MEMORIES OF KANHA!!!
Another jungle safari. Another magical experience. This time with my son Yuki. Our first mom-son vacation. After my last years' Tadoba safari, I chose Kahna National Park in MP for 2017. This time my 6 years old son Yuki was companying me along with other people from Tadoba group. I had planned for Bhedaghat stopover as well to visit the famous Dhuandhar waterfall & Marble stoned gorge of Narmada river.
On 21st Nov., we caught a train to Jabalpur, taking overnight journey to reach there. On the way to Kanha, our first scheduled stop was Bhedaghat. Just an half hour drive from Jabalpur. It was early morning so we halted for breakfast at the hotel that overlooks The Narmada river flowing through the gorge. Our trip had officially started with a beautiful view. One of the attractions of Bhedaghat is The Boat Ride through this gorge. This marvelous location is very famous as many of Bollywood songs have been filmed here till date. We took the boat ride. The atmosphere there was so Serene. The view was Stunning. The Marble stone that surrounds entire area has many shades of colour. Pure white, Gray-ish, Pink-ish. Those who visit Bhedaghat on the night of Full Moon, Specially on 'Sharad Poornima', They can take the night boat ride and the effect of those moonlit marble stones is absolutely mesmerizing. This whole
gorge is like a maze. Depth of river is more than 400-500 ft at some
places. There used to be crocodiles in this part of river but
unfortunately human interference drove them away long time ago. To my
surprise, we got the beautiful pair of Egyptian vultures sitting on
cliff nearby. Quite a rare sight! Also huge beehives hugging the white
stone looked awesome.
Later we visited 'The Dhuandhar Fall'. Though it
wasn't in it's full glory at that time, it still looked massive. After
absorbing the view into our mind, we headed towards the main attraction
we were waiting for. Kahna National Park! After almost 3-4 hours of
drive, we finally reached at the Khatiya Gate of Kanha. Our resort named
'Barhasingha' was just 5 minutes away from the actual gate. That
evening was activity free which was really needed to get rid of the
fatigue of travel. Weather started to get cold as sun set. All of us
retired to rooms to get a good night sleep.
Next day at dawn, our first safari started. Kanha National Park is the only place which has the population of Barhasingha deers. No Where Else. Therefore Barhasingha is the main attraction rather than Tiger in Kanha. Hoping to start our day with some unique sightings, our Gypsy entered the Khatiya gate heading into the core zone of the forest. To our delight, a very cute and curious Jackal welcomed us right in the middle of a road. Ohh!! Such a cuteness overloaded!! While we were admiring it, that jackal also curiously walked around the car and then ran off the road. The forest of Kanha is very different than the one I saw in Tadoba. Tadoba is almost 60% of Bamboo forest which goes dry in summer. It has 3 big lakes inside the reserve. and terrain is almost flat. But here in Kanha, The Evergreen 'Saal trees' cover the 70-80% of the forest area. So even in summer, the forest remains bright green and cold. Water-bodies in Kanha are like small ponds scattered here and there. No big lakes. The terrain is quite mountainous and vast. As we came to the meadow, we got the sight of fully grown handsome Barhasingha male standing alone. Those antlers looked magnificent. It truly made our day. Then as we went on, A big Cheetal male showed up showing off its beauty.
There is a Museum which is located inside the national park. It has specimens and skeletons of various animal and birds. At
the front there is a huge Arch donning the Name of Kanha. The Arch is
entirely made of real antlers and horns which deers & antelopes
shade. Before it was the reserve, there were villages inside the forest
and villagers used to collect the shaded antlers and sell back to forest
department. Once the villages were relocated outside the reserve, this
practice stopped and those antlers were used to create this stunning Arch.
After visiting the museum, we headed back. Just near the inner gate
6-7 jackals were lazily resting in the shadow of huge trees. Our very
first safari was indeed very successful, I would say.
In the evening safari, another rare sighting happened. Blackbucks!! They are
not the native animals of Kanha but they have been brought here for
breeding purpose. We got to see three handsome males of Blackbuck antelope.
They were absolutely stunning. In that safari, got to see many Peacocks
up close. The whole families of Cheetals and Barhasinghas were grazing
side by side. A beautiful Sambhar family made there presence known. As
compared to Tadoba, bird activities seemed very less at Kanha. Possibly
because of the thick forest and lack of lakes. Still, overall the first day
ended on a very good note. In the late evening some of us went to watch
the tribal Baiga dance show which native tribal folks perform for
tourists.
