Ranthambore in June 2023-A special experience

 On the evening of 5th June 2022, our group of 9 people made our way out of zone 4, leaving Riddhi at Mallik lake as she was staring at a confused herd of sambar deer, with the suspense of whether she would make a charge or she would be spotted. And as we were leaving the park, we saw Sultana walking alongside the road near Ganesh Dwaar as though she was leading us out of the park saying "come back soon". That is precisely what we did. Most of us were back in February 2023 a trip which I have chronicled here. We had some amazing experiences in February but were hoping to see some more tigers in June. And our group for the June pilgrimage to RTR had grown to a whopping 16 people. The virtual cherry on the cake was that there were confirmed reports of my favourite tiger T124 (Riddhi) being pregnant and that she was likely to give birth just before our trip dates on the first 4 days of June.

Riddhi at Malik lake in June 2022

All animals need water and in the hot months leading up to the monsoons, sources of water are scarce. They all tend to be around these water bodies and thus improve the chances of sighting predators like tigers and leopards. But this year had a slight twist. Cyclone Biparjoy was wreaking havoc all over the place with unseasonal rains through the last few weeks of May. The weather forecast for 1-4 June too suggested some rains, a rarity in the region on those days of the year. We reached Sawai Madhopur as scheduled on 1st June morning, excited to embark upon the first of 8 safaris. But the moment we entered the park, we realised that this trip would be different, very different. 

The green signal:

The forest was green. It was the greenest I had ever seen it in all my trips. Our guide too said that it was the greenest he had seen the park in June in his entire life which meant that we were in for something new. The air felt cool, a word which seldom makes it way to one's vocabulary in June. We found our way through the greens of zone 4, passing Mallik lake, going through the various areas with the varied topography. There was no tiger in sight which was not a big surprise considering the preceding rainfall. Just towards the end of the safari, we came across a canter which was returning to the gate and had seen 3 tigers in the Semli area. They were Shakti (T111)'s cubs. We had seen them exactly a year ago and the canter suddenly raised our hopes. We reached the place they had alluded to, knowing that we had waited at precisely the same spot for nearly half an hour. Just as we were to start the long ride back to the gate, we saw this beautiful sub-adult tigress sitting beside the road. After a short 2 minutes long photoshoot, we had a long ride back to the gate. We were happy to have started the trip with a tiger sighting. It was wonderful to see how much this cub had grown in 12 months. 

Shakti's sub-adult female cub

The afternoon safari followed a different script. The brothers whom we had missed in the morning safari, were seen sleeping under the shade of two palm trees near a nullah in the area. The morning was cool but the afternoon was nice and hot. Almost all gypsies from zone 4 were in this area. It was a little funny to see tempers flare up due to the crowding and jostling in the area. But the tigers refused to budge. They would turn on their back, sit up for a while and then sleep again. With the same script repeating till the end of the safari, we left the zone happy that we had seen 3 sub adult tigers in 2 safaris, all of whom we had seen a year ago as little cubs. 

Dry season begins?:

The second morning, we were set to head into zone 3, arguably the most famous zone of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. It is the zone which my favourite tiger Riddhi and her ancestors have called home. And there were reports that she had given birth to her second litter of cubs in the Rajbagh hunting palace. There was a distinct possibility that we could see the latest members of Machhli's royal lineage. We were hoping that Riddhi would be out with her little cubs for all of us to meet. However things were not that straightforward

Much like her great-grandmother Machhli, Riddhi is extremely comfortable with humans. I have personally seen her walk right past a gypsy where anyone could reach out and touch her. But Riddhi had lost her first litter of cubs. Her behaviour was bound to change. Motherhood and continuation of one's bloodline is extremely important for any tiger. Nobody had seen her exiting the hunting palace. There was a foreigner who had been in Zone 3 for many days before we arrived and was to be there for many more days, just in the quest of clicking Riddhi. He had been parked outside the hunting palace all these days and he too had not seen her. Things were no different that morning. We looked for pug marks, alarm calls, or any other signs of a big cat. But alas there were none. Zone 3 had gone dry with dark clouds. But the clouds had a silver lining. The lakes were teeming with life in the form of birds, crocodiles, deer, etc etc. The cloud cover lowered the temperatures a little made it comfortable to appreciate the beauty of the forest. It was a consolation for not seeing a big cat.

