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The Wild India - My exclusive Blog on Wildlife and Nature

2011-02-24T20:40:00.000+05:30

TOURISM – The Indian way to look at it !

Most of the Indians go in for the following 5 types of Tourisms :

(1) Hills – Plenty of them, not just Himalayas, but anything above 500 m above sea level and having a climate of 20 degrees as against the average 37 degrees is proudly considered a hill gateway ;)
(2) Beaches- 70 % of India has a coastline giving some great beaches to visit and each state has some great and more importantly accessible beaches
(3) Pilgrimage – Indians are usually the God-fearing or god-loving types and all religions be it Hindus, Jain, Muslim, South Indians, Sikhs will have multiple options for the same, and each state would have multiple places worshipped since ages and believed strongly in
(4) Leisure – this would cover luxury properties, spas, massages, shopping etc. That’s why some of the best properties do a great business !
(5) Heritage tourism – would be like Rajasthan, Jaisalmer, Taj etc. where one would find good history, monuments and the buried stories of the past.

Most of the Indians spend across Category 1-4 and a very few towards the 5th one – Heritage tourism as the same requires a flare of history and above all patience, which Indians would normally lack.

Ideally a core requirement of a common Indian from anywhere in the country would be a good memorable place, good food and good spots to visit. Therefore crowded places like Simla, Darjeeling, Kulu, Lonavala, Khandala etc thrive in business despite the shitty offerings full of crowd much more than the local trains of Mumbai ! But, the numbers speak good – what can one do !

Offlate, you hear Indians splurging on Adventure sports like Bungee Jumping, Skydiving etc. Again a typlical Indian mentality of “why do I spend my own money to screw my happiness” overlaps the attitude to buy your thrill and the witness is the lack of such sports in India besides some River rafting sports in various parts of India. The world is moving a step further where tourists go for a “Horror Toursim” where you are taken to various locations and haunted properties like palaces, theatres, colleges, etc where you”may” encounter a spirit.

The Niche

But India, is still too behind in the evolving tourism options, but yes- there is always a niche for these tourisms. There are people like us who would want to go to a place less traveled and explore and enjoy the nature. Be it, exploring and sitting on a silent lake at Jawahar, Maharashtra where no tourists would come or find a natural waterfall in Panchgani valleys or taking a night walk at Periyar, Kerala or the not so common boat ride at the Rain Forests of Tama Negara in Malaysia where Anaconda was shot or explore the unexplored side of Goa where you may not find much Indians. Every place has such unexplored side of its and one common factor here is “NATURE” – Untouched and gifted !

Wild Life Tourism

One such niche tourism for the Nature lovers is WILDLIFE TOURISM. I come from a Gujju family and till date, 99% of our family tourisms in India or abroad were in the above 5 categories, till the last few years wherein our trips in the above 5 categories are just 20% and 80% into the NATURAL LOCATIONS, where the common man would not want to go. When I ask my mother or uncle to join in for a Wild life tourism, the reaction is “Sher dekhna hi hai to itni door jungle mein kyon jaaye, zoos are here” (If you want to see a Tiger, why take so much pain to go to a jungle, better visit a nearby zoo) and this will be the statement in most Indian families, the proof is 75% of the tourists for wild life are foreigners.

But, its not just seeing a tiger, the whole experience of exploring the jungle on your own, in an open gypsy early in the morning when its pitch dark and seeing the shades of the forest changing every minute as the sun rises and the efforts you put in to trace a tiger or a lion and the adrenalin kick you get when you after good efforts find a tiger with its cub or a herd of wild elephants or a rare leopard is more than winning a Million Dollars in the Vegas. And enjoying the wild in its natural habitat is a heavenly experience which many of my other holidays put together could have given me.

How it started

This started in 2007, when me and Gautam, my past colleague visited South Africa on a business trip. I used to surf through TV Channels and the shots on beautiful wildlife made me stick to the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet that I ended up spending hours on it. I had decided that post our business trip, we would want to visit a Wild Life Safari or a Game Sanctuary in South Africa as most of the wild shoots were from Africa. We decided to go to PILANESBERG SANTUARY in South Africa and my “Wild Life Bug” was born. Though as a Kid, I had visited Sunderbans and Kaziranga as a part of my 5 category Indian trip, the same was not that exciting as (a) I was a small kid and (b) It was not so important to visit these places and we just happened to have visited them.

But, post (1) PILANESBERG- South Africa, its 4 years now and I have visited 7 Wild Life Safaris / National Parks like (2) BANDAHVGARH (Madhya Pradesh) (3) KANHA (Madhya Pradesh) (4) MELGHAT TIGER RESERVE (Maharashtra) (5) TADOBA NATIONAL PARK (Maharashtra) (6) THE GREAT HIMALAYAN NATIONAL PARK-(H.P). (7) PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE / THEKKADY (Kerala) (8) GIR NATIONAL PARK (Gujarat) and have committed myself to visit at least 1-2 a year !

India has a huge resource of Wild Life which attracts huge number of foreigners every year mostly between October to March and also from April to June (which is very hot- 47 degrees, but best time to site animals). It was in 2009, when a friend, philosopher and guide from the IFS (Indian Forest Services), the then CFC (Chief Forest Conservator) of Thane, Maharahstra, Shree Bhagwan guided me to Tadoba, where once he held forte, and I was able to sight the best wild life scene of my life, also covered by an interview by the Star News and Star Maaza, I thought that I should do my bit towards “Wild Life” !

Being from the Rajput clan of the Princely state of Wankaner in Gujarat and may be, as my Mom says there is some genes from the ancestors, that I have such a strong liking for wild life. The process remained same – exploring the jungle, tracing the wild, the only differences being they used guns and I use my camera. The big cats adored their palaces and walls and they adore my memories, they cherished and showcased their collections of stuffed tigers and other wild animals to the world, and I through this blog am trying to showcase the beauty of the Indian wildlife to the world.

