As magically as they appeared, they vanished

We were going to drive through Bandipur National Park, on our return to Calicut from Mysore. And, I had been told to lookout for elephants as we were expected to encounter them on the way. I had disbelieved this, mentioning that I had not seen any on my way to Bangalore a couple of days before. But, I was assured that, this evening (that was yesterday), our timing was perfect for an elephant encounter.

So we drove at a lazy pace, my two business colleagues and I. The sun was setting just as lazily and we needed to kill a few moments before getting inside the forest as it grew dark. I kept a constant eye on the sky, taking one or two pot shots above the trees with my mobilephone camera, chuckling to myself at the disappointing results. My Nokia mobilephone camera was no good in low light.

Then suddenly it happened. A chital appeared on the left of our winding road, as if to cross it, and upon seeing or sensing our car, simply turned and vanished. It was like magic. We stopped and exclaimed in unison, “Did you see that?” But only in vain. The chital was nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, we became alert, and I was assured again that this was a lucky evening. So, we proceeded in a slow drive, windows wound down for a better view.

A few kilometers ahead the magic happened once more. This time, it was the sight of a lifetime. Twenty feet away, a mighty tiger stood majestically on our left, its front legs resting on a raised portion of the road, observing, its yellow striped coat looking pale like a ghost’s. We stopped immediately and tried to reverse the car in order to take a photograph. Perhaps that was a mistake. Sensing a disturbance, the tiger turned and walked off, just like the chital, vanishing into the forest in seconds.

A colleague of mine, armed with a SONY cybershot, did manage to take a photo, but the result is not a true representation of the excitement we felt at that moment. Our pulse was racing and we needed a moment to capture it all in. It took us a while for the moment to sink in and we sat in the car for a few minutes without speaking a word.

The next part of the journey was exciting, though none of us could get over sighting the tiger. We saw several chitals and many elephants (so, the prophesy came true, after all!), most of which remained hidden in the dark of the forest. Or, as magically as they appeared, they vanished again. But, on one occasion, a mother elephant and her baby crossed the highway before us, giving us ample time to enjoy the wondrous view.