When the lemur writes

I couldn’t even pronounce its name. I had no clue where this was located and how I was going to get there. The only thing which mattered at that point was that I give myself a chance and fill in the application form.

Have you ever been so stuck in your life that you’ve wanted to jettison yourself as far away as possible from the good intentioned mess you’ve created? Because maybe, just maybe, you can gather some perspective (from a galaxy far, far away) that things weren’t really as bad as they seemed to be? *insert audible sigh*

This was why, the minute I saw the brochure for the Kanha Pench Corridor Walk organized by the WWF along the Satpura Maikal Landscape, I sat down and applied for it (We were to walk for seven days close to 100km through the forests connecting the two tiger reserves, Kanha and Pench in Central India. Hence the term Kanha Pench Corridor Walk). I can’t remember when it began, but growing up, I’ve always looked at the WWF with a sense of awe and its endearing panda symbol has been synonymous with one of my childhood dreams of working for wildlife conservation (with binoculars, khakhi shorts and a safari hat for some reason). Seeing that they were organizing it, it seemed like an opportunity of a lifetime to participate in and not miss out on the walk.

At first, I didn’t know how to fill in the columns in the application form which asked for details regarding my occupation and why I wanted to participate in a walk like this. Currently, I had just quit teaching guitar, my prospects for having a land of my own to do farming in were as highly probable as a baboon reading the Sports section and all I did everyday was to go and plant something, somewhere around the house (surrounded by cries of “Why are you sitting around on the mud like this?”) and read books like the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency and a copy of Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Design Manual. I was tempted while filling in the form, to sound as if I did something significant, but the very idea of doing such a thing made me break out in fits of self inflicted sarcasm. Instead, I decided to be as honest as possible and filled in ‘Gardener’ for occupation. In the box asking why I wanted to join the walk, I wrote that as the walk was free and as how anything wildlife related for someone to pursue an interest in was usually expensive, it was something I’d love to be a part of. Also, looking at the lives of my family and Mani all tied up with the necessities of the mundane, I honestly wanted them to hear about something other than repeated conversations about family affairs and depressive nothingness.

I was soon to find out that the walk itself was going to be easier than booking train tickets for myself. Thanks to Aditi and Vaibhav, members of WWF’s superbly competent management team, I soon found myself on the night of the 28^th of October, sitting across the window in a comfortable air conditioned coach of the Grand Trunk Express headed to Nagpur from Chennai Central. From selecting me for the walk, to making sure I could make it even though I was an illiterate in train ticket booking, it was their patience and support which made my journey possible. I am forever grateful to them for all the help they extended. They made me feel so deserving of having a chance to participate in the walk. When you are constantly suffocated by depression, one of the biggest battles you fight is the voice in your head telling you that you are not good enough for anything you want to do. So you can imagine how for the first time in a long time, I was excited to the moon to be chosen for this walk!

I reached Nagpur on the afternoon of the 29^th of October. I felt a rush of excitement as I started walking towards the station’s exit. I had arrived! One of the most wonderful things about this trip has been the help I received in abundance. Faith in humanity restored indeed. With the help of Ajinkya (who heads Life Trail, a Pune based NGO) who bargained with the auto driver for me over the phone, I soon found myself speeding towards YMCA Nagpur where the other participants had been arriving in since the previous day. Thirty seconds after stepping down from the auto, it was hugs and hellos all around. Here were a group of people who were seeing each other for the first time and yet they were the farthest definition of being strangers. There was a kindred spiritedness between us already which stayed with us right through the walk. It was a delight to see Grace and Andrea again, friends and fellow souls from Pondicherry University. Within minutes we were in splits. When you’re with them, one never need suffer a dull or sad moment for too long. They’re the kind of people who make you wonder how you could ever choose to listen to sad songs while wallowing in self pity.

Introductions were made and I was further acquainted with the group I was to walk the forests with. The diversity of interests and livelihoods shared amongst us was to make this walk an unusual setting for forging friendships, might I add, with some very cool people! I met a travel blogger with a delightfully receptive sense for sarcasm, a conservation scientist who changed my perspective on what conservation efforts sometimes actually achieve, a mountaineer with a wonderfully dry sense of humour, a conservationist with a warm personality and an infectious laugh which would render us doubled over and incapacitated, a fresh intern with an expansively joyous sense of perspective for the world she was in, a freelancing trekker with a very kind heart and a treasure trove of information, a soft spoken singer who runs a music program for children and a very cheerful managing director of an animal rescue and rehabilitation organization which works alongside zoos; to describe but a few of the eclectically interesting crowd participating in the walk.