The Wild India - www.wildIndia.blogspot.com

Welcome to the Wild India and through this medium, I would try to bring you close to each of the exciting wild life and nature experiences we have, right from explaining you how to go, where to live, what to do, some secret spots and ofcourse some exciting pictures. Hope you enjoy this and hope this blog would help promote wild life as a tourism adding on to the revenue of the country, giving employment to the local tribals and for the generation of tomorrow to conserve nature ! Do visit and share your feedback.

GIR NATIONAL PARK- The last home of Asiatic Lion

2011-02-20T16:05:00.001+05:30

January 26 –February 1 2011 : Sasan Gir, Gujarat : I had been across various national reserves primarily to sight the national pride – the Royal Bengal Tiger and allied wildlife. (actually, the big cat has always been the star attraction initially, till we actually started understanding and cherishing the wildlife in toto.) Had sighted Lions in Africa, but despite hailing from Gujarat and that too Saurastra, which is the only and the last abode of the Asiatic Lions, surprisingly had not yet been to the Gir. Actually, was trying to coordinate with a cousin of mine since more than a year - he knew the forest officials there and it is always helpful to have connects, but somehow the same was not being materialized and then, thought of initiating ourselves a wildlife trip to understand the forest, its wildlife and the conservation representing our NGO (Empower Foundation)’s project – The Wild India.

Actually, the charm of seeing a Lion (especially the Male one, with lustrous mane and persona) is a damn good kicker, after all He- is the king of the jungle ! Now, coming to the Lions, the first remarkable statement which comes affront of a wild life enthusiast is that while the number of tigers are reducing day by day….1411 being the latest count, how are the number of Lions increasing ? from just next to extinction in 1920s with only around 20 lions alive, during the Nawab of Junagadh, Mahabat Khans time, when the British Administration intervened triggering the protection of the animal that the numbers have shot all the way to 411 in the 2010 census. This itself is a remarkable achievement which other wildlife conservators should learn from Gir. Ofcourse, Narendra Modi using Amitabh Bachchan has been promoting and protecting Gir since a while, but the efforts in saving the Lions has been purely the forest officials credit.

We left Mumbai at 8:00PM by Saurashtra Mail which reached Junagadh at 2:00 PM the next day. Other option would have been flight to Rajkot and then by road or flight to Bhavnagar or Diu, but the former was more cost efficient over a night journey. Sasan is around 60 kms from Junagadh and the drop charges of an Innova is Rs. 1200-1300. We checked in at the Forest Guest House – Sinh Sadan which is also the entry and booking point for all jeep safaris and permits. Let me say that this was one of the most beautifully maintained government property I have ever come across. MTDC would be rated 20% of the same in terms of hygiene, ambience, cleanliness, location. I would not give you an hour by hour summary of the trip but would like to cover the national park, our experience, wildlife conservation and why lions are more than tigers in my article below.

(1) A Background

The Gir forest stretches over an area of 1, 412 sq km of which 258.71 sq. km. was declared a National Park. Gir is one of the largest tracks of dry deciduous forest. The park has a great landscape covering hills, plateaus, valleys and is drained by seven rivers and a waterbody called Kamleshwar dam which makes the topography of the forest very scenic and beautiful.

Though Gir is home to a variety of wild animals covering 38 species of mammals, 300 species of birds, 37 species of reptiles and 2000 species of insects. But this wildlife sanctuary is renowned for Lion population and the last abode of the Lions in India and also India's largest Leopard population. Besides, the wildlife sanctuary is home to several Sambar, Spotted Deer, Chowsingha (Four-horned Antelope), Chinkara, Nilgai, Wild Boar, Gazelle, Langur, Jackal, Hares and Hyena.

Gir is also home to a number reptiles like Marsh Crocodiles, Monitor Lizards, Pythons and a wide variety of snakes. Close to Gir Wildlife Sanctuary there is an interesting crocodile breeding farm at Sasan, where one can see crocodiles in their natural habitat. Apart from these, Gir boasts of numerous bird species like White Necked Stork, Paradise Flycatcher, Black headed Cuckoo Shrike, Bonneli's Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Painted Storks, Pied Woodpecker, Woodpeckers Flamingo etc. And as someone rightly said, that if there were no lions at Gir, it would have been the country’s biggest bird sanctuary !

(2) The Tribes of Gir

The unique side to Gir is that it houses the local tribals – Maldharis- cattle grazers who live upon cattles and milk, Sorathi Rabaris and Siddi’s who look like Negros and speak Gujarati and are believed to have come to Gujarat in medieval times from African countries. Earlier there were 454 Maldhari villages called “Ness” inside the forest and now there are just 54 as the forest department has rehabilitated the same. This was one main reason of man-animal conflict and on the otherside, one reason for the increasing population. For a Lion, who is relatively a lazier cat than the leopard or tiger, it is easy to venture into a ness/village and kill a cow or a bull reather than running stressfully after a deer or a sambhar in the wild. The cattles have formed key diet of the Lion as high has 70% at one point of time and the forest department culls out as much as Rs 150 Crs pa to reimburse the villagers. But today, thanks to the conservation exercise of the forest department that now there is more greenery, and hence more deers etc – from around 4404 (1974) to 52492 (2010) in a decade which now has become the core diet of the Lion, thus reducing the cattle-diet to 30% from 70%. Maldharis and Lions ideally stay together and share the same place to live- the Gir forest. This has caused issues but there have been instances where a lion and a Maldhari is walking together.

