How I met the wild
+8 How I met the wild
How I met the wild
We introduce Amit Kumar by sharing this Photo Essay, where he describes his voyage to the wild. In this story he blends both of his passions – photography and literature in one roof.
I didn’t see any tiger crossing or zebra crossing but I saw a man contemplating for a long time if he should cross.
The road leads to an uninhibited island.
You need to swim across a river, which is full of alligators, to get to the island. The harmless alligators view with amusement the humans awkwardly paddling by.
Visitors are allowed only one km of walk to a stream where they can bathe with gay abandon. Forest guards keep close watch.
The trees here are old and massive.
The river is full of water striders, which wikipedia says is also known as the ‘Jesus bug’.
A forest guard took pity when he saw me trying hard to take pictures of a flickery swallowtail. He allowed me a tiny trespass – beyond the don’t-cross fence – to get closer to the butterfly.
Not too far from the island is a wildlife sanctuary where we came across two adult wild elephants with a baby. One adult lurched towards us, causing great anxiety to a newly wed couple.
The jeep driver loved to linger near spotted deer, and apologised that we didn’t see much else.
Tigers?
He whispered: ‘Very rare, sir. But quite a lot on social media.’
We saw much more outside the sanctuary than in it. This is not uncommon with some wildlife sanctuaries.
_I’m kidding about the alligators. And I meant uninhabited. _
Also read: Mawphlang – Meghalaya’s Enchanted Forest
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