Conversations in the Jungle, #Saveourtigers Trip with Aircel

When the good folks at Aircel asked if I enjoyed their Save Our Tigers trip to Ranthambore, I told them it should have been obvious to them by my happy state. They then asked what did I like? To me the most valuable part of this trip was the conversations I was privileged to be a part of.

Mr. Yogesh Kumar Sahu (Field Officer, Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan): When asked what did he think of the ban on tourists to the national parks, he said that if Taj Mahal was devoid of visitors it will vanish in time, people will remove it piece by piece. He was of the opinion that the tourists were not a challenge. On the contrary, he told us that there is a temple and a fort right in the middle of the park. If they tried to stop private vehicles people would go to the court. Now some time back a tiger came on the road and due to some agitation attacked human beings. He cannot ban the private vehicles and he cannot ask the tiger not to go on that road, now that according to him, that was a tough task, managing the local expectations along with the interest of the animal. He is a pretty articulate man.

Anish Andheria (Director, Wildlife Conservation Trust, WCT): For its program Kids for Tigers Express (KFT Express) Aircel has tied up with WCT. When Anish was asked how could a lay person contribute to the cause of environment, he said “if you think you cannot talk about the environment without becoming an expert, but you are wrong. You might know more than someone else, and that person will benefit it you shared your thoughts.” That was a seriously empowering statement for me personally. If you follow me on Twitter you will see I am saying much more about environment, even though they might be just my silly thoughts. Before this conversation, I wasn’t even aware of my hesitation.

The Village Surpanch (Head) of Kilchipur: It is a pity that I didn’t catch his name. We were visiting the Dastkar Village near the Ranthambore National Park, he came to meet us. When we asked if he was scared to live in such a close proximity of the tiger, he said when the power comes only at night they are. Because they get just 6 hours of power supply when their turn comes at night, they are scared because of the tiger movement. He said they have petitioned various authorities but to no avail. They feel the villages close to the park should get power during the day time.

Vinod, the Driver of our Jeep on the Evening Safari: As I was sitting next to him, we were talking about various tiger sightings. he told me that when T24, the most famous tiger of Ranthambore, comes on the fort/temple road, entire Swai Madhopur village (the village closest to the park) comes on that road as it is a free road. And as no one is afraid of the tiger people put their cell phones in the tiger’s face to get a better picture. He said there have been times when police has to be called to mange the crowd. Vinodji and Anish also managed to track a tiger for us!

For me much more than anything else, the conversations, the ones I wrote here and many more that I didn’t, were the most enriching part of the trip. And thanks to Aircel’s #saveourtigers campaign for connecting me to all the people.