(3) Our wildlife experience

Coming back to the core area, there are 7 routes within the park – Route 2,5,6 are almost identical but open from different sides and route 1,3,4,7 which are different from each other. The former are good to sight lions in the winters and the latter the best in summers. But route number 3 and 4 are highly recommended to see the best and the most scenic part of the forest. One needs permit from the forest department to enter the park. The permit costs Rs 500 and the jeep charges are Rs 800 and Rs 100 per camera of 7MP and above and Guide fees Rs 100 (One usually tips above the same based on ones experience and satisfaction- though there are some idiotic guides in the park who can be either mum or over spoken, but one has to depend upon luck to get the guide who are allotted randomly by the forest department, but one can still request the forest guys for a better guide.

The Rarest of the Owl

In our Safaris, we sighted marsh crocodiles, owls, jackals, sambhars, deers and some rarest birds on route 3,4. And we sighted 2 Male Lions together, 1 lioness and 2 cubs and 1 female single lioness all in just an hour of the morning safari in route number 2. Each sighting was exciting and we never expected to see 2 male lions together. But unlike Tigers, who live in solitude and its difficult to see them with other tigers and tigresses, its easy to spot lions in group and family. Lions are family animals and 2 male brothers can stay together, share lionesses and territories. One would hear from fellow tourists or locals that there was a sighting of 6 lions, 10 lions and so on. It sounded strange as one had to put in so much of efforts to see one tiger, but we bought that when we ourselves saw 6 lions in a span of 30 minutes.

The Sly Jackal at Gir

It is recommended that one should do atleast 4-5 safaris to have a good chance of spotting the lion and surely cover all routes like either of 3,4,7 for a good and different forest than route 2,5,6. Summers are best to spot any wild animal as water shortage brings them to the nearest water body, but winters are comfortable and pleasant with temperatures dropping to 10 degree Celsius vs. maximum of 40 degree Celsius in summers. There are 3 Safaris of 3 hours each (around 45 kms of drive each). Morning 6:30-9:30 AM, where chances are better from 6:30-7:30AM ie. Pre complete sun-rise/ early morning and Evening 3:30-6:30PM, when the chances are better in the late evening/dusk when it starts getting darker from 5:30-6:30PM. The lions or tigers usually do movements during non-sunny time or when there is not too much of light. Leopards can be sighted in the day. There is a 9:30AM to 12:30PM Safari too, which is not much worth, but the guides & drivers come to know about the movement of the lions & other animals in the earlier safari and one can check this out.. The ideal way to look for a lion is through pug-marks and alarm calls. There are no Lion shows like Bandhavgarh or Kanha, but the Rescue team of the Gir forest does an early round to locate the lions / groups and check if there is any medical/emergency need (a day before our visit they had rescued a lion cub attacked by a male lion wanting eliminate his future competition and had brought it to the hospital for treatment)

One more exciting part of our visit was our 19 hour long journey in the nearby areas of the Gir Sanctuary where the permits are given to locals and tourists. We were recommended by a fellow wild life enthusiast from Mumbai to do this route as one can have chances of spotting the lions on the road or while traveling in and around the nearby periphery / villages. We left early in the morning to visit KANKAI – This forest route is so fat the best in the country and a different one, very highly recommended. From Kankai – Banej – Tulshishyam – Una (near Div) – Gir Garddha- Dron- Dholwada- Babaria- Dhokarwa- Itwaya-Phatsar –Maranka – Talala-Sasan. It was fantastic trip. We missed the lions closely as we saw the fresh pugmarks on a river bank. Saw a lioness jumping on a deer and missing it and saw other wild animals including the rare Jackal whom we followed for 20 minutes, but in all – this route was one of the best and scenic forest route so far we have driven on. One can hire a Sumo or a Jeep from Sasan locally, as other cars may just break into pieces on some of the terrains in the this route.

So, overall 4 days in Gir alone should be a great fun for sure. But if you would behave like a true Gujju wanting to cover Gir, Diu, Somnath, Veraval, Junagadh etc in all the 4 days, then, my recommendation is don’t insult and bother Gir al the way – please visit your nearest zoo or circus to see the Lion, you deserve the same.

(4) How to Reach

By Air: Ahmedabad, 415 km away is the nearest airport. Regular flights from major Indian cities fly to Ahmedabad. From Rajkot, it should be around 300 kms.

By Rail: Junagadh, 65 km away is the most convenient railhead to the Gir National Park. From Mumbai, everyday Saurashtra Janta Mail leaves and while on return once has a n option of the same and also Veraval-BCT Pass Express. AC 1,2,3 are available besides the sleeper class.

By Road: The park is well connected with good road network from nearby areas. Volvo buses run from Ahmedabad to Junagadh and from here you take mini buses to Sasan Gir. There are govt. buses that run between Junagadh and Veraval via Sasan Gir.

(5) Where to Stay:

The Gir Lodge by Taj is one of the few 5 star properties along with Lion Camp Safari. Club Mahindra also have their property in Sasan Gir. Some of the other 3 star or equivalent are Amidhara resort, Vanvaso resort & Gir Birding Lodge. There are also some budget hotels like Maneland hotel & Sinh Sadan which is a GSRTC hotel. Sinh Sadan is also a very nice property with decent clean rooms and the benefit in staying at this place is that the safari booking is also done from their reception for which guests from each and every hotel have to come here. There are also Farm Houses for different budgets with rooms & tents viz Bhavesh Farms, Parmar Farms, Shyam Farm House, Anil Farm house, Om Farm house etc. There is no great food option in Sasan as compared to Bandhavgarh, Kanha etc, which attract more tourists especially the foreigners for whom Tigers are rare species and Lions are what they would have had already seen in Africa. One may try Rajwadi, Green Park for good food. One may find from Rs 500 to Rs 10000 per night accommodation at Gir. The food is decent and can cost something between 70-100 bucks.