We had to split ourselves into two vehicles to get to our first stop of the PWD guest house at Kurai followed by Sakata. I found myself sitting with the predominantly ‘Chennaified’ group of people and for the rest of the journey I was in danger of asphyxiating and cracking my ribs with all the laughing. I am still amazed at how and where we find our fellow souls and tribe, people who understand exactly what you mean and encourage you to be your most genuine self. I found mine sitting in that vehicle, laughing my head off, while listening to Grace bring back school time memories and watching one of the headlights break away and smash itself silly on the road. The driver of the vehicle meanwhile seemed unruffled with all the laughter and headlight breaking and took us steadily towards our destination.

While heading towards the PWD guest house in Kurai we were witness to large tracts of land stripped off their trees to make way for a wider road. There was a poignant sign which read ‘Save Tree(s) Save Nation’ with its back to a completely felled landscape. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel about what I was looking at. On the one hand it was terrifying to see such destruction while on the other, the self-same tearing down in a different time is what enabled me to get on a train to Nagpur and a vehicle to Sakata. Instances like these cropped up at several times during the walk and it has made me come back and look for my copy of Ramachandra Guha’s book, ‘How much should a person consume?’

We reached Sakata late into the evening where we were settled in a century old guest house with wooden floors and high ceilings dotted with faded pictures of the local wildlife. One could almost picture a mustachioed sahib walking around this place in his bathroom slippers and cursing the towel rack. Or a grey haired government official polishing his glasses in one of the rooms with an expression of self importance plastered on his face. For the present company though, it was where we would cocoon up like caterpillars in one of the rooms with the generously given mattresses and blankets for the night. We were served a very welcome glass of hot black tea when we arrived and then given time to seat ourselves to wait for the initial presentation and introduction to the walk by the WWF’s management team. There was the small matter of a twenty minute tent pitching saga where, in order to be as helpful as possible, I did not lift a finger or toe or brain cell in the direction of the tent (my ability to pitch tents is equivalent to my ability to write Urdu poetry).

We were introduced to the team who were to guide, feed and shelter us during the duration of the walk and it was an informal, comfortable air which surrounded the entire proceeding. Even when we were told cheerfully that we would receive ‘Kanha Pench Walk 2015’ T-shirts and caps once we signed forms which said WWF wasn’t responsible if any of us died during the walk.

Once we were done with the formalities, we settled down to have a deliciously served meal of roti, rice, dal and chicken (a vegetable alternative for the vegetarians). Multiple helpings later we tottered off with full stomachs to our nights rest. Once again, it amazed me that we could all get along with each other so remarkably well as no fight broke out for the bathroom or the light switch.

Day 1, 30^th October 2015

The next morning, I woke up (uncharacteristically early) with the rest of the gang and we were served hot poha and tea and a reminder to get ready as quickly as possible. It took a tad bit longer than anticipated (given the bathroom situation) but we were soon gathered round the front with packed lunch boxes for the day's walk in tow. I of course was ridiculously fitted with rain coat and my bulbous black luggage bag on my back. I had packed a pink Quechua backpack but on being instructed to NOT wear anything bright I had decided (ill-advisedly) to lug my larger than life bag for the walk. We were then introduced to the various dignitaries and field experts who were to join us for the walk and soon enough, we set forth together on our week long journey.

I can't remember ever being as physically pushed as I had that day. From my perspective (as one who was not as physically fit as mentioned in the brochure) we were off at a ruthless pace with everyone hurrying to be in the front to listen to what our beloved celebrity, Dr. A.J.T. Johnsingh had to say. Mildly put, we were akin to a mixture of Colonel Haathi's troops and a classroom of school kids who were just told their teacher was on leave.

