The Jungle Books

Despite a healthy scepticism for the concept of luxury jungle lodges, Indranil Datta can’t help being charmed by the Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge in Tadoba. Running into a library helps

- Indranil Datta

The idea of a ‘luxury jungle lodge’ is one that is fervently disavowed by serious wildlife enthusiasts, who deem seeking creature comforts whilst being in the lap of nature a cardinal sin. I must admit, I too largely subscribe to the same view. If past experiences were anything to go by, barring one exceptional stay in Pench, jungle lodges that lure you in with their luxurious trappings and eco-friendly gimmicks are masters at pretence, catering to frivolous tourists lacking the most basic sense of jungle ethics.

So as soon as I stepped out of my car and strode past the lofty wooden gates of Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge—Tadoba’s first boutique hotel—I straightaway went on to gauge the ‘seriousness’ of the lodge by a preliminary yardstick of my own, the library. To say I was mesmerised would be an understatement—I felt my hunger and travel-induced fatigue dissipate, and, for the next two minutes, I even contemplated skipping all my outdoor excursions into the jungle. The bibliophile in me was salivating at the prospect of spending hours with these bookish treasures and, dare I say it, leaving them a book or two poorer; but so impressed was I by their prodigious collection, that I ended up gifting them one instead.