Nagarahole - Chasing the Butterflies

Home of my favourite cat – the king of the Indian wildlife food chain – mesmerising & numinous – Panthera Tigris beckoned us to the Valley of Nagarahole national reserve this Gandhi Jayanti. The objective of this mission, although, was to document butterflies with an NGO aiming at spreading awareness to the ignorant & the placid lot could not have come at a better time.

The Western Ghats although safely ensconced, is no stranger when it comes to the N.E Monsoons. Lord Varuna played his tunes flawlessly well and just for a brief moment though we were done for, but then, our spirits rose to the challenge, History was in the making – Already!!!

Our compatriots – Ramesh and Krishnamurthy who had synced up the 3 day affair for us were in for a surprise right from the start – thanx to “Mad Max” Selva Pandian – awesome driving bro... Wham-back action synergised perfectly well with the mind of a hunter’s head to boot – we eased to Bangalore in no time at all.

The team gelled perfectly well instantaneously; ‘Mission – Chasing the Butterfly’ had begun!!!

Day 1 : Took a detour to Ramanagara n Ramadevara paada to check out on rock climbing with maestro Krishnamurthy. Post lunch – headed straight to the camping site at kurimande doddi in a school adjoining the muttatti reserve forest teeming with Elephants and the odd leopard who seemed to like the little village so much..

The dinner that night was one of the best moments yet in my life – At 2040 mts, Villagers who would need to walk about 6 – 8 kms just to reach the foothills for even trivial needs everyday offered fresh Raagi Balls, rice n sambar to fill our empty tummies and by selflessly declaring that the money offered would only disgrace their hospitality however little it may be, filled our hearts with immense joy & love for our country.

The Mahatma would sure be smiling from up there somewhere. India lives on Ladies & Gentlemen – the proof lies in all our blood stream those who made it out there..

Amidst such glorifying moments, bad news travelled through the air putting all our plans to a halt. We had but one choice – To head to the reserve forest and seek entry ourselves. So began Day 2 !!!

Green – “pure, dark, olive, pristine, untouched & colourful” lit all through our way to the Nagarahole reserve. A brief stop for breakfast at Sri Ranga patina ,the rain n the sun intermittently hitting the wind screens and our souls so to speak equally warmed our hearts and cooled us from the inside wanting us to be prepared for the next best moment – a tete-a-tete with the Great Cat Himself... Whatta conversation that would be – watching him up close n personal live his life, with such panache and gay abandon. Words just crammed my head & thoughts overflew in all directions.

It was only after reaching the reserve that the second bad news stuck us. The RFO decided not to send us in as it rained all 3 days previously in the forest and the risk of getting the vehicle entrapped was alarmingly high but hopes were kept afloat as he assured us of an entry the next day.

So it was that we had to reorganise ourselves and change directions yet again. The Iruppu Falls was the target destination this time around. There is something about FUN people... No matter what happens – If you choose to have fun, it simply happens – Just Happens !!

It was the darkest afternoon ever, rain clouds seemingly looked like they were gonna fall right down below and all hell’s gonna break loose. With rains hitting the Ghats continually for 3 days, forget water flowing up there ... it was pouring – ripping apart everything in its way – ominous signs for any traveller not to step in the waters but would that stop any CTCians nor any wanderlust from diving deep into danger. Come to think of it, it was only in the noon – a guy trying to photograph the waterfall fell down tumbling 20 feet below and broke his femur.

All said, this was easily the best noon ever – enhancing the previous evening’s experience – water – super cool & crystal clear - Rains pouring in buckets and buckets full –Water, water everywhere - filling our hearts to the fullest for a change – helping us leap into the mountains of joy n ecstasy.

What’s fun without sharing and to be honest with yea all – we did try n remember what it would have been like if some of u had been there... May be – the next time around – If you choose to have fun i.e.!!!

Rains and more rains in the night could not stop any of us dreaming away into the abyss of sleep. The Sun Gods heard our prayers and wafted through lazily in the wee hours of the morning and stayed with us until we left the forest. A befitting testimony to our never say die spirits – but would the human mind ever play to the tunes of it; The RFO denied yet another appeal of ours sighting incessant rains the previous night. But our levels of perseverance deservingly put him in a spot and he offered to let us walk in the forest to document whatever we could.

Speckled, spotted & weird-skulled spiders; rainbow coloured butterflies, mystical looking dragon flies and of course our little winged friends from the top of the trees eased our way into the forest. Pug marks of wild dogs, elephant droppings were strewn all around the place. Word came through the wireless that a tiger had passed through our path last night in the rains. Our destination was a 26 feet wide, 600 plus year old Teak Tree humbled all our senses – redefining the very purpose of existence!!!

The wild and the out of towners’ in a span of 72 hours closely wove a tantalizingly special moment of moments in our lives – an unfulfilled objective beckons us for yet another journey of self exploration & freeze frame the extraordinary wilderness out there.

Karthick Ramalingam’s brilliance came to the fore yet again – If some of us have narrowed him down to a portrait kid .. I dare say think again. His capture speaks for himself.

And Beware yea all – ‘Mad Max’ Selva Pandian is not new to the party of mavericks – His adventures with the macro style deservingly so earns yet another title as “King of Macro” for the trip and may be beyond this one as well.

Back home, I can’t help but miss the phenomenal moments with Mother Nature during the weekend... A singular event spanning 72 hours - almost passed off by like one brief moment - a lifetime left to cherish - what would i be without U - O Mother Nature!!!