I fell on my face twice that day and both times I was kindly pulled back on my feet with a polite enquiry as to why I was carrying such a large weight on my back and why the flying fruit bat was I wearing chappals. The first day of the walk, I was to sight several pairs of feet, as I had to keep my head down and focus on where next I was to place my dithering step (being hasty early in the day had only led me to grasp a thorny tree in panic as I tried not to have fall no.3).

All grievances aside, it was in hindsight, a fantastic start to the 7 day walk. We saw tiger pugmarks clearly demarcated in the sandy path, heard a peacock giving its characteristic alarm call and came across what was described as the remains of a tiger kill; a wild boar's leg and its bloodied skull. It was the first time I saw such signs of tiger presence and the excitedly dizzying “Oh my God!” feeling is something I will always remember. We were also given a constant stream of trivia regarding the trees and plants we came across. The real treat of course was the landscape we were walking through. Huge trees, red velvet leaves on the forest floor, silent pools of water, shallow streams (thanks to my chappals I could wade through them instead of getting stuck in deliberation on which stone to step on next. I belong to those fair few where if failure were the stepping stone to success, we would be destined to slip and crack our skulls on said step).

I let my imagination run forth, picturing a tiger or leopard basking in that beautiful setting. What I loved about this entire walk is that this has been an outdoor classroom of the best kind. One got to hear different takes on a topic and you could make an informed decision for yourself by the end of the discussion.

We made a stop near one of the villages which dotted our journey through the Satpura Maikal Landscape and had our packed lunch of poori, potato masala and pickle. We also had a chance to fill our near empty bottles of water thanks to the kindness of some of the villagers who drew generous amounts of water for us from their well. Water as a shared resource was beautifully portrayed during the course of the walk, as we had our thirsts quenched from forest streams to village handpumps. I was soon to learn how every drop counts as I would need to (sometimes hurriedly) pump and carry a filled bucket or bottle all the way from handpump to bathroom (sometimes the bathroom consisted of several discreetly chosen bushes). When I had returned home, I felt such deep gratitude for having a toilet I could flush and it being indoors, I didn’t need to scour for snakes or leopards or frogs which could come up from (my) behind. On the other hand, I have also come to realize that we need to take a deeper look at how much water we use every day and if there is really any need to have the equivalent of the Niagara Falls every time one has to do their business.

We were still a long way to go before we reached our campsite and during the lunch break, I was to give a short video interview on what my thoughts were on the walk. Not an easy feat when you can't feel your face muscles and you don't know if you're smiling like a serial killer or not into the camera. Thankfully, the video seemed to come out alright, although with the issued cap being worn in reverse (wearing it properly with my face under its shade brought to mind power cuts in Tamil Nadu) I looked like a former cast member of the show, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (“now this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down…”).

Lunch done, we continued on our way with each of us having mini versions of Walk the Talk where we got to know each other better. That evening was to see us plodding an extra couple of kilometers to have tea, get lost several times and some of us requiring urgent knee replacements. We kept trudging on in the hopes that “1km only!” will soon ring true. On what was soon to be nearly 30km of walking on Day 1, one of the times I got lost was with Grace while slowing down to see several groups of Hanuman Langurs (grandfather like beings who seemed to have speech bubbles with multiple question marks above them while they watched us pass by).On one of the roads cutting through the corridor, we tried to hail down a vehicle heading towards our campsite. However we were told, “You are almost there”, and left to see its swiftly retreating rear end. Thankfully when we got to ‘almost there’, they let us unload our bags while enthusiastically telling us, “4km only!” Grace and I (once we were done retrieving our rolled eyes) headed on and soon found ourselves with the larger group of lost participants.

It was almost completely dark when we finally reached the place we were to stay the night in. We were put up in the village school where rows of mattresses and pillows were neatly laid out for us. A welcome sight for sore minds indeed! After several glasses of hot chai we were then strong enough to stumble towards our dinner.

Gathering at the start of the walk

Outside the guest house in Sakata

Tiger kill remains

Tiger pugmark

Taking a break

The skeleton of a hedgehog

Cattle from the nearby villages

Why did the chicken cross the road moment

The Hanuman Langurs which Grace and I had passed by

Day 2, 31^st October 2015

The next morning we were all surprisingly doing fine given how we retired the previous night (needing ICU admission for 3 days observation). Day 2 started off the same way as Day 1 with the difference being that our well loved mountaineer was choosing to leave the walk. As a seasoned trek organizer she found the current walk, to put it mildly, total chaos. She had her reasons for thinking this way but from my (ignorantly blissful) perspective, I wished she had stayed.

