Kanha National Park in India is beautiful in its own regard, but I came to the park to see a tiger and during my stay there were plenty of close calls; one instance, we could hear a tiger moving through the jungle just off the road, but it never ventured into sight and we were left merely with dust and dreams. There were many fresh pugmarks to be tracked in the early morning, but tigers were as elusive as ever in this forest.
I recall during one journey, my park guide had mentioned the prospect of riding an elephant. Elephants can be used to go where jeeps cannot so I responded favorably to the idea. Thinking this was something to happen much later, I was surprised when I was soon speeding in a jeep towards an elephant in the forest, standing by the road. Before I knew it, I was climbing onto the elephant and setting forth on a shaky journey into the deep forest. The surprises kept on coming as I realized that we weren`t just looking for a tiger, rather, we were heading towards a tiger that had already been found.
The mahout (elephant rider) stopped at a small clearing near a dry river bed. I was greeted by the sight of 3 other elephants surrounding a circle of thick brush. It didn`t take me long to figure out what was in that brush; as the elephants began to clear the cover, a deep and paralyzing din arose from the shadows. A tiger had uttered a long, terrifying growl in protest, though the other mahouts and their cohorts seemed unstirred. It was the heralding of a creature with incredible power: the lord of this land.
We circled around the brush and descended into the dry riverbed. I turned and looked into the shadows and found myself in close proximity to the tiger. The tiger seemed calm, despite the commotion and casually took in the sights as it lay in the bushes. After seeing numerous tigers already, I would have thought that the experience of seeing a tiger would somehow diminish; however, it was quite the opposite. The quickening pulse, the adrenaline and the dream-like fog was more intense. I was closer to the wild tiger than I ever was before...very close.
As I took in the spectacular creature before me, I began to quietly utter words of astonishment and wonder, like a prayer to a living god. Shortly after doing this something had piqued the tiger`s attention and it suddenly shed its air of apathy. Its gaze slowly, but intensely rose from the ground and found my eyes. Though I have known deep stares from tigers in zoos, this was something completely different. The tiger had eyes that literally seemed to burn, like simmering embers left over from the creation of the universe...and they were staring into me. Before taking this photograph, I froze for a moment, paralyzed. What power...
I suddenly became conscious of just how exposed I was. Though the elephant I was riding on was indeed quite tall, tigers have been known to leap the distance. Moreover, in descending into the dry riverbed, we had become almost level with the tiger, which could have very easily made a run and leapt onto the elephant`s back with no effort. My legs seemed horrifyingly vulnerable, dangling in front of the tiger like meat hanging in a butcher shop.
My heart continued racing as the tiger continued to stare; time no longer existed. The tiger seemed to know it was the ruler of this place and stared into me with what seemed like pride, power and dignity. In the dark of the deep forest, it was a life burning bright and being so close, it had set my heart on fire once more. Then, as suddenly as it started, it was over; the tiger seemed satisfied and casually looked away before closing its eyes. The mahout then signalled our departure and I soon found myself making the trek out of the tiger`s forest.
I unsteadily descended from the elephant into an awaiting jeep and looked at my hands: they were shaking. Now...I pride myself in being an individual with a strong spirit and am often calm in intense circumstances. There are few things that will rattle me, but this experience showed me that no matter how much time I have spent face to face with tigers in a zoo, it could never prepare me to come face to face with the dominating power of a wild tiger. My first meeting with a tiger left me in a similar state. It wasn`t a product of fear – ultimately, I didn`t feel any misfortune would befall me – rather, it was something different that caused those chills. Perhaps it is because I know the tiger well enough to know what feats of power it is capable of, perhaps it is my respect for ancient belief which associated it with the divine, perhaps it is simply because the tiger is an animal I respect more than any other... in any case, that tiger's gaze had pierced the innermost realms of my soul...
...what it saw is something only the tiger knows.
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