New Day!
New Hope! On 24th, we only had one morning safari left. We all were
depending on luck for the sighting of the tiger. Previous day, we had a
chance but it couldn't fructify. There were couple of cubs hiding in
tall grass. But so many vehicles lined up on the road that scared the cubs. They just sat
there unmoved, hidden from our sight. Only few lucky people got the
glimpse of them. We were hoping for the best this morning. Our guide and
driver took us on a trail circuiting the hill in search of a tiger. We
got the plenty of pug marks of male tiger on that trail but
unfortunately they were little old. Two hours gone, just got some
Sambars and some Gaurs.
We reached the plains, almost loosing
hope, when we saw a lone Cheetal male standing in the meadow. So I asked the
driver to pull over so that I can click some Photos. While I was at it,
another Gypsy came and told us that some workers saw a Tiger couple on
the other side of that grassland. So our guide decided to take a chance
and wait there. We heard few alert calls of Langurs. After waiting for
20 or so minutes, guides spotted a tiger at the long distance.
Excitement level just shot up that instant. I woke Yuki up. Poor
thing was asleep due to cold weather. At distance, the tiger started walking quite
fast, parallel to the tree line and within a minute it came closer to the
pond nearby. On a funny side, that Cheetal, was still standing there,
grazing and totally unaware that a predator was walking behind him. It
was actually amazing to watch.
Now our Tigress, as we came to know, walked through the grass
and suddenly vanished. No one could see her. All started guessing if she
just sat there or walked away so fast, left us searching for her. For
10-15 minutes we were so nervous, praying for her to show herself.
Finally she came in sight again. To our surprise she started coming our
direction to cross the road. No one can contain the thrill and
excitement. Yuki grabbed my phone and started clicking photos. The Queen
of jungle gave us quite a chills when she turned her head towards the
vehicle, straight staring at us. Like ordering all to make way for Her
Highness. That Magnificent Beast crossed the road, walking Gracefully & Carefree, like she owned every moment. Very rightly so. Taking her own time, she slowly walked out of our sights. The moment she vanished, people came to their
senses. Our patience paid off big time. While coming back all were
reliving that few minutes only. I felt so happy for my son that he got to
see this Beauty up close at very first jungle trip. He clicked some
nice pics of the tigress. Now he has great tale to tell back at home.
With fulfilled hearts we bid goodbye to Kanha, returning to routine
life. Planning for next adventure.
Must say, No matter how many times you go to Jungle and witness the Nature's Creations, it's Never Enough. Never!!!
THE WAY I WANT MY CHILD TO GROW UP!!
In our society, general expectation of parents and family from their children is to become a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, a businessman. In other words, 'Financially successful'. Of course, it is a fair expectation. But is it sufficient?
Personally for me, it's not. My primary expectation from my son is to become 'A Fine Gentleman'. Successful luxurious life comes later. Making him a gentleman is my duty, so the way I raise my child is very important. How I plan to do this? I have my own perspective which I wish to put forward here, combining it with my experience with my son.
I am an outdoor instructor. I have seen thousands of children with many different natures over the years. What saddens me is, many of these children lack the daring to face new challenges mentally or physically. I don't want this happening to my son. I want him to be strong and fearless. Many kids of this generation are the single child to their parents and because of that, parents tend to over-pamper and overprotect them. Loving and protecting is very natural but overdoing it can make children Dependant and lazy. It can also hurt their self-confidence.
Often the elders scare small children by telling "Don't go in darkness or someone will catch you, Don't go near fire, Don't play with scissors, Don't do this & Don't do that". Stopping kids from doing things is not a solution to keep them safe. They are going to do it one way or another, whether you permit it or not. This is their curiosity after all & this curiosity can make kids do
things behind parent's back. And in worse case scenario, they will get
phobia of certain things for rest of their lives. Therefore it is better
to let them do things under elderly supervision and teach them how to
do it properly. My son have no fear of darkness, he handles sharp things
carefully because I have never stopped him from being curious. He plays
with our cats and dogs who are double of his size with ease. In fact,
one of my female dogs is hound which is a hunter breed & she used to
be very protective of him when he was very small.The thing is, animals
understand. So let children play with them. Let them get attached to
animals as animals are the most loving creatures. Apart from this, being
with animals, playing in sun, rain, mud makes children physically
strong and their immunity increases. Keeping them hidden inside walls
will only make them weak and lonely. Getting cuts and bruises, scratched
knees is part of growing up. Don't try to avoid it by not letting them
play outside. Just guide them how to avoid injuries. Yuki, my son seldom
cries over injury no matter how big it is. He gets back to his business
within minutes. Yuki is quite an outdoor lover like his parents. We
take him to mountains, To the forest, to lakes. I want him to experience
all kind of nature's creations at young age. It will make him sensitive
towards nature and also adventurous.
