The timeless allure of the jungle- ramblings of a hopeless romantic

I like to think of the jungle as my muse, indeed, for the past year or so, it has become my muse, a muse which has permeated all my mental barriers and established a firm stronghold in the deep recesses of my mind. Why for only the past year or so, you might ask, and not before? Well, it is quite an obvious question. I have always been an avid Nature lover since I was little; indeed, to see young saplings grow and become plants, to hear the rustle of leaves and the chirping gave me more pleasure than say, the thump of a ball on a bat or the dull thud of a foot on a football.

The reason behind my recent but long lasting muse, however, is quite simple, however- over a year ago, our family had been to the jungles of Tadoba (Maharashtra) and Pench (Madhya Pradesh) for the winter. I must admit, before setting out, I expected a visit to the jungle to be like the shows on the Discovery and National Geographic channels, full of movement and music and a continuous sense of eager anticipation. Let me tell you, it was absolutely nothing like that, but quite the opposite, and to be very frank, it left me enthralled, in a way that no other place had managed before.

Indeed, my attention was fixated on the jungle safaris we would go on twice a day than it was on the accommodations where we had put up. And let me tell you, my readers, a visit to a jungle is not like a stroll through a zoo, where the animals stare balefully at you as you pass by their cages. A visit to a jungle, to give a rather hyperbolic example, is like living with the dinosaurs, in their respective periods (Triassic, Cretaceous etc); seeing them up and close, carrying out their daily functions, oh boy, no amount of watching either the Discovery or National Geographic channels on television had prepared me for such a beautiful experience.

From the very moment, our safari jeeps entered through their respective gates at the crack of dawn, at around 6 am, we were in the jungle, that is, in the home of the animals. What linked both the jungles were some common points which I shall be enumerating below.

I had no idea a jungle could be so quiet, and so peaceful, irrespective of the time of the day. When we entered the jungle early in the morning, I had thought that the reason behind the apparent lack of activity (and hence the quietness) was due to the early hour. I was proved wrong, because even as the day progressed, and the sun began to shine, the quietness was an unchanging factor, something which did internally astound me. But yes, we did see animals though, mostly deer and a few wild dogs and hunting jackals, a pair of beautiful sleeping white owls and quite a few peacocks and monkeys, which simply abounded the jungle (in Pench that is).

Another common (if obvious) factor, which linked both jungles was the sense of timelessness, which I am sure is present in all jungles; in the jungles, it seemed as if nothing ever moved, I mean, unlike in cities, there was no sense of history, such as for example, there was no famous structure such as the Alai Minar tree, or the Taj Mahal tree etc; rather, one tree died, to be replaced with another. In the jungle, there was no sense of legacy, such as say, the legacy of Sher Shah Suri, or Emperor Akbar etc, rather, it was that one tiger died to be again replaced by another. Basically, the jungle was and is an abject and direct example of infinity, the perfect circle, with no beginning, and no end, well, almost, meaning, near perfect infinity.

These common factors apart, I have to say, Tadoba and Pench were quite distinct from each other. Whereas, Pench was much more clearer, having a lower tree density with more open spaces and lakes, particularly the giant lake we saw on the last day, where we espied a crocodile lazily sunning itself and eyeing two deer that happened to be nearby; Tadoba was much denser, with narrower gaps and more bushes present, that is, essentially, Tadoba was what I would call a real jungle, because Pench felt more like a prize-winning garden yard in comparison, with its clear spaces and thin girth trees.

It was in Tadoba that we saw not one, but two tigers and brothers too, the pair of them, no less. Indeed, so used were they to human attention that they literally posed for photographs, right next to our safari jeeps and I had to admit, they were a pair of handsome tigers. It was impossible, from their size, to come to a realization that the brothers were actually barely 3-5 years old.

And such was my visit to the jungle, which left so deep an impression on my mind, that for the next 4-5 months after our return, I was literally in a trance-like state, and I questioned existence in a manner which I never had before, indeed I began to feel as if the very existence of our cities were futile, and that living life in the way of the jungles was the best way to live, that is, no money, no clothing, but just one’s own family and house to look after, with survival being the uppermost concern in our minds, kind of like the hunter-gatherers of old. And I tell you, I still compare everything I see to the jungles and wonder about the futility of our way of living.

And every time I am stressed out, I instantly visualize myself back in the jungles, which has a really soothing effect on my psyche. Indeed, one of my favorite ways to pass the time is to try and picture the animal movements of all the animals we had seen, in the night, in the evening, in the afternoon etc, and it is something which gives me a lot of excitement, to be honest, because it is something I feel a deep connection with.

And just like the advertisement, I would like to conclude by saying: Wah mere Jungle!