Bandicoot Travels

From Kipling’s Meet the Tigers to Wordsworth’s Daffodils and More, we now come to the last part of the wonderful Bandipur- Coonoor- Ooty (Bandi-co-ot) travel where we meet some faces we never will forget.

Spreading Fragrance

In Ooty, the tourist booklets and guides will talk about many beautiful gardens and viewing points but rarely will they recommend a visit to the Toda Village. Toda’s a Dravidian ethnic group and is one of the three prominent tribal factions in the Nilgiris. We hired an auto whose driver, too, was not keen to take us to see what remained of the Toda village. Here we met a pretty looking girl and her grandmother Vasamalli who spoke in good fluent English. We saw a couple of thatched houses which appeared different from normal village homes as these were in the shape of half-barrels. We were told that these were the temples where we could go but had to leave our footwear behind. Since the distance was quite a bit and the land was full of mud and cattle dung, we decided not to venture beyond the pucca houses the government has constructed for the tribals. Vasamalli is the first woman graduate of the Toda community and is involved in their betterment through community work with the help of district administration. Vasamalli showed us the traditional embroidery of red and black over white cloth and we felt obliged to buy a small sling bag we knew we were over paying but did not hesitate to pay as it was for a good cause. The smile on her granddaughter’s face was the best acknowledgement we could have hoped for. Vasamalli was living up to her name which meant Jasmine and spreading fragrance. 

                                                                                  

Gone in Sixty Seconds

Nikhil, our tourist cab driver at Coonoor, was a pleasant and talkative person who kept us engrossed in the little interesting stories about each place we visited.  Our first stop was a tea garden called Singara which is spread over a huge mass of land. We were told that this tea garden is owned by none other than film actress Mumtaz and her husband, Mayur Madhvani. We stopped the car, went around walking and posing as Nikhil kept clicking pictures of us as neither of us was good at taking selfies. I was hoping that from the slopes of the green tea bushes would emerge Mumtaz in her typical style of a bright saffron saree tightly wrapped around her and singing, “Aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche….” I am sure she was there somewhere but thanks to the famous Coonoor mist, I could not see her. 

Coonoor is truly mystic and misty. One minute you can see the blue hills and the next it is gone. We were taken to a famous spot called Dolphin’s Nose from where we could possibly see the water falls and some more sights. A look at the two pictures below, taken at an interval of less than sixty seconds, will show you how the mist envelopes the place. No wonder exactly a week later, the CDS flying into Wellington from Sulur Airbase in a chopper crashed…while special investigation will find the real reason, my guess is, it would be the weather…gone in sixty seconds! Incidentally, this area, around Wellington, Coonoor and a little distance away Madekeri, is now, in some manner, the resting place of the three highest ranking Indian military generals….Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw, Field Marshall K.M.Cariappa and now General Bipin Rawat.

View from Dolphin's Nose at 11.23am

View at 11.24am

The Sweet Lady

Lady Canning’s Seat at Coonoor is supposed to be yet another beautiful site for photography as it offers a panoramic view of the valleys and mountains including the view of Lamb’s Rock. All this is possible on clear sky days of the year and we were dogged throughout the visit with the white dense mist and fog which made visibility almost impossible. It is said that the last Governor General of East India Company and the first Viceroy of India, Lord Canning’s wife, Charlotte Canning, who was an artist, made many a painting sitting on the seat after the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. While I missed seeing Lady Canning and her Seat but her name brought a smile to my face. As a Bong there is a sweet that is reddish brown in colour, made of chenna and flour, soaked in sugar syrup and called Ledikeni.  Legend says that the sweet was prepared by Bhim Chandra Nag of Calcutta either in commemoration of her arrival in India in 1856 or to celebrate her birthday. The tale states that the sweet became Lady Canning’s favourite and she would demand for it on every occasion. I looked at my wife and Googled if any descendants of the sweet makers of those times were still around at Coonoor where I could see and enjoy a Ledikeni but alas once more I was disappointed.

Bhim Chandra Nag's Ledikeni

ZNMD

Pykara Lake must rank among the most beautiful lakes in the world with green hills covered with pines as far as eyes could see and water so clear and clean that you may just drink it up taking a scoop with your cupped hands. There we met a couple who seemed arguing…

Why did you book for the speed boat? You know my fear of the water and the speed at which these boats move, not to mention the swerves and fast turns they take. You should have taken the slow boat ride.