An oasis appears:

The afternoon safari was in Zone 10. A zone where there were confirmed reports of tiger sightings over the last many days. There were rumours of a tiger with cubs too (T99 aka Aishwarya). We reached the gate of zone 10 well ahead of schedule and the gate the zone was locked. The langurs were all monkeying around, having fun near the gate. About 10 minutes before the start of the safari, the ranger who was to open up the zone arrived, unlocked the gate and entered the zone. All the langurs stopped whatever they were doing and followed the man, much like the Pied Piper tale we would all have heard in our childhood. The next scene was one of the most beautiful moments of the trip. The man used the hand pump to extract some water from the borewell and the langurs all used this water to quench their thirst. There was no screaming, no fighting, no jostling for space, as though they knew that there was enough for all of them. They got back to monkeying around once their parched throats were wet. 

A langur quenching its thirst

We entered the zone and were on the lookout for a tiger, the sub-adult cub of T99 from her previous litter. She had been seen in the previous safari not very far from the gate, near a solar water pump. Not too long after entering the gate, we could see a beautiful tiger sleeping in the thicket, a few dozen metres away from us. There was a group of foreigners in a gypsy near ours who had just seen their first ever tiger in the wild. I felt extremely happy for them. Tigers have a magical effect which hooks you like a narcotic drug. I can definitely vouch for that magic. 

The gypsies kept coming and passing by, many hoping to catch another tiger in the inner part of the zone. But we were waiting for this lady to wake up and move towards the water. She stirred a few times and went back to sleep, much like Shakti's sons from the previous evening. We continued to wait. We noticed some Sambar deer heading towards the nearby water hole. They suddenly gave an alarm call and ran away. It was a little strange since it was very unlikely that they could have seen the tiger we were seeing. There was a lot of foliage between the deer and the tiger. They could have gotten her scent but I was sure that they couldn't have seen her. And deer seldom run until they have multi-sensory confirmation about the predator. We waited and watched as another group of sambar deer did the same thing. Could there have been a second tiger? 

The minutes ticked by and finally the tiger got up. We were all excited as she got up and started to move. And suddenly we heard someone say, "Look there is another one". Before this sentence could be completed, the words were drowned by the thunderous roar of two tigers. The sight of two tigers standing on their hind legs, taking a swipe at each other flashed before our eyes. And before we knew it, the fight was over. Barely anyone could get their camera out and get a photo. It was a moment which many of us experienced. The victor strutted around, showing her defeated opponent who was the boss. She scent marked with authority and disappeared. The winner of the conflict was the mother T99, who gave me a glance of her damaged left eye. And on closer inspection of her photos, it was clear that she was lactating which was quite surprising since her previous litter had not yet parted ways with her. We continued the rest of the safari, hoping that the defeated daughter of T99 would eventually move to the waterhole. But alas, she too stayed where she was. It was an extremely memorable safari, with an amazing experience of a blink and miss it fight between two tigers!

The lakes dry up:

We were half way through the trip and the Saturday morning safari was to take us back to Zone 4, one of the largest zones in the park with multiple lakes and a lot of tigers. Malik lake, the site of where I had my greatest tiger sighting in February 2022 had no signs of tigers. The area where the late T19 (Krishna) once ruled had no tiger either. We saw some pug marks along the trail but they ended with nothing. All the areas where any tiger could be seen were scanned but there was no sign of any movement. No alarm calls. No pug marks. No tigers sleeping in watering holes. The time when tigers normally move was over and there was nothing seen. We ended up exploring every singly part of the zone and could appreciate the beauty of the vast expanse of Zone 4. The only thing missing, was a tiger. We headed back, drawing a blank. On exiting the zone we learnt that the male ruler of the lakes, Mr. T120 (Ganesh/Charger/Challenger/Yodha) was seen near Malik lake by one of the canters which entered the park around 7:30 am. 

