(IN): Close encounters of the wild kind in Northeast....

[Guest guest]

Link:

http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/deborshichaki/187/2869/close-encounters-of-the-wild\

-kind-in-northeast.html

 

Ignorance is bliss....alright ... a cliche that you perhaps heard

'N'times back in school but sometimes you just have to learn it again

the hard way. Learn we did few weeks back. Going back to school again

the first bell that the term Rhino rang, back then was invariably

Kaziranga, Assam's largest wildlife park. Famous for its one horned

Rhinos the park is the favorite haunt of journos these days...apart

from the Rhinos.

 

But what they probably missed in school that the park also has good

many tigers, now about eighty of them. We were in Kaziranga to shoot a

story on Kaziranga guards, a strong force of dedicated foresters who

are responsible for Rhino conservation in the park (and also of tigers

as we later found out).

 

We shot for the whole day, shot every thing on Rhino conservation; we

filmed herds of hog deer, wild buffalos, even Rhino droppings but not

the Rhinos. They wouldn't simply show up. By evening we were getting

desperate, the light was already bad and we decided to take a chance..

 

We spotted a Rhino calf and we made a dash for it. Park authorities

were very nice to us and they let us shoot in one of the distant

corners of the park, that is otherwise closed for visitors (why we

learnt later).

 

Our cameraperson Mukut is a daring chap. So am I (deadpan and pompous

here. heh.). As Mukut focused his camera the calf decided to go home

and disappeared. It was then, we noticed the forest guard frantically

waving at us from watchtower. From a nearby bush,as he and others told

us had leapt a Royal Bengal tiger. Folks..... We freaked out....

 

Fortunately for us (and also for the tiger as Mukut declared later),

the big cat did not have the characteristic wicked grin that many of Jim

 

Corbett's tigers had and it appeared as keen to get away from us as we

would have been....

 

Later, you know, we did appreciate the fact it was a majestic animal

and blah.. blah.... But it was a rare sighting.... Disappointed and on

the verge of a nervous breakdown.. we headed back home and a Rhino

blocked our way.. then another. The huge beast stood right there

refusing to move and posed for the camera for good fifteen minutes...

I am not complaining....All in a day's work guys. .......By the way..

 

I am CNN-IBN's northeast guy.Deborshi