And so our Day 2 began with a farewell and a packed lunch box. This time I was prepared. Light bag and no rain coat on. Ten minutes in, Anjana the conservationist had found that her shoe had split. This gave us the opportunity to walk with the tail end of the group once she slipped in to chappals (Chappal-Five Anjana!). This made Day 2 a notch higher in the difficulty level as we had no breaks to speak of (and thus began the saga of the “Chalo!” chant).You see, the group ahead would be taking a break, kindheartedly waiting for us (excuse me while I band-aid this sudden ooze in sarcasm) and the minute we arrived they’d start walking again with that dreaded chant of “Chalo! Chaliye!” I can’t describe how at that moment I kicked myself so much for not having taken my physical fitness more seriously since age 2.

On and on this went, ‘the catch up and be chalo’d’, that halfway through a protest ensued and it was made clear all around that there was no reason for all of us to be in 1^st place (imagine a game of test cricket trying to keep pace with a thumb fight). The “Chalo!” concern was that a bear or a bison or a big cat would find us easy prey if we lumbered, but given the circumstances (the ongoing ‘Symphony of Crunched Leaves in F major’ by the participant orchestra) it seemed very unlikely.

Walking slowly helped me take in my surroundings a little more than the previous day (more photographs!). It also helped me strike up a conversation with Elita, travel blogger and fellow introvert when faced with loud stupidity (the other fellow being Andrea). She told me about ‘Journeys with Meaning’, a group of people who make travel plans to awe-inspiring places with an emphasis on home stays and experiencing a place for its own sake (instead of the usual booking a room in *insert big hotel chain name*). It sounded like the best way to plan a trip and I put it in my bucket list of things to do.

As the day proceeded, I also got to stalk Grace with my camera (please find attached a video of Grace walking through the bush). On the ‘wild’ side of things, the group came across several large spiders and well camouflaged lizards. We had also come across a young bronzeback tree snake which Vaibhav quickly rescued from the participants. The entire group soon reached a sandy patch of land with a stream cutting across and on consensus, it was time to take out our lunch boxes. I must admit, I didn’t have the strength to eat my food after such a hard day’s walk(and it was only half done at that point). Soaking my feet in the stream though soon bolstered me enough to open the lid on my lunch. Once done, I quickly caught a ten minute nap before we were all soon asked to (drum roll) “Chalo!” (rimshot).

Several hours later, we reached our stay for the night a little earlier than expected. It is difficult to describe the overwhelming sense of gratitude you feel when you’ve reached your destination for the day. It’s sort of like catching stray verses of a gospel choir from afar and as you reach closer you find yourself engulfed in the music with your hands in the air exclaiming, “Hallelujah, the night stay has come!” We had sufficient time to have our tea in peaceful contemplation and some of us even managed to have a bath that evening! At the end of Day 2 some of the officials were heading back, one of them being, Ravi Singh (the CEO of WWF-India). During his impromptu farewell speech, he removed his shoes and offered them to Anjana to walk with for the remainder of the trek (he had earlier ascertained her shoe size when he saw her uncomfortably walking with floaters). It was one of those moments where everyone was quite taken in with the gesture and bade him goodbye with wide-toothed grins as he walked away like a 70’s rock star in his socks.

That evening saw all of us assembled for a discussion on how the walk had been so far. As several people had thought of leaving, given how we had been rushing through the forest with little time to observe, the discussion ended in a positive note to have smaller groups walk through the trail as opposed to one big stampeding swarm. We were also told that from the next day onwards we’d get a chance to speak with the locals whose hospitality we had been encroaching upon. Meeting done and a full stomach later, some of us headed out for a stroll under the expansively gorgeous night sky. We saw shooting starts and even made out the Milky Way. Grace especially had her corridor walk made for her that night under such a magnificent sky. The introvert club also found itself there that night and friendships were cemented with that overwhelming sense of “Yes!” you experience when someone just plain gets your truths without the need for Clark’s Tables.