Travel + Stories = Memories:

One of the persons in our 15 member strong group had spoken to a gentleman called Mr. M.D. Parashar. He happily invited us over to his place to see his work. Now who is this Mr. Parashar? Searching on Google will give you details but here is a quick note. Mr. M.D. Parashar is an artist who is responsible for creation of the Ranthambore School of Art. What is that you ask? It is a style of painting which he developed, observing the beauty of nature in Ranthambore where he grew up. By spreading this love for nature through art, he has contributed massively to the development of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and also to the conservation of wildlife by teaching this style of painting nature to children from villages around the park. All the paintings/murals of tigers at Sawai Madhopur station have been made by his students. 

When we met Parasharji, he told us the story of his art, his inspirations and also about how he developed his unique style and soot painting techniques. He gave us a live demo by drawing the eye of a tiger on a little piece of card paper and we were blown away!!! The realism of the eye looking back at us from the paper was something else and to see it come to life was amazing! But to top it all off, he showed us some of the large paintings made by him. If the eye was amazing, the full size portraits were totally out of this world! The level of realism, the details, the texture, etc. They were a visual delight!!!! 

Mr. MD Parashar, the first son of Sawai Madhopur

Another bit of info about Mr. Parashar is that he has clicked perhaps one of the most iconic tiger photographs ever, the one of Machchli wrestling an 18 foot long crocodile. Parasharji gave us a detailed account of how things conspired back in 2003, and how he was the only person who had shot the photograph which is a global legend. It was fascinating to hear the story and see the images he had clicked. We were transported back to June 2003 and we could visualise the entire scene playing out at Rajbagh lake. 

This meeting with Parasharji was absolutely amazing and it was like the butter on the Pav Bhaji of our trip! It gave it a unique and rich flavour!

Zone 2 beckons:

The last time we were in zone 2 in February, we had caught a. glimpse of Noorie's cubs. We were hoping to see Noorie or Arrowhead or anyone else. We entered the zone and after negotiating with the rough terrain for the first 10 minutes, we saw signs of movement. Pugmarks right along the trail! We followed the pugmarks which seemed to keep going and before long, in the thicket right next to the trail, we saw a beautiful full grown tiger resting under the shade. It was Noorie and we were thrilled!!! It seemed like decades since we last saw a tiger, though we had seen Aishwarya and her daughter less than 24 hours prior. The craving to see a tiger in the wild was making it seem so. Noorie sat up, looked around, lay down, yawned, slept and kept repeating this cycle. There was a huge crowd of gypsies and canters in the area. Given the heat, we were quite certain that she wouldn't move for the next hour or so and that when she would, she would head to one of the two water sources around 100m away. It was a perfect opportunity for us to be one step ahead of the others. We left Noorie with the others and set out to look for T60 aka Junior Indu. She was not to be seen anywhere but we could enjoy seeing all the avian fauna which RTR had to offer. Paradise fly-catchers, Golden Orioles, Indian Pittas, and many other beautiful birds whose names I can't remember, gave us some great visual treats. I had my camera seated next to me and I was simply enjoying the sights and sounds. 

Noorie showing who is the boss

We headed back to the place where we had left Noorie with the crowd and were not surprised to see everyone still there, making it clear that madame Noorie was still enjoying her siesta. Then the chaos began. The chaos associated with huge crowds seeing a tiger stir and wake-up. Thankfully, we were positioned at the right place before the others could ruin it for us. Noorie came through the thicket, scent marked and headed towards the water. That was when our being in the right place before the right time helped. She walked straight towards us and then went to the water near a point where the gradient was gentle. As tigers always do, she entered the water tail first and enjoyed quenching her thirst. Once that was done, she simply enjoyed lounging in the pool as though it was a jacuzzi. She seemed to have looked at all the cameras which were pointing towards her, so that everyone could get that head-shot of her looking straight into their camera. A few minutes later, she got up with the water rolling and dripping off her body and headed straight for the road. Since there was some chaos on the roads with the huge number of gypsies, she simple crossed the road and walked on, almost coming within touching distance of our gypsy. It was such an amazing moment where this beautiful tiger and I could probably hear each other’s hearts beating. She nonchalantly scent-marked and went away into the depths of her territory. We could not have asked for a more amazing sighting on this trip. Or could we? 

