For someone who was bitten by the wildlife photography bug, constant trips to various national parks and documenting what I saw there quickly became a part of my lifestyle. This passion of mine grew to such an extent that I gave up my career in IT to pursue wildlife photography full-time. In this quest to do what I love, my trips around Kabini — a personal favourite — to the Nagarhole national park have been greatly educational and enriching.
The National Park is located on the banks of the river Kabini and it was identified as one of the few remaining natural habitats for Asian elephants. It was declared a national park in 1974. I make regular trips to it and it was on one such trip that I got to witness one of the most exciting sights. A resident of Gobichettipalayam, I usually hop on to to the Cauvery Express to Mysore and then take a cab to HD Kote whenever I am ready to pack my bags and set out.
On this particular trip, we’d set out to the deep forest, expecting to catch sight of a tiger like we had on our previous trips. Sighting an elephant, or perhaps a leopard, would only be an added bonus, we thought. But this trip offered way more than we’d expected. It was almost like a page right out of the National Geographic channel. We saw a tiger crouching behind a bush. It was lying low, waiting to hunt a wild guar (bison) grazing across the road.
As we anticipated it to make a move, it seemingly gave up the idea and walked towards the backwater instead. It looked like it had chosen a nap over its meal for the day. Even as the tiger was into its siesta, a huge tusker came lumbering towards the tiger. As we were waiting to watch what would unfold, the tiger was rudely woken up to face its natural enemy. Nothing could have been more thrilling for a photographer as the two big titans of the wild got into combat mode. Our cameras wouldn’t stop clicking. It was an exhilarating period that lasted about 10 minutes —- and ended, alas, in an anti-climax. The striped beast just walked away, looking boredof its opponent.
Yes, we did not get to see any action. But sighting them both and witnessing the tense atmosphere was enough to make our day and to make Kabini my favourite spot.