One of the tents at our campsite with posters about the walk

Getting ready after breakfast

The school we stayed in

Pictures of a bee eater I took while waiting for Anjana to put on new chappals

Blue, purple, green

The crunchy forest floor

Being chalo'd

Day 3, 1^st November 2015

The next morning saw us at a more relaxed pace as we walked in groups and stopped at several plants and trees to learn its local name and medicinal uses. We also spotted marks left behind by ant lions and came across several leopard scats. Day 3 saw us visit a local village where I was more than a bit jealous looking at the villager’s fields and homes. As someone with a light bulb hovering above her head after learning about Natural Farming, these villagers were living a wonderfully sustainable life. Imagine comfortable mud walled homes with plenty of space for cattle of your own, a shared backyard vegetable and fruit garden big enough for several households, the absence of garbage dumps, plenty of birds with no sign of the common crow, an open interconnectivity within the village where ‘dead ends’ and ‘congestion’ were non-existent, several handpumps which made water within reach for all and a sense of responsibility towards, as they proudly described it,’our jungle’. The villagers had been living in these lands for many years and I realized that it is from them that we can learn, how to live alongside and conserve our forests. It seemed a topsy- turvy approach for me to hear instead that faraway folk like us come to visit the villagers and school them on how to live their lives. Programs are organized to lecture and instruct them with the how to’s regarding using (or not using) certain forest produce (like fuelwood) and imparting knowledge on agricultural practices to halt what is considered the destruction of forests and its varied occupants by the villagers.

This confused me as while walking through the corridor we were told how as part of something termed forest management, the forest department fells hundreds of trees. Even the ID of the hammer used is stamped on what’s left of the tree stump. We were told how the Government earns over a hundred crores in revenue and that the profits are shared with the villagers. On a disdainful note, we were told that the locals wasted their money on alcohol and two wheelers when they could be using it to pay back their loans. I wondered how it balanced out, locals being restricted while trees were anyway being felled on authority.

Participating in this walk has made it glaringly obvious (even by near blind flatworm standards), that it is us faraways who have vastly contributed to the disappearing forests with our unsustainable way of life. It is us, requiring wooden flooring and writing tables, digging up the equivalent of several cricket stadiums to power our laptops (picture coal mines and power plants) and ordering bottled water every time we eat out (to mention a few instances of our far reaching disaster of a lifestyle) who have contributed to habitat loss in such places. It is us, who require schooling on how to live alongside forests and to be conscious of where the birds, trees, animals, streams and fallen leaves go. It is us, who require organized workshops and lectures.

As someone who didn’t speak Hindi (gasp!) all I could do when visiting the villagers was to smile and nod (improvised take on Madagascar’s penguin crew) while the rest chatted away about this and that to try and make the atmosphere comfortable (imagine a group of people ringing your door bell, wanting to know how life is going). However since we still had a long way to go, our village meet up was cut short. Grace still seated in one of the households was completely unaware that the group had moved on. A search party was sent out once it dawned on everyone that she was missing and it was followed by several people angrily asking Andrea and me how we could lose her. Soon, the most talked about person of the day was spotted and once the hullaballoo died down, we continued on our way. The terrain had been getting steadily harder to walk through. There were steep slopes with mossy rocks and precarious edges where one had to be very careful. Plus our stamina levels were dangerously low. We kept on though and it was a really long way away before we reached the vehicles which were to take us to our night’s stay. They were parked at the edge of one of the landscape’s hills and it was a beautiful sight to see three grey hornbills soaring across the tree tops in the evening light. It was a fast bumpy ride to our destination (my teeth fell out from my skull from sheer joy in experiencing such a drive) and I chose to sit at the back to have the added comfort of stretching my toes. During the drive, I was struck by how similar most of our individual ‘things to do list’ was. Anushree the enthusiast shared with us her (goose bump giving) adventures from river rafting to bungee jumping to trekking down hard trails. Something the rest of us, including Grace, Andrea and Elita had also done or wanted to do. Set against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset (which Anushree asked us to see with her purple filtered shades for extra effect), it was a heartening conversation to have at the end of a long day of walking. We stopped at a bridge overlooking a dried out river bed which had hundreds of cattle stationed there. As far as the eye could see, one could make out the cattle’s footprints. It was also amusing to see their many tails swishing continuously causing a dizzying effect (this could also be because we were all super tired already). We were headed on the road again and after stopping at a nearby town (with langurs on its roofs) to buy supplies for some of the participants, our vehicle found itself lost. We circled and zoomed around for a bit, asking for directions (“Did you see a big fat white vehicle like this elsewhere?” to a family of four on a motorcycle) before finally finding our night’s stay.