Arrey Baba, just don’t worry. Enjoy the water beneath and the cool breeze that will brush your cheeks as we enjoy the thrill. It’s been thirty two years together and you must trust me that I will not put you into any trouble. Remember the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara?

All those things are fine in movies but not in real life. Anyway, if during the ride I feel scared at any moment, you will ask the driver to turn back.

Done…chalo..

As the ride began, the woman loved the sight of the speed boat cutting through the calm waters, watching the beautiful breath taking sight of the lake, mountains and lush green view, made her forget the fear and enjoy the moment. She took her hand off the steering wheel  and opened up her arms wide, closed her eyes and felt the magic of the moment.  See how they smiled after the ride….

UsTwo@ThirtyTwo

Lake Pykara

Land Ahoy

In 1819, a young Englishman named John Sullivan, under the orders of the East India Company, set out to investigate the ‘origins of the fabulous tales that are circulated concerning the Blue Mountains to verify their authenticity and to send a report to the authorities.’ After an expedition lasting six days, he finally hoisted the British flag on a plateau and reported that the place was ideal for having a resort for invalid soldiers. Rest is history as more and more English immigrants from the plains started arriving in search of health, comfort and leisure. Sullivan was made the Collector of Coimbatore and he introduced potato and barley to the region, was instrumental in creating the Rose Garden and between 1823-25 created Ooty Lake as a source of irrigation.

We stayed in a hotel called Sullivan Court, now a property of ITC, and during one of our long walks went to St. Stephen’s Church where some of his family members are buried.  One evening when we were about to go out to see the tea factory, we saw some formally dressed people at the hotel lobby with a couple of photographers. When we returned we saw there was a lot of buzz around and at dinner time saw a large gathering of youngsters around a table discussing what appeared to be a planning for a film shoot. We asked the hotel manager if any actors had also come for the shoot and we were told that Vidya Balan had arrived. The two of us would wait the next two nights in the lobby for an extra thirty minutes just in case she would show up but alas the tigers in Bandipur were more sporting than Bidda Bagchi aka Balan at Sullivan Court.

SS

The Blue Mountain

“Away, away, from men and towns,

To the wild wood and the downs-

To the silent wilderness

Where the soul need not repress

Its music, lest it should not find

An echo in another’s mind,

While the touch of Nature’s art

Harmonizes heart to heart.”

          (The Invitation-P.B.Shelley) 

The Nilgiris or the Blue Mountains, spreading across the three states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, are an extension of one of the oldest mountain ranges, the Western Ghats. Its peaks and mountain tops seek refuge behind the blue sky as they continue an incessant game of ‘I spy’ with mortal eyes, along with their faithful accomplices, the mists and the clouds, which keep rolling in and out from nowhere. No wonder the mountain tops take on a grayish-bluish hue at any time of the day in this eternal game of hide- and- seek.  Besides, every twelve years in the summer months, the Neelakuranjis or the purple wild flowers bloom on its slopes and that is when the entire mountain appears swathed in blue.

Pine Forest

While going up its winding slopes from the foothills, our attention is drawn to the endless flora and fauna which have found their homes in the Blue Mountain. The Bandipur, Mudumalai,  Nagarhole and Wayanad National Parks are all part of the Nilgiri Biosphere  which is known for its semi -evergreen, dry and moist deciduous trees- teak, Indian kino , gooseberry, rosewood, sandalwood,  axlewood,  and eucalyptus trees  interspersed with clumps of bamboos and acacia, and grasslands or sholas. Two well known flowering trees, the Flame of the Forest and the Golden Shower, along with the wild lantana shrubs are found in abundance. In full bloom, they can turn the entire forest crimson and gold.

