In Mowgli's Land

The heart-thumping thrill of a close encounter with the majestic tiger may be its best offering. But Mowgli’s very own stomping ground of Pench is so much more. This is The Jungle Book brought to life! Words satarupa paul

- Satarupa Paul

Willpower is a remarkable thing. It can make you climb mountains or dive into the deep seas. It can drive you to reach great heights of success against all odds or win you championships even when there were no such chances. Willpower can also, when channelled correctly, turn your luck around.

At least, that is what I thought when I first saw her emerge from the bushes, walking with a gait that could have shamed the Miss Universes of the world, her striped coat luminescent in the last rays of the sun, her nonchalance towards the excited puny humans who’d gathered around in their hissing puny vehicles writ clear and bold in her expression, her mannerisms every bit the queen that she is. My heart thumped loud in my chest, adrenaline rushed fast through my veins, and in that daze of emotions coursing through me, I believed that I had willed one of the most famous tigresses of India to make an appearance. I truly thought that I had willed my luck—of not having ever sighted a tiger in all my years of growing up surrounded by the wild and visiting some of the best national parks in the country—to turn around. Oh, how naïve I was, as I’d soon realise!

I had come to Pench two days earlier. The land that inspired Rudyard Kipling to write his most seminal work—every child’s favourite—The Jungle Book, had fascinated me for long too. Hence, it was with much anticipation that I had boarded the flight to Nagpur. With a core area of 293 sq km, the Pench Tiger Reserve is the only national park in India to straddle two states—Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. While the Maharashtra side of it is fast gaining prominence, it’s the part of Pench in Madhya Pradesh that has captivated the imagination of wildlife enthusiasts for long. And it was there that I was headed.