The sun was setting down. My eyes were looking out of the jeep mechanically while the mind was still at Kuruvadweep thinking about the missed chance in visiting the place. It was my third jeep safari in two days, the first two were in Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary. With Shashank settled in co-driver’s seat, I was all alone in the back. Except for some deer and bison sightings it was getting more like a jeep drive in a remote village. Blame it on the weekend crowd. We had completed almost three fourth of the safari and

Pic : Prashanth M

had to stop because of a traffic jam. It took us few seconds to understand what was happening. There was a herd of wild elephants which were crossing our path. Or to put it in a correct way, we were crossing their path and had to wait for our turn. There were 11 elephants in the group including couple of calves and the leader was standing in the middle of the jeep track while rest of the gang crossed the path. There were two jeeps in between our vehicle & the pachyderms looked as tensed as us. We were third in the queue waiting for the way to be cleared while there was another vehicle, a Toyota Qualis behind us (yes, private vehicles are allowed in Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary as long as it’s a four wheeler).

Pic : Prashanth M

The elephants took their own sweet time to cross the road while the leader kept an eye on us. The leader was not too happy with our intrusion & noise (engine & hush voices). As if this was not sufficient, a jeep came from the opposite direction, which meant we – the two jeeps in front of us & our jeep – were sandwiched between a not-so-happy-looking elephant & a vehicle some 15-20 meters behind us. The driver of the jeep who joined the party late understood the situation and slowly backed off. And our wait game continued.

Pic : Prashanth M

After what seemed like eternity (it was just a couple of minutes )the captain slowly gave way and started moving into the woods. The driver of the first jeep mustered up the courage and slowly moved ahead. Then the one in front of our vehicle started moving and we followed them. It was not all over but it was time for more drama. It started with the vehicle in front of us. We could not fathom what got into the driver of the jeep for all of a sudden he started honking while he sped away. We were then moving almost parallel to the leader elephant which was some 15-20 meters away and the pachyderm turned towards and started chasing us. I was looking out of the jeep to see the big mammal running towards us. It was the moment, the mind went blank. No thoughts, just void. It was a mock charge to shoo us away from its territory.

Today, the experience is etched in my mind.I’ve had similar experiences of getting blank few times, but this stands first in the list.Whenever I see a photo of an elephant or a video, I go back to my seat on the back of the jeep in Tholpetty.

Image Credit: Subharnab

A typical safari would read like this. It starts off as a smooth ride with a song in your heart. Add a dash of excitement and plenty of hope to the experience.

Then, before you know it, the jeep will suddenly swerve into a narrow path, cutting amidst trees and tearing through the grass. Your adrenalin levels increase. The smooth roads turn into sharp curves as the jeep cuts through the vegetation. You spot an animal hide here and there, a shadow darting through the leaves, a rustle in the woods. You squint through the natural mosaic of greens and browns and imagine like Macbeth, that the woods are moving.

Image Credit: Subharnab

In the beginning were the deer, the spotted and the S?mbhar variety. In great hordes, skipping, frolicking, playing .The birds and the butterflies flitted around as the peacock obliged us before darting behind bushes. Next in line were the wild buffaloes, majestic and proud; looking at us askance? Rustling amidst the trees are the wild boars, but there were no mammals for us. We chased and were chased. Eyes, though invisible to us were tracking us. We saw pugmarks of tigers, dung of elephants and heard stories of leopards. But they eluded us.

The roads are bumpy, you get covered with slush, your legs ache as you trek, but hope does not let you down. We continued with same hope in our hearts as we were driving down and this time, we got more than what we had bargained for. We pursued invisible shadows, but didn’t realize that it was our turn to be chased.

It must have been around quarter to seven, and darkness was slowly setting in. Shadows merged with trees and we were returning from another fruitless safari tour. We were on the Bangalore – Bandipur Highway, very close to our resort when suddenly we saw three elephants hardly 10 feet from us, on the edge of the road. We paused in an attempt to take photographs. We got out of the car. My friend was adjusting his camera, my husband standing outside the car beside us. Suddenly one of the elephants took a warning step forward. We backed a bit. A moment paused and we resumed our photography, when suddenly the elephant broke into a run…a very fast one at that. It was a race between man and beast… a thin line between adventure and death, the car was at least 5 feet from where we were. We made a quick scramble to get in… We yelled, shouted, screamed and panted. We were unprepared for this;. My friend rummaged for the keys. I flung the camera and looked back. The elephant stopped just a foot away from our bonnet… A look which said, Get out of my territory.

Image Credit: get2anbu

The entire thing lasted for around 30 secs, may be a minute at the most. We raved, ranted and told the same story many times over, each from his and her perspective. We thought of the many possibilities of an IF added to the situation. I remember the last look, all it had to do was to stretch out its trunk and reach out to us.

But it preferred not to do that.