The Jim Corbett National Park stretches over 500 sq km of the Himalayan foothills. Established in 1936 as the Hailey National Park, Corbett is known for its varied wildlife and Project Tiger.
My first visit was at 15. Eight of us ranging in age from 14 to 35 set out to view the big cat for the first time and to tour north India. We had not reserved any lodging but fortunately due to a last minute cancellation by some party we managed to book the Sultan forest rest house within the core zone, one of the first such lodges, on the drive from Dhangarhi to Dhikalat.
On our first day we ventured in a hired Gypsy vehicle into the Jirna tourist zone in Corbett. Both the driver and the guide warned us that it would be difficult to see any sightings as the Jirna area lacked a perennial water source. Sure enough, as the hours went by we sighted a few monkeys, deer as well as some birds. This continued day after day. We began with soaring spirits eagerly scanning the dense forest but with no luck.
The Jim Corbett museum housed in Jim Corbett’s original house at Kaladhungi has preserved memories for posterity. There is a small shop selling shirts, trinkets, books and other items. A few meters from the turn for Ramanagar are the Corbett falls, pristine in their natural glory with water throughout the year. One night during dinner at the Dhikalat forest rest house a group of foreigners related their encounter with a dominant male tiger.
Right: Jim Corbett National Park (Photo courtesy Wikipedia). Inset: Rare sighting of the striped feline (Photo courtesy Uttaranchal Tourism website); (Top right) Shaheen Contractor
The next day we took a break. Lounging around the rest house we played a couple of games and decided to sleep through the afternoon. The rest house is located next to a seasonal stream. An electrical fence surrounds the rest house to prevent intruders but no current runs through it during the day. Not being able to sleep I decided to walk down to the stream and sit for a while. I requested one of the caretakers, Ram, to accompany me. We squeezed through a fence onto a path that leads steeply down for about 50 meters. Ahead was the stream. Sitting on the jutting edge of a rock I stared at the lush greenery around me. On the opposite bank a great distance away a herd of elephants approached. Fascinated by the way the female elephants surrounded the little ones, almost like an impregnable fortress, I reached in my pocket for my camera. Cursing myself for forgetting it, I turned my attention back to the elephants.
At that moment, almost out of nowhere, a tigress emerged out of the foliage and plunged into the stream. Just when I thought I had seen it all, out tumbled two little fur balls following her. No older than a month they were about three times the size of my palm. The cubs playfully tried to balance on a log but fell flat on their bellies. One cub inserted his paw into the water, retreating immediately as if it were on fire. The mother, oblivious to Ram, me or anything around her swam with ease through the water. I froze as she came closer. Ram seemed unmoved, smiling with glee as if such an occurrence was usual. The tigress turned, swimming back to her cubs that were playfully rolling in the grass. Almost as quickly as she had come, she disappeared. The cubs bounded after her into the thick foliage. I charged back to tell the group what I had seen. Words tumbled one over the other as I tried to describe the events. We were scheduled to leave the next morning. Although I had no pictures the incident was lodged in my brain forever.
Nineteen-year-old, Poona-based Shaheen Contractor is a management student who has a passion for nature and animals, reading, swimming and tennis being her other hobbies.