Into the Wild
by Kiran Purandare
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'Into the Wild' has two parts. Part I, 'Lost in the Jungle' (from Kiran Purandare's 'Sakha Nagzira'), narrates his gripping experience as a solitary nature-watcher in the Umbarzara forest. After a day in a hide, he sets off for Pitezari village; Langur alarm calls warn him a leopard is on the prowl. Taking a wrong trail at dusk, he becomes completely lost in a jungle roamed by leopards and sloth bears, and after an anxious search finds bicycle tracks (his 'silver lining') and the sounds of a village wedding that lead him safely home. He ends by cherishing the fact that 'there still exists a jungle where we can get lost'. Part II, 'Tracking the Panther of Nagarhole', profiles wildlife photographer Shaaz Jung, who left a finance career to track big cats like the leopard 'Scarface' and the black panther 'Saya', and who founded the BCRTI to educate villagers about conservation and give them a livelihood from tourism, learning from the forest that listening matters more than sight, and never to stop discovering.
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'Into the Wild' is a two-part piece celebrating the thrill of the wild and the importance of conservation. Part I is Kiran Purandare's first-hand account of being lost in the Umbarzara forest; Part II profiles the wildlife photographer Shaaz Jung and his conservation work in Nagarhole.
Part I, Warning of the leopard
After a fruitful eight-and-a-half-hour day in a hide at the Umbarzara waterhole, the solitary writer packs up and takes the familiar trail back to Pitezari village, treading cautiously and alertly, 'alone here like a fox'. Suddenly the sharp 'Khyak!' alarm calls of the Langurs stun him, the most reliable sign that a leopard is near.
He spots fresh scat and moves carefully; a four-horned antelope's alarm call adds to the chaos. He meets Raju Iskape from Pitezari, who has retreated because of the leopard, and they walk together for a while before parting where the trail forks.
Part I, Lost and found
Walking on alone, the writer takes a wrong, dusky trail and, as the sun sets, realises with dread that he is 'completely lost' in the jungle at a dangerous hour. There is no one to hear him; sloth-bear droppings warn him of further danger. Fighting panic, he runs on in hope until he finds a red-soil trail with bicycle-wheel marks, his 'silver lining', signalling a village nearby.
Climbing a hillock, he joyfully hears loudspeaker sounds from a village wedding and finally sees the sleepy village of Pitezari. Safe at last, after a bath and food he lies looking at the star-studded sky and reflects gratefully: 'There still exists a jungle where we can get lost, isn't this our good luck?'
Part II, Shaaz Jung and the big cats
Part II profiles Shaaz Jung, wildlife photographer, big-cat tracker and lodge owner, who gave up a finance career after witnessing an old leopard defeated by a young one, 'like looking at the past and the present'. He named the young victor 'Scarface', and his photographs made him famous as a 'chronicler of the wild'. Tracking Scarface, he discovered 'Saya', the world's first black panther whose behaviour is being documented so intimately on camera.
Part II, Conservation and its lessons
Learning about the big cats' loss of habitat led Shaaz to found the Buffer Conflict Resolution Trust of India (BCRTI), which educates villagers on the fringe of the forest about conservation and, using tourist money, gives them vocational training and employment. Madegowda, once a farmer who hated the animals for destroying his crops, is now a certified naturalist, 'in a way, the animals are paying me back.'
The forest, Shaaz says, has taught him that 'listening is a sense far more important than sight', and that tracking the black panther has taught him patience and, above all, 'to never stop discovering'.