The afternoon sun was blazing hot turning our cheeks brown like roasted chickens. But we all were too engrossed in intensely scanning through the huge long grass grown all over the forest. Our eyes were looking out for “Veera “, the tigress who was known to have hunted a wild boar 3 days back. Our guide Vishal, who accompanied us in the open Gypsy told us that once a tiger has hunted it will stay in the same area till it finishes the kill. We had booked the safari at Bellara gate, Tadoba National Park which started at 2.00 pm, and it was almost 3.30 pm now, with no sign of the tiger. All four of us were beginning to get disappointed with no trace of the tiger. Looking at our long faces the guide explained to us” Madam, we are in the tigers home and should not expect him to appear as per our wish. They are in their natural habitat and keep moving. Nobody can say where one can find him. There are however 3 possibilities when the chances of tiger spotting are more:

1. If a tigress has cubs she will be spotted in a certain area along with her cubs.
2. If the tiger/tigress has hunted he/she will be spotted in that area where they stay till the kill is finished.
3. When it grows hot in summer tigers are spotted at water bodies where they come in search of water. They love to cool themselves in the water even after they finish eating as their bodies become very hot.

Today we have high chances of spotting “Veera” as we know where her kill is. We only need to have patience and keep waiting here. She may be sleeping now and wake up anytime” Hearing this our faces brightened up and we waited anxiously. It was 4.00 pm now and we were ready to wait eternally for getting a glimpse of the magnificent animal. We were talking in low whispers when suddenly the guide signaled us to stay quiet….his sharp ears had caught some rustling sound. The dried   leaves crackled in the bushes. He pointed towards the place where the sound had come. The gypsy turned back a little.

And lo and Behold!!! There arose the striped golden beast dragging its kill in her mouth. She then sat down, tearing apart the flesh of the wild boar. She was only 12 feet away. She noticed us, looked at us with her fiery eyes .We froze as the ferocious eyes looked at us. But she did not care and continued savoring her kill. She kept on pulling the flesh which made her move back and forth. She used to get up and apply force while tearing the flesh. We could clearly hear noises of bones breaking under her strong teeth. The tearing, the breaking of bones, the grinding and chewing went on for almost 45 minutes till she was full. We could also smell the raw flesh……

Finally she rose from the bushes and her majestic body shown in full glory. We felt totally numbed by her sight. She walked grandly towards the water body. Our guide Vishal was a very smart guy. As soon as she had finished eating he took our gypsy and positioned it at a point where we could watch her cross over to a water body. And because of this we got a full view of the striped beauty. She drank water and walked around. Then settled in the grass to rest.

Wow, that’s called living like a Tiger!!!!

We reached Wildcat resort with great satisfaction of witnessing the magic of the Jungle which only a lucky few get a chance in their life.