(6) Wild life Safaris :

There are 3 Safaris (6:30, 9:30, 3:30) every day across 7 designated routes :

(i) Jeep Safari Economics : One needs permit from the forest department to enter the park. The forest department is doing a great job by being strict of permit and entry-exit time lines in the core and non-core areas around the forest, which is good for the animals. The permit costs Rs 500 and the jeep charges are Rs 800 and Rs 100 per camera of 7MP and above and Guide fees Rs 100 (One usually tips above the same based on ones experience and satisfaction- though there are some idiotic guides in the park who can be either mum or overspoken, but one has to depend upon luck to get the guide who are allotted randomly by the forest department, but one can still request the forest guys for a better guide.

(ii) Routes : Out of the 7 allowed routes - One should visit all possible routes to enjoy the complete forest. For eg. Route no. 2 and 6 are same – only entry and exit changes. So, if one does only these 2 routes he has seen just 5% of the forest. Hence, one should try his hand on route 3,4,7, 1 etc, as the topography of the forest changes drastically in each.

(iii) Time Punctuality : One should ensure to wake up at 5:00-5:30AM (we are never used to, but, you dont have a choice)and enter the park sharp at 6:30. The probability of seeing a Lion is 80-90% between 6:30-7:30 and same in the late evenings 5:30-6:30. If you are late, (It takes time in permit seeking etc, there would be long queue, one can request for advance permit a day ahead) than the probability is just 20% !

(iv) Other forest tour : One should definitely hire a vehicle locally for the nearby route trip. This trip could show you the best of the forests – atleast in Kankai, Banej and Jamvada route and you may be lucky to sight Lions in wilderness.

Enroute to the Kankai Forests

(v) Recommended Guides / Drivers (though one can not choose your own guide, but still can request the forest officer at booking window, because the passionate and interested the guide and driver is the better are the chances for you to spot the wildlife and enjoy)

Recommended Guides- Rahim, Abhilash, Amit, Imtiaz, Atul, Solanki.

Drivers- Murad bhai, Salim, Dinesh, Bharat Vaja (excellent forest knowledge, you may not require a guide)

Guides / Drivers to avoid :Jagga (Jagdish Vaja), Munir, Shadik (driver and guide)

(6) Tourism in GIR – Pros and Cons

Every tourist place has some pluses and minuses. Below summarized are the same for Gir with some recommendations for the forest department and government at large.

Cons in tourism at Gir:

a) Target Audience : Having seen many tiger reserves, Gir is much behind in terms of high quality hospitality and tourism pullers like (1) good restaurants (there are average ones which close by 10PM and serve almost similar monotonous food- but a good Kathiawadi and Punjabi food), (2) cybercafés or memorablia shopping centres (3) Medical facilities like good hospitals – this is in Sasan the heart of tourism. Maybe in Talala, which is 15 kms away, the facilities are little better, but there are no formal transportation system between the two. (4) Formal travel operators (there are many unorganized operators)

The reason behind this could be lack of foreign tourists. Like in Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Ranthambhor, Jim Corbett – one can easily see 50%+ of tourists being foreigners. In Gir, out of 30 Jeeps allowed, guess I saw only one jeep consisting of foreigners. The reason could be that the Lion might not be a star attraction for them, which they would have seen in Africa, but Tiger- definitely they wouldn’t have seen in Africa or any other part. So, naturally, foreign tourist revenues will develop the above tourist facilities.

The problem is that 50% of the tourists are from Gujarat, 40% from all over the country and rest foreigners (This is based on my understanding from local drivers, guides). The most of first 50% come for leisure trip rather than wildlife tourism.

Atleast am happy that unlike Maharashtra, Gujarat has started taking the forest portfolio and wildlife seriously. Infact, the same day we had come, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Cabinet Minsiter for Environment and Forest had visited Gir with Mr. S.K,Nanda, IAS & Secretary, Forest, Government of Gujarat. Maybe, the hidden agenda would have been to relocate some lions to MP, but whatever, the fact that national level focus is also coming besides the state-level visibility and focus created by Narendra Modi. Infact, a strong recommendation to the Forest Department and Narendra Modi is that Gir should be promoted as a hard core wild life destination and not just a tourism destination. Hopefully, with Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador, this should improve.

b) There are no Lion Shows (a few years back, there used to be Lion shows – wherein a cattle was taken by the forest department and the lions lured to kill it. This stopped post the Lion attacked and killed a tourist’s child. In Bandhavgarh, Kanha etc- there are Elephant shows, where one is taken on the elephant to view the tiger post it is spotted by the forest team. Atleast, from the tourists perspective, one has a better chance to see a tiger if not in the jungle. Hence, more tourists are pulled with some assurance. Imagine, someone spending 4 days and money and coming back seeing just deers and monkeys. It has happened with many of my friends in Corbett, Periyar and Gir. These places which are more beautiful jungles are out of their lists now and Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Ranthambhor have become regular repeat destinations.

c) There is strict following of a route. For eg. If one is allotted route No. 2, he has to be there and follow the same till the exit. One has to agree that in this mobile age, despite of no networks, drivers-guides are able to network and share where they saw lions. Now, like in Bandhavgarh or Kanha, one is to strictly follow the given route in the first half (1.5 hrs), post which the jeep has to register at a centre point and then when the necessary information is exchanged, one is allowed to roam freely on the routes where sighting has happened. This enhances one’s chance of seeing the big cat. In Gir, this is not allowed and should be allowed. The counter argument is that the animals may get disturbed when many jeeps would flock together- that is true, but (a) they are used to it and (b) but well these are just 5% of your total population who know that there are tourists coming every day to see them. These are not the wildest of the cats living in the solitude.

d) Limited Jeeps : Gir allows 30 Jeeps per safari, which is lesser, but across 3 timings 90 jeeps are Ok. But in the peak season, this would become a key challenge from tourists perspective. Maybe one can look at more routes. Had heard there were 10 routes earlier.

e) Professionalism / Hospitality : We discussed in the first point, that the demography of the tourist is such that one can live with average hospitality. For eg. In Bandhavgarh, Kanha, there are many highend hotels, upmarket tourists- both Indian and Foreigner – automatically, the quality of service, has to improve. Here, the same is improving, thanks to the forest department that the uniform has been made compulsory for the guides now. But, it is strongly recommended that the drivers, guides, hotel staffs etc should be trained well in soft skills and other specialized areas so the tourists are served better and more tourists come. The local restaurants and shops are also not as hospitable as it should be from a tourism perspective, giving you a feeling that they don’t bother – if you eat or don’t at their place. The experience was same at Green park, Rajwadi restaurants. We did not see anyone going overboard to impress upon or serve extremely well, so one re-visits. This has to improve, else the tourism flow will move towards MP.

