JOIN USFour of us felt the need to get away from the noise and pollution of the city. It isn’t quite possible to do this permanently as all of us have our roots here, but we could manage a change once in a while. Usually, it is difficult for us to agree on dates. But the spur-of-the-moment decision to take a mid-week break posed no such problems, which in itself augured well for the brief escape.
Having come to an agreement, things worked fast. One took care of the accommodation while another offered to arrange for the transport. With the two most important things attended to, the other two dealt with minor details of what to do (apart from the major purpose of lazing, of course), the route and the breaks during the journey.
Safaris had priority on the list. Binu, who hardly sleeps, suggested early morning safari as a good time for sighting animals. Immediately there was a vociferous protest from Pari who wasn’t a morning person. “Wasn’t relaxation the reason for this trip? Why wake up early as if we were desperate students studying for an exam?” She laughed at her own joke though Binu wasn’t one bit amused. “Would you prefer the safari at dusk?” she asked, thwarted at her idea being shot down.
Pari, Deepa and Zaver gave their stamp of approval, so that was fixed. Binu had everything worked out — from the dress that would merge with the surroundings to binoculars and camera. She believes in entering into the spirit of things whole-heartedly! Her enthusiasm was infectious.
“I hope at least this time we are lucky enough to see a big cat,” said Zaver, her voice reflecting her eagerness. We had been on several trips earlier, but the big cats had always eluded us. Once we had seen pug marks on the mud path. Another time, we had heard a roar during the night. But that was as close as we had got. All four of us were keen on sighting a leopard or a tiger, or at least a panther. So we kept our fingers, toes and eyes crossed in the hope that luck would favour us this time.
As we set out, the driver got a message saying that a leopard had been sighted near the river. We sped there, only to be disappointed. “We seem to be jinxed,” cried Zaver. “Don’t lose heart. We still have a lot of ground to cover,” consoled the driver. We saw all kinds of deer — sambar, spotted deer, barking deer and mouse deer — several peacocks, quite a few black-faced monkeys, some bison and a trio of elephants. But the big cats seemed to be coy. They just wouldn’t oblige. Disappointed, we turned back.
Then Binu began to blame Pari. “If you had agreed to the early morning safari, I am sure we would have seen a tiger or a leopard, or both,” she grumbled. “Perhaps even a panther.” Piqued, Pari said, “Well, then, let’s get cracking in the wee hours.” She didn’t want to be nagged for the next 10 years about her being unco-operative. So all four were up with the lark and trooped out to climb into the jeep. After a jaunty greeting, the driver gave us a briefing. “We are taking a different route today. Be very, very quiet and keep your eyes glued to the undergrowth.” We didn’t even dare to blink, but were unable to spot anything. “Sighting depends on luck,” remarked the driver. As if we didn’t know!
On our return journey, all of us dozed off. We were jerked awake when the car suddenly stopped. The driver put a finger on his lips and pointed ahead. There, right in the middle of the road was a peacock, dancing with its brightly-hued tail spread out in a fan. It was a glorious sight. As if aware of its audience, the perfect performer seemed intent on showing off. It was almost like a command performance. After entertaining us for a few more minutes, it folded its resplendent tail feathers and strutted away. It did make up for the elusive big cats. But hope lives in our hearts as we await our opportunity.