That evening, Anjana decided that she’d had enough of her blisters and with Andrea as chief surgeon we had a blister bursting party. We had the full kit of syringes, cotton and moral supporters (me) creating alternate pain pathways with useless suggestions. It was fascinating to see how quickly Andrea worked without the “Yikes!” feeling one would usually get with needles. Several punctures later, Anjana’s foot looked much better and we were ready to head for our dinner. I was to need Andrea’s unflinching medical help the next day to remove a tick stuck firmly underneath my knee. I couldn’t have done it myself given the amount of ticklish (pun unintended) pain involved! As the evening progressed into night, as was usual, a movie screening was done for the locals and we participants had a delicious dinner and retired to our beds.

Outside our previous night's stay. From left to right: Pooja, Elita, Andrea

A dung beetle

Tracks

The reason ant lions are called doodle bugs

Leopard scat

Bodies of ants found in the scat of the sloth bear

Sloth bear scat

Aditi :)

Trying to take a selfie :P

Trishant setting up his camera to take an underwater picture

Elita and Andrea

Arun

Perspective

Anjana and me :)

Me, Anjana and Grace in front of the Satpura Maikal hills

At the village

The Forest Department giving us an energy boost

Dogs :)

Day 4, 2^nd November 2015

The next morning, on Day 4, as the toilet was unusable and I couldn’t find any trustworthy bushes nearby, I walked a fair distance by myself to go do my business (everywhere it was open fields!). On my way I saw a number of birds surprisingly (since my head wasn’t glued to the ground I was walking on) and was witness to a visual treat of a hoopoe sitting about five feet away from me on a fence. My history with this bird has been to see it from far away with someone’s unfocused binoculars and even then only for a brief moment. And here a stone’s throw away was the bird, with the sun’s morning light beautifully lighting up its plumage. Wonderful start to the day indeed! I soon found a ‘spot’ and once done was back to camp to quickly pack my bags and head out for Day 4’s walk.

For some reason I was walking asleep during the first half of the day like a newly awoken Egyptian Mummy. Arun the trekker and walk’s medicine man soon confirmed my suspicions that the medicine I had taken the previous night for a blocked nose was causing the drowsiness. I also felt my stomach protest (we’d had sprouts for breakfast) and wondered if today was the day I’d collapse on my face during the walk. As the groups walked ahead, some of us thanks to our pace found ourselves lost again (the walk thus far had seen several of us getting lost so many times that nobody panicked anymore if they found themselves stuck). This time Grace and I found that we had got lost and ended up belonging to the group right at the front (turns out the other group’s guide had taken them through a different path). Our success at being in 1^st place (Yes! Finally!) was short lived though as we were soon faced with an very hilly terrain. Extremely steep slopes covered with loose rocks and moss was not to be taken lightly. At several points it was such an upward climb that it felt like we were rock climbing (another childhood dream of mine I got to live). As I found myself lagging again, Vaibhav’s group at the back helped me get through and keep going (I would have otherwise taken a 15minute break to cry my heart out in exhaustion as picking out where to keep my foot next was overloading my current brain capacity). We were far up the hill and it was a beautiful sight to see the parallel ranges from that height. At one point Vaibhav offered to carry my camera bag (I was carrying it along like a lunch box because the strap had torn) only to slip and fall with it on one of the rocks cutting across the stream we were crossing. Five seconds later, I slipped and fell on the self same rock. Thankfully no one was hurt but with all the rock climbing and falling, I was finally fully awake.

We stopped for lunch at that stream and some of the men (like excited school boys) ran upstream and decided to take a bath. Usually we’d be hustled once lunch was done but that day, boy did these men take their time frolicking in the stream (said in jealousy as I didn’t have the energy to frolic). It was a disgruntled bunch asked to “Chalo!” by these fresh faced men and we headed on towards a few more rocky slopes and breathtaking views. A leopard was spotted by those walking in the front but by the time the excited shushing and whispering reached the rest of us, it had swiftly disappeared. As I walked in first gear, a half hour later than the rest, I reached the village where our vehicles were stationed to take us to our nights stay. A small meeting had been held at the village stop to show appreciation for the forest officers who had been working in the forests we walked through. They were thanked for doing a wonderful job and for having the courage to risk their lives every day to guard the forests!