Wild Lantana

African Sausage Tree

In the forests of Bandipur, two trees stand out- the leopard tree and the crocodile trunk tree. The leopard tree or axlewood, which seems to be very common and is locally referred to as dindal , provides the perfect hideout for the predator. The sole leopard, we spotted, was found resting on one of its branches. This leopardess, along with her two cubs, had chosen this tree near the local water tank as her temporary home on the outskirts of the Bandipore Tiger Reserve. The mother was zoomed in by our guide through powerful binoculars.  The cubs, however, were so well hidden by  over-protective maternal instincts that even the local people, living on the periphery of the forest, who had spotted the mother on  multiple occasions,  had not been able to lay eyes on them. Her spots merged so well with the mottled bark of the tree trunk and were perfectly concealed by the round edged green-brown leaves that she was truly invisible to the naked human eyes and could be spotted only through zooming lens. Every part of this tree, from its wood, bark, leaf and fruit, is useful to the inhabitants of this forest, both human and animals.

Peek-a-boo: Crocodile Trunk Tree & The King
Courtsey Nithin Nirmal

The Indian Laurel, commonly called crocodile bark tree or matti , has a bark that, as the name implies, looks just like the skin of a crocodile. The trunk of this tree is supposed to be fire resistant as it can store water, and wild silkworms which spin ‘tussar’ for us feast on its leaves. A third tree that seems worth mentioning is the African Sausage tree whose fruits dangle like massive ready- to- eat sausages!

Silver Oak

Leopard Tree and the Tusker

As we make our way up, the Nilgiri trees or eucalyptus (three types of oil are extracted from its green leaves, dried leaves and roots) give way to the cypress and pines. Eucalyptus is a tree that is considered to be economically beneficial but ecologically hazardous. It is a tree that was imported from Australia in the times of Tipu Sultan and first planted in his palace garden near Mysore. In fact, Tipu Sultan, has been attributed with bringing in lots of plants and trees from different parts of the world. The garden cities of Mysore and Bangalore owe many of their trees to this ruler from Srirangapatna. In the upper regions of Kotagiri, Coonoor and Ooty, the tea gardens which cover the mountain slopes like thick green carpets are a sight to behold. The silver oaks will always be found interspersed among the rows and rows of tea bushes. These trees are a must in tea gardens as they not only regulate the water content in the soil but also help in anchoring the same, and thereby, prevent landslides.

Agapanthus: Lily of the Nile

Bottle Brush Tree

Two places where we can find a great collection of flora from all over the world are the Botanical Gardens in Ooty and Sim’s Park in Coonoor. The gardens are very well maintained by the horticulture department and a paradise for the lovers of flowers and trees. One can spend hours in these gardens laid out in steps and inside the glasshouses for different species of season flowers, orchids, ferns, succulents and cacti. The moment you enter, you are greeted by a host of red salvias which skirt the perfectly maintained lawns. All around are the blue, pink and white hydrangeas, the sempervivums which are colloquially referred to as “hens and chicks”, and the different species of flowering aeoniums and echeverias . Among the ones I liked best were the ball shaped clusters of blue and white tuberose like flowers known as agapanthus or the Lily of the Nile, the brightly coloured cinerarias and the bluish white and lilac rose like flowers called lisianthus. A bouquet of lisianthus carries a powerful message of gratitude and appreciation. In Tagore’s poems we hear him speak of rhododendrons and the camellias, both of which are to be found in these gardens.

Rudraksha Tree

Fossil Tree

For the first time here, I saw a fossil tree that was a 20 million years old. Among my other firsts were a Rudraksha tree, a turpentine tree and a swamp mahogany tree which stood out with its sheer size and magnificent black-brown trunk. But my favourites were the red bottlebrush tree, whose flowers indeed looked like bottle brushes, and the monkey puzzle tree, a native of South America and Australia. It is indeed a puzzle since the fruit of this tree is poison only for monkeys, so no monkey can ever be found around this tree. Another tree which you cannot miss in these gardens is the dragon tree, a native of the Canary Islands, with its reddish brown spiky sword-edged leaves. Possibly, a red resin extracted from its leaves and bark is used in making ‘dragon blood’ which has uses in traditional medicine, dyes, varnish and incense. As you walk around these gardens you can find innumerable species of birch, cedar, oak, conifers, willows, peepal or the sacred fig, and banyan.