Teaching
kids 'Sharing, Kindness, Sensitivity towards other people ( If a boy,
respecting women and girls) is very necessary at early stage. These
things are essential to live as a good person in society. We need to
embed in their young minds that 'If you give respect, then only you will
get respect in return'. Many times children show more maturity than
their age. So treat them as equals not just as small immature kids. Ask
their opinion in things where they are involved.
One of
the most important stage, in progress of kids, is Schooling & that's
where parents have to be very careful. Parents should take decision
thinking about child's progress and not by listening to people around. I
will tell my personal experience. I was very firm on my decision of
putting my son in Marathi medium school, as my family's mother-tongue is
Marathi. I am from Marathi school as well. When people hear about it,
reactions that come, are so negative over this decision. According to
them,'A child should go to English medium if you want him to be smart
and intelligent.' This thinking makes me laugh. Being smart does not
depend on medium of schooling. It depends on natural intelligence of
kid and how parents and teachers help him increase it. Every language is
equally rich. Not just English. In fact, kids can understand basics in
their mother-tongue more easily than foreign language. As an universal
language, now a days, all schools introduce English from 1st standard
anyway.
Once children start school, they start facing burden of expectations about high grades in exams from family. It's really disturbing to see that 'A Junior KG kids going to external tuitions. "I mean, Come On. They are 3 years old kids. Give them a space." Let them enjoy their childhood. Once they get to High school, serious studies are unavoidable. No need to ruin their precious childhood, just because of family's expectations which kids don't even understand at that age. I am personally very against it. I am not going to force my son for external tuitions until his high school and unless he asks for it when he thinks he needs to study extra. I don't mind if he gets 90% or 60% as long as he understands the basics.
Another very dangerous thing for child is the 'Comparison with other children'. Never ever compare a child with other children. Every child is different in nature and intelligence. Never tell a child that He or She is Inferior OR Superior than others. It will either make him or her feel useless or arrogant. Both are very bad feelings. Instead make them believe that they are strong, smart and unique in their own way. Figure out their talent and help them nurture it. Be it Sport, Art or Academics. Let their creativity and imagination flow.
There is general thinking regarding small children that 'Television is bad influence on the minds of kids, so keep them away from TV'. I find it illogical. Parents can always supervise what kids watch. With the right TV programmes, kids can actually learn many different things. Books are great source of knowledge as well. Introduce kids to books at early age. Even if they can't read it, describe the pictures to them. My son, at the age of 3, started picking up Hindi language while watching his Disney cartoons. We were amazed to see how nicely he was understanding the meanings of words perfectly just by linking actions of characters and words together in his young mind. We literally did nothing except correcting him some times. At 4, he could converse fluently with Hindi speaking people with ease using big big words. Also he got so much knowledge about species of animals, birds, ocean life from various shows and books. He got very interested in sports as well.
We often see youngsters who don't know anything about household stuff. Don't know about how their house's budget works. Functioning of day to day things should be integral part of children's learning. Parents should let kids try household works, girl or boy. They should know importance of smallest household work and responsible spending habits from early age. Parents should teach them difference between necessity and luxury. It will help them become a good family person in future and take care of family efficiently.
Eventually all these small or big things we teach our children in their tender age, can help them become a respected person in society, which is every parent's greatest wish. Raising a child is a big task but Nurturing a Good-Hearted child is a challenging task & every mother should give her best to accomplish it. I am very much trying to fulfill all these things with my son. I want my son to become a fine gentleman.
Strong and Kind; Emotional yet practical; Proud but Not Arrogant; Fearless and Adventurous; Obedient but Rebellious for the right reasons; A Good Speaker as well as A Good Listener; A person who can Lead people but Who can follow others when necessary; Carefree yet Responsible!!!