Pros in tourism at Gir:

Against the above Cons, there are many Pros for Gir, which makes it one of the best wildlife destinations of the country and the world :

a) Lions are easier to sight : Unlike tiger, which is elusive in most wildlife parks in India, lions in Gir are easy to sight. Gir lions are unafraid of humans and perhaps one of the reasons that their sightings are not as rare as of the tigers. Wildlife experts associate this fact to the proximity of lions to Maldharis, a community who rear livestock and have always lived within the park for a long time now. On the negative side, the lion is much bolder, more fearless of man and less cunning than the tiger and so is much more easily shot. This explains the disappearance of the noble animals from all its other Indian haunts besides Gir whilst the tiger manages to maintain its numbers.

Besides the King Lion, there are many wild animals to sight and ideally foreigners and the true blue wildlife enthusiasts come to any wild safari for the rest and not just the big cat. Gir, if there would have been no Lions would have been the country’s biggest bird sanctuary with many inland and migratory birds residing here. We too saw some of the rarest of owl, pelicans, jungle birds and more. Peacocks could outnumber the crows of a city !

b) Alternate Lion viewing : Despite the better chances, one can be unlucky to spot the Lions. We saw it in 1 out of 4 safaris. The forest department has created a protected area called Gir Interpretation Centre at Devalia where once can see wild animals including the Lions in their wild.

c) It is Gujarat – This is the most enterprising part of India and you would have any one and every one – be it a rickshaw driver or a labour on the road – who would (1) have a mobile (2) will make an outgoing call for you (3) will want to network for you and help you to get in touch with someone he knows who could add value into your tourism. Be it the guides or drivers, they will put in their best to show you the lions/jungle as they know that they will be tipped. Though, there are some people absolutely opposite, which the training would take care of.

d) State Government backing Gir : Unlike Maharashtra even Gujarat has many more sources of revenues from the government perspective, but the government and Narendra Modi has been creating visibility around Gir (even though if it is an egoish tussle to avoid relocating the states pride, it’s good for the wildlife in general).

e) Strong & Passionate Forest Department : The forest department headed by DCF, Dr. Sandeep Kumar – a young, dynamic and a passionate IFS is another strength of Gir. It is not that any IAS aspirant who could not creak UPSC got through in IFS and is spending his time at the posting. It is the otherway, that a young guy deciding to sacrifice his chic urban life for his love for forests that Dr. Sandeep Kumar had moved from Delhi to the remote Sasan. Some volunteers from The Wild India Project of Empower Foundation requested to meet him for 10 minutes and he was generous to give us much more time to explain the park, its initiatives and also showing us some of the finest wild life pictures, he himself had clicked. I have met many forest officials till date, but have rarely come across such a passionate, hard working (in a remote Sasan, his day begins at 5 and ends at 11 everyday) and dynamic officer. Naturally, this passion and dynamism flows down the line which was evident in other officers, RFO, Rescue teams etc. In the nutshell, our understanding of the forests, wildlife and conservation increased multiple folds post our meeting and my only statement, post Jairam Ramesh’s visit was that looking at how he has conserved Lions at Gir, he might be soon picked up for a national initiative to conserve the attriting tigers- than what will happen to Gir and his answer was simple – the processes and systems build would last for long and the lions would stay, the only thing which will get effected will be his intense love for the big cats of Gir.

(7) Wildlife Conservation at GIR

Now, coming to the biggest area – and a natural question which may come to ones mind- Why in Gir, Lions have increased from just 20 to 411 viz.a.viz declining population of Tigers in the country.

Unlike tiger, which is elusive in most wildlife parks in

India

, lions in Gir are easy to sight. Gir lions are unafraid of humans and perhaps one of the reasons that their sightings are not as rare as of the tigers. Wildlife experts associate this fact to the proximity of lions to Maldharis, a community who rear livestock and have always lived within the park for a long time now. MA Wynter-Blyth, a famous naturalist pointed this fact as one of the reasons why lions have disappeared so quickly. He said, “The lion is much bolder, more fearless of man and less cunning than the tiger and so is much more easily shot. This explains the disappearance of the noble animals from all its other Indian haunts whilst the tiger manages to maintain its numbers.”

The Gir National Park in India proves to be a protected area for the lions but threats like human settlements, loss of habitat and prey species are obvious. The biggest threat to the lion population is poaching. Though the punishment for poaching is exemplary, poachers do make bids to bag lion skins. Even the nails of a lion are at a premium. It is believed that since a lion himself is brave and majestic, some of those qualities must be inherent in his body parts. Hence the non-perishable nail, mounted in gold and worn as a talisman, chiefly to infuse courage into a timid person.

One big reason of man-animal conflict is the lions moving out of Gir to find new territories which also means traveling kilometers away from their places crossing many villages, which naturally means conflicting with the humans. Today, the concern is with increasing population, Gir National Park is falling short of space, but on the positive side, instead of men relocating the animal, they themselves moving towards new territories outside Gir like in Girnar, Mitiala & Coastal forests. Today, Girnar itself boasts of 24 plus lions and the 21 lions live in the coastal forests of Kodinar and Chhara.

