Nature At Its Best

At Chitvan Jungle Lodge, Precious Kamei gets a taste of forgotten luxury—peace and quiet

- Precious Kamei

As I gently swayed back and forth in a wooden rocking chair in the dead of the night, my mind kept revisiting films and social media. While I heard nothing but crickets and the occasional hoot of an owl, a booming inner voice seemed to reproach my social media cravings, declaring “yeh sab moh maaya hain”. I checked my watch yet again: what had seemed like forever had just been fifteen minutes. The sound of my growling stomach seemed to be drowning out the voice of my inner self, and so I headed out for dinner—daal, roti and sabzi.

Chitvan Jungle Lodge is not your regular luxury retreat. Located just three kilometres from Kanha National Park’s Mukki Gate, the resort appears out of nowhere after a drive through a kutcha road, lined with a smattering of traditional Gond huts. Upon my arrival, not too long before the aforementioned moment of epiphany, my host, Rohit, along with his German shepherd, welcomed me.

Though it was dark, I could see the surrounding vegetation. Words from a self-composed poem returned to me in a fresh way—“I forgot how crickets sound/ forgot the melody that/termites produce on wood/forgot the smell of grass.” This green solitude was indeed a forgotten luxury.