We reached our night’s stay in the evening and this time the women were allowed use of the tents while the men were asked to sleep in the school room. We were excited to finally have the chance to experience sleeping in the outdoors (albeit with the tent’s cover over our heads!). While tents were being set up and our dinners being cooked, a Discovery channel documentary on Lakshmi the tigress filmed in Kanha tiger reserve was screened for the local villagers. After four days of walking through the landscape us participants could recognize the backdrop of the movie and it was a different feeling being able to relate on that level to a wildlife documentary (I felt very special to say the least!). Arun translated through the evening’s programs and I was lucky indeed to receive several informative addendums to what was being said. Once the documentary was done a slide show describing the tribes of the area was presented by a member of the WWF (little did he know of the drama which was to unfold once he was done). It was meant for the participants but thanks to bad timing, the presentation was shown to the people being described as well. I’m not sure what they made of it but going by Arun’s translation and the slides themselves, I admired their dignity in not being affronted by the imagery. Several participants though found it unacceptable and heated discussions on the topic lasted late into the night. After the presentation, few of the school children from the village performed a dance for us and you could see how like any other school event, the speakers gave trouble and the dance had to be repeated. The school kids though braved these technical difficulties and enjoyed their dance as much as we did. We could hear the crowd asking later when the WWF group was going to perform for them.

After the dance, the village headman spoke to us and I was extremely moved by what he said. He was worried that his village was going to fall under the status of a ‘Protected Area’ (this would mean restricted rights for the villagers and sometimes even relocation). He argued fiercely for his homeland (several generations old) and told us how he and his villagers would take it to the Supreme Court if asked (or forced) to leave behind their homes in the name of (tiger) conservation. He told us how people like us also came to their forests looking for medical cures from the local plants and when succeeding to do so, trapped the cure in a capsule. He also advocated speaking in Hindi as he told us that its language taught us all we needed to know about Nature’s ways. He ended his talk with a slogan praising the jungle amidst furious applause from all of us. A WWF member (Parasram sir) spoke next, calming down the headman’s fears, telling him that we had not come to his village with the thought of declaring it a ‘Protected Area’. He described why we were walking through these forests and how people came from different States, though some didn’t know the language but had a good heart (the headman earlier had mentioned his reasonable distrust with all forms of English) and was walking an average of 20km a day to spread the message of conservation in its rightful sense. He explained that we were walking to show outsiders the intrinsic value of the Satpura Maikal Landscape along the Kanha Pench corridor. The headman seemed assuaged but I could imagine how conservationists and government officials must seem like unwelcome busybodies given his context.

There was confusion as to whether the villagers would be served dinner after the events but they were painfully told to leave and that there was no food for them. I didn’t envy the heavy heartedness with which WWF members like Aditi had to tell villagers to leave with empty stomachs. A stormy night in the camp indeed.

Once done with our dinner, Grace, Anjana and I sat beside the bonfire (every night a circle of participants would sing and have loads of fun into the night. Something I missed as I’d end up going to bed early) and decided to lighten up the general mood. We had earlier planned to sing ‘In the Jungle’ around the bonfire with the word ‘lion’ being replaced with ‘Ajinkya’ or ‘Roopak’ and soon found our chance. Post song singing, awkward pausing and thalai adichifying (Tamil for head banging. not in the heavy metal way!) we decided to head to our tents. Elita and Andrea were also to stay in the tent but we had assumed that they had gone out for a walk and would soon be back. Ten minutes later though a very worried group led by Trishant and Aditi asked us if we knew the whereabouts of the two of them and even refused to believe us when we told them they weren’t in our tents. Half an hour later we were officially informed that Andrea and Elita were lost. The three of us ran out of bed and began a search party in the dark. They were soon to be found sitting under a tree next to the campsite looking very bugged at having been labeled lost. Funnily enough Arun was with them but no one had realized he was ‘lost’ too!