Rescue and Animal Care – Gujarat Forest Department has a long history of wildlife rescue, capture and health management with well equipped hospitals, veterinary support which boasts of more than 2000 rescue and release operations in the last decade covering 417 lions, 589 leopards and 112 other animals. The rescue initiative includes 4 rescue vehicles with teams of rescue trekkers have considerably help reduce the deaths and accidents of lions at large. This is a unique operation I saw viz.a viz. other national parks and Sanctuary Asia has acknowledged this initiative by conferring an award to the Gir Rescue Team.

Maldhari Rehabilitation - Also Maldharis and other tribes which are the integral part of the forest have livestocks to survive on. These usually encroach inside the forest for pasture hampering the same and creating competition for the animals within the forest for the same amount of available food creating a conflict. On the otherside, since the number of lions are increasing and the territory remains same, they often roam outside the boundaries of the PA, entering into the villages and killing livestock. This creates hostility against the lions and the villagers often leave poisoned bait for the lions to consume. The open wells that have been dug by the farmers for irrigation also act as a trap and many lions have drowned in them. Crude Electric fences connected to high voltage overhead power lines, designed to keep the nilgai (blue bull) away from the crops, have also been the cause of a lot of lion deaths. There have also been cases of poaching in the Gir forest, this is a direct result of the government and the National Parks tightening the security at the Tiger Reserves.

The forest in its upliftment drive has rehabilitated majority of the nesses of Maldharis but even today many still live inside inviting the conflict. The forest department has supported the tribes with leased agricultural land, employments, reimbursement for killing of livestocks, supply for firewood, grass etc. The department has created rubble wall fencing to check cattle movements in the forest and the wild boar, blue bulls movements into the farms to check destruction of the crops. This is supported by effective and strong patrolling

Water Supply- water, especially in the summers become the key why lions would stray into the nearby farms and villages. One, they would cause damages to the cattle, farms and mankind. Secondly, they may become victims themselves by falling into unprotected wells. The forest department has been taking various initiatives to ensure supply of water through artificial water holes in the forest, conserving and water harvesting, check dam creation and also building boundary walls around the wells.

Fire Control- Forest fires become good reasons for destruction of forest especially in winters post the dry leaves fall. Proper fire control through fire lines etc has been taken up regularly and further developments are in process for the same.

Traffic and Pollution Control – The Highways passing within the park and rail tracks create pollution and also deaths of animals (11 lions in the last decade). The forest department has been instrumental to check and control road and rail traffic post sunset at many places, lobbying for the same on highways also. There are 20-25 small and medium industries around the forest area and a couple of religious spots which draw 1.5 lac pilgrims every year. The department in its endeavor to protect the forest and the lions are evolving with a comprehensive development and control plans for the same.

Awareness – The Forest departments have been associating with youth to create and spread awareness. Nature Education Camps (NECS) and Forest Youth Clubs (FYC) have been the strategy in wildlife awareness, conservation and management. There are 125 FYCs engaging with all types of Diaspora right from the Maldharis, Local villagers, students, city dwellers and professionals to impart awareness. Devalia – Gir interpretation centre, a 412 ha of a protected forest area with all wild animals in another example.

Anti-Poaching and allied rules – As compared to other national park, I as a tourist first and then a wildlife activist saw strict following of rules and guidelines, be it permits, the fear / discouragement of locals towards harming the animal and the forests. There is strong patrolling and protection mechanisms to avoid the same besides huge penalties. We hear very seldom of Lion poaching as compared to Tiger poaching news which appear at least once a week today.

Ideally these conservation methods and initiatives have been instrumental in the controlled and increasing number of lions. Today, the World Bank and Global Environmental facility (GEF) have identified Gir as one of its seven sites for eco-development and this speaks in volume.

It was very well explained by Dr. Sandeep Kumar on why the Lions have increased. The same example of a human – if a couple is comfortable that they have a sustainable income, own house and future protection, they would go for a second child. The ones struggling with life today might not want to take the additional burden. It all depends on the environment. Similarly, for lions, if the basic amenities and requirements of life namely – (1) food (enough animals ; from 4000 to 52000 deers, for deers enough grassland due to conservation which gives them confidence to expand the family as they would be able to feed their babies), (2) water (natural and artificial water options), (3) protection from poachers, privacy for sex and life (natural and forest supported) are good, they will have confidence to stay and multiply their family.

As we speak on Gir, one can not avoid the subject these days in the Media on shifting the Lions to MP – this has become a much controversial subject than required, as good as who Priyanka Chopra or Deepika Padukone is dating these days, thanks to the media. But ideally, post visiting Gir and studying the forest and conservation methods in-depth over our visit, what we feel is that with so many number of lions and increasing, the current available infrastructure would be a challenge in the future. More than we, forget the politicians understanding the fact, the lions themselves have started understanding the same and have started moving towards new territories like the coastal area, Girnar, Palitana.

On the same lines, imagine you are working in Mumbai and your company pulls you, gives you more money, but asks you to relocate to Guwahati – what will be your reaction. Similarly, the animal would feel. Look at the tigers of Sariska unable to live in their own surroundings just nearby post relocation, how comfortable would the lion live in the climate of MP which is much different than that of Gujarat.

Now, the question raised by the critics is what if a famine occurs ? Well, the lions are spread all over Saurastra and are migrating naturally to nearby places. The forest department have also planned to relocate (manually) a few lions to Rampara, nearby Wankaner. The threat is not as if all the 411 lions are in one common area, as the normal citizen of India are given to understand (We too thought so, until we understood the same during our visit.) The same innovative central forest ministry should be well equipped to handle such a famine and relocate the lions if anything like that happens overnight and should focus the energies on those lines rather than satisfying some other government by gifting lions to some other state.