Monkey Tree

Dragon Tree

Apart from the predators that we look out for in all our safaris, the Nilgiris and its surrounding forests are home to various species of fauna. Among them the ones we saw at close range were herds of chitals,  sambars, gaurs, elephants, grey langurs, the crested serpent eagles,  brown fish owls, painted storks, parakeets, peacocks , a monitor lizard and even a mongoose.

Matchstick Flower

Aeonium

Lastly, but certainly not the least , are the plethora of wildflowers growing on the mountain slopes, in the valleys, in the houses of the locals, hanging from the ledges and the boundary walls, winding their way up the hedges and shrubs , sprouting from every nook and corner, from every crack and crevice. Though these flowers have no names, they come in infinite varieties, shapes and in the brightest of hues- red, blue, yellow, pink, orange, purple. I raise a toast to these unknown, uncared, unnamed flowers which only exist to add to the beauty of the place and give joy to the passerby.

“Sweet Flower! for by that name at last

When all my reveries are past
I call thee, and to that cleave fast,
Sweet, silent Creature!
That breath’st with me in sun and air,
Do thou, as thou art wont, repair
My heart with gladness, and a share
Of thy meek nature!”

           (To The Daisy- W. Wordsworth)

DS

Jungle Book- Season 32

It had been a ‘hard day’s night’, starting with the waking up at 4.00am, taking the 6.00am flight to Bangalore and then a six-hour long drive to Bandipur, and finally, setting off on a three-hour jungle safari as soon as we reached Jungle Lodges & Resorts. So, at the end of it all, we hit the bed early, putting a 5.00am alarm for the next day. Was sleeping soundly, when I was woken up by someone trying to talk…

Hello…looking for me?

It was pitch dark and I looked at my watch to see the time…2.30am….

Who’s that…I asked.

It’s me…Rani.

Rani who?

Arrey idiot, I am Sundari, the tigress and the queen of the forest!

I am happy with my queen, the Royal Bengal Tigress, my partner for the last thirty two years. I am not looking for another queen to add to my harem.

You fool, today when you went out for the evening safari, who were you looking for….did you not want to see the tiger in the forest? Did you see one today? Tell me what you saw.

We went and sat comfortably in the jeep, there were two people who had cameras which looked more like bazookas. My better half and me were slightly ashamed in their presence to bring out our not so latest mobile phones….I am sure they would have said to themselves….Ha ha…jungle safari shoot with iPhones….only Jobs would have said ‘good job’. And then there was this family with a young boy who would make requests every once in a while to let him step down from the vehicle to take a leak. Goma, our naturalist cum driver, flatly refused stating he would lose his job if he allowed people to step out of the jeeps in the tiger territory. But once faced with the dire threat of the father that the son may do it in his pants and everyone else will be inconvenienced, Goma allowed the boy to relieve himself. 

We, however, saw the brown fish owl, the elephants, the gaurs, the deer, the peacocks and peahens and the crested hawk eagle, but we didn’t get a glimpse of what we all came out for…seeing a tiger in the wild. One of the big camera-walas even said that he had done three hundred safaris at Kabini but had not been fortunate to spot the tiger there. We felt happy having seen so much in one ride but deep in our hearts prayed for a glimpse of the animal with the fearful symmetry, immortalized by William Blake.

I am impressed with the sincerity of your prayers and assure you that your wish will come true tomorrow. I am a bit busy with my hunt tomorrow but will make sure some of my kind do show up and say hello to you.

Please ask them to come close enough for us to take the pictures on our cell phones. 

Sure…that will be done. Now sleep tight and wait for your big day to break.

Next morning, we woke up at 5.00am to get ready for the 6.00am safari. I kept the conversation of the night to myself. No one would ever believe me anyway and even if they did, what if no sightings were to happen? I am sure the safari folks would make such fun of me that my picture would be shared with all the tiger reserves in the country with a Red Corner Notice never ever to allow me entry.

Our jeep entered the Bandipur Tiger Reserve and within the first ten minutes, we saw a few jeeps stopping in their tracks. As we neared, we were told a tiger had been sighted. The two experienced photographers set their huge lenses in place while D and Me brought out our phones from our pockets. 

Some distance away we got glimpses of the stealthy striped hunter moving in the bushes and at one point we even saw his face staring out. A little ahead there was the prey, a giant gaur, who was limping and possibly had marks of injury on his right hind leg. This was a real hunt happening before our eyes!

