nahi Babu kuthe gela te.” (why the hell did the women run away? Didn’t even say where Babu is) This wondering was followed by, “ani ti pora kuthe geli saali, tyanni tari sangitla asta Babu kuthe hai te.” (and where have the bloody boys gone? At least they should’ve told us where Babu is) If we heard this every 5 minutes then “kiti yel lagel Babu ani tyacha bayko la yayla?” (how much time before Babu and his wife will return?) pakaoed our ears after every 2 minutes. He literally haunted Sureshbhau with this question as if Sureshbhau knew where Babu had gone. Later when we were resting in the hut again Laxman started hurrying up. So we finally made up our minds to bear the scorching sun and loaded ourselves with the luggage. As we came out of the hut Laxman suggested, rather insisted that we go ahead and relax in the shade of a tree while he’ll search the jungle and join us. We were surprised as to how suddenly Laxman had transformed and was not suggesting us to rest and relax. That surely was not Laxman.
Laxman constantly asking for Babu and his wife in particular. Asking us to go ahead and rest under a tree. He himself being so restless since morning. I sensed something fishy but was not sure what. While descending down the 80 degree steep slope Laxman restlessness finally got the better of him and he uttered the word, “Vanraani”. And we latched on to it thereon. On constant pestering Laxman finally revealed that Babu’s wife was called ‘Vanraani’. But he was not ready to divulge any more details. Even Sureshbhau seemed to know Vanraani the moment he heard the name.
Thereon, we didn’t leave a single instance to tease Laxman over Vanraani. Finally he relented. And we came to know the shocking, unimaginable story behind Vanraani and why Laxman was so infatuated by her. Vanraani is actually the wife of Babu, the dhangar. Babu is a very old man (in his 50s) but Vanraani, as his wife is fondly known, is a young damsel with striking beauty. And imagine such a beauty staying alone with her old husband, at an isolated spot on the mountain. Before Laxman, reluctantly and shyly, spelled it out, we knew. Vanraani was the amrut who quenched the thirst of these men in the arid mountains. She was the ‘raani’ who breathed freshness into the lives of these men who often frequented Babu’s hut. And you know why!
We were shocked to hear the story. We had never imagined that the world’s oldest profession existed even at such remote location, where water might be hard to find but not a woman. Shocking but true. That’s the story of Vanraani, whom we never saw but her stories kept us entertained throughout the Census journey. Laxman was so infatuated by Vanraani that when we were at Adoshi village, he even suggested that we go back to Mhalunge via Babucha Wada on the 4th day. And his reasoning was that it was a short cut and we’ll reach Mhalunge faster. We all knew that though it was a shortcut, but the climb was so treacherous in the hot sun that it would’ve taken us twice the time. But Laxman was ready to bear all this and more. Only for the one and only reason… Vanraani!
So that’s my Animal Census experience. A great experience, nonetheless. The excitement and adventure that began from Day 1 ended only the 8th day i.e. 20th May. But the memories will live on forever.
And what an experience that was. Catching snakes, carrying home 7 kg jackfruit, the ever-courteous Sureshbhau and his family, the unhelpful Adoshi villagers, the young and the restless Laxman, the malnourished ‘waterholes’, the night of the ‘Machan’ and much more… And of course how can I forget her, the great, mystical Vanraani. We swore that the next time we come to Koyna we won’t leave without a visit to the Vanraani!
You can view the Census photos at the link below:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dhavalr/AnimalCensus1320May08
2 comments:
Lovely writeup. You really had a gr8 time in Jungles of Koyna. The 'vanraani' part was hilarious!
Thanks Hrishikesh... yeah it was an amazing experience in the virgin jungles of Koyna backwaters. A tough one without any comforts but worth an experience
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