Coming to Mr. Modi, let us think from his perspective – why would you want to give your treasure to someone else ? It is evident that he doesn’t mind exchanging the animals with other animals, but those are from his zoos and not the wild. He doesn’t mind giving you a solution for derisking by offering places like Rampara or any other location within Gujarat, thus not giving any chances to the critics, but let us leave this battle to the warriors themselves and the future to see who wins.

One should remember that the Lion knows no border and does not stop by at any toll naka or state border before crossing it. If the animal naturally feels that it requires to move out of Gujarat, it would already be in Rajasthan by the time you finish this blog.

IMAGINE THE ADRENALINE RUSH WHEN YOU SEE THE BIG CAT – THE KING OF THE JUNGLE SO CLOSE –

ITS WORTH A 15 DAYS HOLIDAY IN THE SWISS, ITS WORTH A MILLION DOLLAR BET AT THE VEGAS !

PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE- India’s One of the Best Night Safari experience

2011-01-20T16:48:00.001+05:30

January 27, 2010, Periyar, Thekkady, Kerala : Siddharth and me along with our spouses planned our annual vacation to Gods own country – Kerala covering Kumarakom, Allepey, Munnar, Backwaters houseboat and Thekkady. Thekkady was our important destination as important like the backwaters or kumarakom and it proved right – 2 core reasons : (1) Wild Life – it’s a national park and a tiger reserve also famous for its elephants (2) This is the only Tiger reserve in the country, where wild life enthusiasts like us can do a NIGHT PATROLING in the JUNGLE which was the core USP for it.

Here, one needs to book in advance with the department of forest and tourism in Thekkady. There are 2 slots only from 7 PM to 10 PM, 10 PM to 1 PM and 1 PM to 4 AM and each slot can take only 5 tourists each. Which means only 15 people can go for this adventurous Night walk in the forest. Ideally, the 5 member team is accompanied by 3 forest guards – 1 with torch and 2 with gun. Ideally, the objective of this activity is to explore the real jungle on feet (3 hrs / 15 kms walk) and contribute to the work of the forest department to patrol and protect the forest from poachers and sandalwood smugglers. Sandalwood is abundant here and the smugglers right from Tamil Nadu and Kerala travel all the way, barefeet in the jungle and cut the sandalwood trees which sells for a huge price. The smuggling of sandalwood is worth Rs 800 Crs per annum and this is more dangerous than the animal poachers. The Nightwalk guards were sharing their experience of once gunning down a gang (they don’t require a permission to shoot at night) and some skinny smugglers clad only in underwear (langot) and no other clothes on the body which was applied with oil, slipped out easily and fled into the dense and thick Periyar forests. For a change, unlike BG and KN they have walky-talkies and high beam torches along with their ammunition quota and they take you along the forest across various topographies – plain, hill, water body, dense forest, mangroves.

You pay Rs 1000 per person and when you assemble at the forest gate (we took the 7 PM slot), you register, sign a bond/undertaking declaring that you will be responsible for any accident/loss/death and not the forest department. Then they give you 2 gadgets. 1 Long khakhi leg covers / boot covers which one has to tie to be protected from poisonous insects, leeches and reptiles. (snakes are common). You get a torch (one per couple) which is very powerful. Our torch which we took along from Mumbai had a 300 m beam and the forest torches were 500-600m beam white lights. Flashes in Camera were strict no, talking with each other a strict no, breaking out of the group a strict no (no one needs to tell you not to do it – I Can bet no one lost in the jungle can find his/her way out by own), perfume or deo is a strict no.

We began our journey. Sid and Chinly opted out to relax – I believe it was a very big mistake missing this one – well as we proceeded further, post a 15 minute walk entered into the dense forest. The best kicker was to use your torch and explore the jungle and find the animals. The guards would ofcourse show you the animals they sight, with much ease and regular practice. The first life we traced was a herd of deer and that too a few feet away. We saw wild boars – a family of 7-8 – mama, papa and kids whom we followed for 2 minutes and they vanished in a swamp. The best excitement was when we heard huge sounds in the water canal nearby and all of us sped with huge expectations and yes, we found a herd of huge (5 ft in size) Sambhars with beautiful playing in the water and then fleeing away fast as they saw us.

The best part was when we moved from the swampy area to a plain land and across a huge distance the guards showed us a herd of elephants. It was too far and dark to capture so we cherished the live moments, though my video has a dull capture of if. We moved from the plain grass land to a swampy area where we were asked to walk carefully and very slowly to avoid slipping. Some of us did slip a number of times, though. Our shoes and pants were all muddy by now, but all was worth. Soon we came across a swamy lake like structure and soon saw some movements – as we approached nearer they were the beavers (seal types who live in swamp and water).

Post all the walk, as usual, we asked the guard – kuch bada dikhao (show us something big and worth) – a tiger or a leopard. But could not sight one, but the guard warned us and asked us to stay absolutely quite. We wondered why and soon he gathered us around some excrete or dung and he said “beware- a sloth bear” around. And the guard too looked a bit tensed and asked us to move fast. That was to avoid an attack, which we too had learned at Kanha – Sloth bears are more dangerous than the tigers or lions as they come from somewhere unexpectedly and start spitting on the victim. The spit / saliva has some acid which starts immediately reacting on the victim and the victim gets distracted. The bear in the meanwhile hides somewhere and jump and attack the victim from the back usually. Ideally the heavy animal does not hit or bang the victim, it uses its sharp claws to simply rip apart the victim – either an animal or human. Another question which would come to your mind, would be how did the guard come to know from the shit that it was a sloth bear – the answer was that the shit was in round balls and black in color. This is usually the form and there were honey bee and bee nest particles in the shit and bears are know to steal and drink honey – tiger or leopard would never break a bee womb. And how did he know the bear was near –the shot was steamy soft and fresh and well, it’s the forest guards duty or skill to know all this.