The gaur staggered ahead, turning back to see the hunter. The tiger slowly crept ahead, closing in on the gaur, while expertly hiding behind the tall bushes. Whenever it moved, we could get clear view of the majestic creature. We were told that this was, possibly, a two year old male cub. A tigress with her male and female cubs had been spotted a few times in that territory. We were all terribly excited, and waited with hushed breaths and focused lenses to witness the action of a lifetime. The gaur now saw that the tiger had come very close, smartly ran across to the other side of the track hoping that the presence of humans in jeeps will throw the tiger off its plan. The tiger, however, was not deterred and it too crossed over to the other side. The gaur and tiger were now facing each other, eye to eye. Goma whispered that the tiger was a novice, for no experienced tiger would ever attack a gaur head-on, fearing the deadly horns that could do irreparable damage to the hunter…the attack had to be from behind.

Just when we thought the fight would commence, one of the drivers of the jeeps started  the engine in order to take a vantage position, the tiger flinched, just for a second, enough to give the gaur an opening to pounce across another part of the track and disappear into the thick bushes. The tiger, too, went off the radar. We waited and waited… hoping the action would start again soon, but it was not to be. As our dropped jaws returned to position, heartbeats slowed down from a gallop to a trot and the jeep started its journey back, the sight of a tiger stalking its prey was more than anyone could have imagined. Sundari had kept her word, I thought,but partially. I did get some snaps, zooming in frantically on the beasts zooming past us… the pictures of the tiger were faint and not of the best kind but the shots were vivid in our minds.

After breakfast, we were taken to a temple built more than seven hundred years ago, up in the hills by the Hoysalas, the Sri Himavad Gopalaswamy Temple, installed by Rishi Agastya and dedicated to Lord Krishna. Here a six foot tall Krishna is seen in a dancing posture with the big left toe resting on the right one and a flute in hand. We saw two priests with wooden staffs in hand, chanting some prayers and once in a while rubbing the staff on the heads of the devotees. My better half said let us also go and take their blessings and so we stood in a queue. When our turn came, the priest asked us to hold our hands together and handed us a very heavy Bal Gopal made of pure silver to hold. Not that we understood much of his chants but what we could possibly understand, seeing people before us, was that most of them had come seeking the birth of a child in their families. Having seen what happened to Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao in Badhai Ho, I quickly told the priest, that we already had a child and we wanted their blessings for the well -being of her and others in the family. 

Post lunch we once again moved for round three of the safari and saw faintly at a distance, deep hidden behind high foliage,  a tiger taking an afternoon siesta. Most possibly the mother and her cubs had made a good kill of the gaur and the family had had a good feast and were now resting. Apart from this brief sighting, the rest of the ride was pretty dry until we saw a tusker, with tusks almost as big as its trunk. As we were nearing the end of the ride, Goma got some message and started driving fast, if Need for Speed had a jungle version, this was probably it. We were wondering what made him drive so fast. We saw a huge sambar stag with immense horns and some more animals and birds enroute but Goma paid no heed, never to stop, never to brake…with a foot pressed with all his strength on the accelerator, he drove through the mud tracks and then we saw why. Two brothers were sitting under trees close to our path. We promptly took out our phones and possibly took hundreds of pictures of the two tigers relaxing and enjoying watching us humans craning out of the vehicles with eyes popping out. The Queen had truly kept her word and it reminded me of one of the songs that M would often play at home and in the car..

Animals and Children tell the truth, they never lie,

Which one is more human, that’s a thought now you decide…

 

We were overjoyed, to say the least, and so for the last safari next morning, we really did not have any more expectations and yet, there it was, royal and proud, gliding out of the bushes before disappearing without a trace, teasing us, and leaving us hungry for more. With four sightings in two days, we had already started planning for the next visit to the other tiger reserves in the country.

Our big camera friends and nature lovers Suman and Manohar had shared some of their better, professionally taken pictures and now, we too felt that we needed the Nikons and the Canons for attending to the call of the wild. But while the chips in phone and cameras can run out of space, we will play the reel in our memories, over and over again. Sadly, the only thing missing is Sundari, for she doesn’t come to wake me up at nights anymore.

MSD