Zone 3 again:

Over the last many days, zone 3 had been as dry as a desert. With the sole exception of when some of our friends saw Mr. T120 go through the lake areas and into Zone 4. Chances were slim that he would be seen in Zone 3 on our last morning safari. Riddhi too had not been seen in many days. Perhaps she was taking extra care of her newly born cubs. With parts of Zone 3 cordoned off by the forest department, chances looked bleak. However we were hoping to enjoy the beauty of the zone. I headed off for a short run in the morning before taking the gypsy towards the zone. It was lovely to see the rays of the sun break through the dark clouds which had brought rain the previous night. We heard from our guide and driver that T120 was seen moving around in Zone 4 the previous evening meaning he could be heading into Zone 3. 

It was exactly a year since I had last seen Riddhi, staring at some confused Sambar deer. Deep down, I was longing to get a glimpse of her. I have been extremely vocal about why I regard her as my favourite tiger. And so, fresh off my morning run, we entered Jogi Mahal gate and entered the historic Zone 3. We went past the old Banyan tree, Chotta Chattri and the delightfully beautiful Padam Lake. A few gypsies headed straight towards where there were rumours of T120’s movements. Our guide Mushtaq bhai took the approach of first checking the suspected points in a serial order. Near Rajbagh lake, we saw pug marks on the trail. They were fresh, on top of the marks left by the previous night’s rain drops. They belonged to a tigress which could be gauged by the size. They were seen for a short distance before disappearing into the woods. We decided to wait at the platform which overlooks the lake with the majestic hunting palace in the distance. It was a sight to behold, with the soft rays of dawn gently painting everything in sight

Just then, we heard the distinct alarm call of spotted deer. The calls were coming from the left while the pug marks had gone towards the right. As we went towards the direction of the calls, we saw a gypsy slowly reversing with the driver holding his hand out. They could see a tiger walking towards us. And there she was, the beautiful Riddhi walking through the gap of the Dhonk trees, in a setting which looked like the song “Jaanejaan Dhoondta Phir Raha”. My mind definitely was humming that song for her. There were very few gypsies in the area as it was just 6:22 am. It was silent enough for us to enjoy seeing her on a stroll. Her expression looked very calm, pretty much like the expressions we witnessed when we saw her for the very first time 2 years ago. 

Riddhi looking at me from the woods

She crossed the trail and came onto the platform, passing straight over the place we were parked just a few minutes ago waiting for her. We could see that her nipples were visible and dark, indicating that she was lactating which was great news. She walked onto the grassy banks right next to the lake and headed straight towards the hunting palace, to her waiting cubs. 

The moment, the magic:

We had already clicked some great photos in the 3-4 minutes that we had been with Riddhi. As she was heading away from us, our guide Mushtaq bhai had the presence of mind to move the gypsy to a point from where we could get a view but a view straight out of a travel magazine. He took us photographer horses to the water and we were happy to drink. 

Riddhi at the iconic Rajbagh lake

The shot of the lush green grass in the foreground, leading to the still water, with the fort resting on the hills and the blue sky in the background. And to top it off, the most beautiful tiger walking on the grass, heading towards her cubs. I can feel the goosebumps of every moment as I am typing this. After the moment passed, Dev and I looked at each other and we could see how much of an impact it had on us. It was simply divine. And before the clock had struck 6:30, Riddhi had vanished. They were 8 minutes of pure bliss! 

We then enjoyed the beauty of nature as it unfolded before us, all the while having the after-shocks of the mind-blowing sighting at the lake. 

This story of me getting to see Riddhi after 365 days was like a fairytale unfolding, going way beyond what we normally experience in the wild. It was a long story of waiting to meet the tiger I love the most and it finished with an extremely happy ending!