As the curtain of mist slowly lifts,
we make out two dark, hazy, rock-like structures, about a hundred metres away
from us. Then the rocks move, forward and backward and we see two fully grown
elephants blocking our path or is it the other way round? Sajeev Kumar, the
forest guard who is walking ahead of us, slowly places his right forefinger on
his lips and swiftly and silently walks up the hill with the objective of
skirting the saddle path. Excited and terrified in equal measure, I and
Praneetha run after him. Those who have encountered the elephants in the wild
and who understand the unpredictability and the resultant danger of these
colossal giants would be able to appreciate our thumping hearts!
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| who is there? |
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| now you know! |
Eravikulam National Park is a small
expanse of wilderness in Idukki district of Kerala, created with the
purpose of providing a safe sanctuary to the rare and endangered Nilgir Tahrs.
As a part of Forest Inventory works being conducted by Forest Survey of India
in Kerala, I am here to see the forests and our field work. We start the trek
rather late, at 3.30 in the afternoon. Pre-monsoon showers and thick blankets
of mist could make the walk tricky, the wildlife warden Mr Saju had warned us.
But the weather holds and we strike gold even before our walk could begin. A
mountain-hardy jeep is ferrying us to the starting point of the trek and
suddenly a big herd of Nilgiri Tahrs runs across the road and stands watching
us from a safe distance. As the vehicle huffs and puffs towards them up the
torturous bends, bouncing over liberally strewn rocks, the Tahrs bolt, jump
down a fence of slab-stones and vanish into the trimmed tea-bushes.
The long march starts from the point
where the tea plantations end and the shola forests (a typical forest type
found at the valleys of rolling grasslands in the high altitudes of Western
Ghats) begin. The ground is wet with the previous evening’s rain and the
leaches are waiting on the trail eager to latch on to warm skin. It begins to
drizzle a little but the shower fails to dampen our spirits. As we walk up, the
valley below is a carpet of greenery of tea plants and other flora speckled
with sparse habitations. After a climb of about thirty minutes, we come across
the first of several Rhododendrons. The trees are in bloom in a mass of red
petals. I remember the refreshing drink I had five years back, made out these flame-like
petals in the hills near Manali.
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| Rhododendron |
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| Gaurs grazing |
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| Tahrs from far |
Another thirty minutes of gradual
ascent and we reach a plateau. It is five in the evening and Sajeev assures us
that the difficult stretch is behind us. It is only grasslands and more grasslands
from here with forests confined to the valleys below us. The weather is a bit
chilly and crisp now. As we look around us, we realize that this place is no
less than the valley of flowers of the Himalayas. Whichever direction we see, the
views are mesmerizing. The floor and the sides of the hills are carpeted with a
cornucopia of flowers - asters, wild lilies, ground orchids, begonias and
daisies. We spot numerous Nilakurinji (Strobilanthes
kunthiana) plants which flower once in twelve years and are scheduled to
paint the hills blue in 2018. A small brook flows silently, meandering down the
hills along the valleys and forms a puddle of clear, sweet water. We quench our
thirsts and Shankar, a forest watcher and our companion hands us a few wild
raspberry fruits-bitter-sweet, fresh and rejuvenating. We sit near the creek
for a while. It is serene and peaceful. Sajeev shows us several insect catching
‘drosera’ plants by the stream and indeed a couple of flies are trapped in the
glandular tentacles of this carnivorous plant. The sun has already set and we
make haste. Then from nowhere, a small lake appears in the gorge below us.
‘Bheemnaoda’, or the pond/channel of Bheema, Sajeev explains. It is straight
out of a picture post card and the bewitching spectacle is beyond words.
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| Bheemnaoda-picture postcard |
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| blues, bees |
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| drosera, the insect catcher |
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| solitary beauty |
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| white and wild |
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| yellow bloom |
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| star flower |
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| the ensemble |
It is dusk when we stand in front of
the small forest guest house, or the Eravikulam hut. There is a fading,
dreamlike, mildly glowing but soothing light on the landscape. I quickly click
a few snaps before the moment slips into darkness. A saddleback (mature, male
Tahr) appears on the ridge of an opposite mountain, tilts his head a wee bit
looking in our direction, turns and slowly walks away. We drench in the moment,
gazing into the horizon and standing still, with a cup of black tea in our hands.
It is quiet all around and the world is at peace.
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| after sunset |
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| a vine snake poses briefly |
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| mini valley of flowers |
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| Nilagiri langur, near the base point |