Then we moved into a hilly terrain and finally I was getting too tired. We were again warned not to react if we see an elephant nearby, though we did not. It was said that if one reacts before a wild elephant, he is gone and if you behave like a good and silent boy the giant would not harm you. Soon we reached the forest gate post the most adventurous forest trip of ours. The night safari in Singapore was a made up one unlike this one – exciting, unexpected and unpredictable and that’s what wild is all about.

In the day we did a morning boat ride in the Periyar lake – saw many birds, eagles, seals, wild buffalos. This was worth too (Rs 60 per person). There are also other wild tourism options like bamboo floating ( you float on a bamboo raft in the eater throughout the day in the jungle, a day long trek on the hills and many more – most of the tourists would be foreigners while the Indian counterparts would be busy getting the Kerala Massage or doing Kerala spice shopping - we were short of time as the rest of the trip was planned and Sid would not have appreciated more of Wild life so left it for the future !

Kahna National Park–The Mother of The Jungle Book !

2011-01-17T22:40:00.001+05:30

January 28, 2009, Kanha, MP –Remember the the Mogli, Bagheera, ballu and Sherkhan and the song – Jungle Jungle pata chala hai, chaddi pahan ke phool khila hai ? Most of us grew up watching the beautiful cartoon show- the Jungle book on every Sunday morning and today after so many years it is a déjà vu’ effect when I eneter Kanha where Rudyard Kiplings “Jungle Book” is based on. It was 8:00PM when we reached Kanha from Bandhavgarh. Thanks to the MP government or the fact that tourism is the cashcow of the state that the roads are just beautiful. We checked into Mogli resort (The name maybe drew us here and the cost too guess around 1800 per room per night on CP). I remember our first reaction entering the resort and the same was of fear ! It was pitch dark and post checking in, we were requested to just walk a few steps and reach our hotel as the bell boy etc were having dinner. We walked a few meters and came back. It was pitch dark, pitch means you cant see anything even with a mobile torch ! Secondly the resort was sharing the boundary wall of the forest. Thirdly, they had made artificial ponds of water outside each cottage cluster where deers and sambars often jumped over to quench thirsts and where there are deers, chances of tigers and leopards being around are also there and some review we read had some tourists encountering the big cat within the resort and may be that was one more reason of ours booking Mogli ! But, our knees shook, a- we did not knew how far the cottages were and b- what could be there in store for us – animals or ghosts – you know the human psyche ! Btw, the driver on our way to Kanha had shared a story of 2 lady spirits, this time not in white standing in the middle

of the road and the driver knowing something fishy over running them and they re-appearing again and again after every few meters ahead of his car for a stretch of a 4-5 kilometers which they say is haunted and do not take late night drives there, even today !

Anyways, we went back to the reception and requested the gentleman to escort us and he himself left the reception to guide us to our rooms and thank god. The trip began with excitement and more at 5:00 AM the next day with all our woolens on as we moved ahead into the Jungle book for our total jungle experience but still at the back of our minds to check out the Sherkhan of this forest ! We had read that Kanha-Kisli is one of the diverse and most beautiful jungle of the country in terms of number of animals and birds you could sight here. Foreigners came in mostly for bird watching ! And the sanctuary was famous for the about-extinct Barasinghas (12 horned deer species, much larger than sambhars) which liven in the swamps of Kanha, the mighty Bisons which could throw a tiger by its kick and even over turn a tourists jeep and the Wild Dogs which can chase a tiger out of breathe and compete aggressively in hunting the same deer with a better success rate as they are in groups and can simply “cheer” (tear apart) anything !

We moved ahead and the forest was just amazing on an early morning at 5:00 AM. It was dark and the morning began by a brown large hare crossing our path, before we could even dish out our cameras. I don’t know like a black cat was it lucky or unlucky, but we moved ahead ! It was reaaly larger than what one can think of – around 1.5 ft in length without adding a feet long ears ! We moved further and as the day broke, that first scene is even yet fresh in our minds. The fog was just at 5 feet above the ground – it was a thing feet long layer, where you could see everything below the belt and above, a very rare scene and the pink sunlight breaking made it more picturesque adding the beautiful fragrance of the forest, differenciating it from the neighbor Bandhavgarh.

The same process of locating a tiger, by a call or pug marks began but nothing came our way till 8:00AM and then we knew its time to giveup for the morning as the big cat usually doesn’t roam around post the sun is up. The driver and guide were more disappointed than us, but that is what the difference between Kanha and BG is. In Kanha sighting a Tiger is a not as easy. The reason being the topography, the swaps, the long grass land which can easily camouflage the smart cat and more over the huge big jungle. But, on the otherside, it has so much to offer that we motiviated ourselves and moved ahead as the driver took us to a swapy area and there we saw the rare Barasinghas – not one but a group. It was a very different and beautiful animal, one can not even find anywhere else in the world.

We moved further to look closely the herd of Bisons and the driver asked us to click pictures fast and move fearing if they charged the vehicle. More than the tiger, these big animals could be dangerous for the Indian tourists, some of whom don’t even think twice before wearing some Govinda- Red or Orange colored t-shirt and wearing some morethan required axe-effect (guess a tigress would go gaga over him ?) or eat some sandwich or paratha in the jungle and last but not the least cant stay silent without chatting loudly with co-passengers. God, a Bison should overturn one such tourist jeep, then some of the jokers would learn a lesson !

In our evening Safari, we yet searched for the Big cat. There were loud calls near a nullah (water stream like) . we waited there for an hour plus. There were other jeeps too. We saw the sambhars just in front of us shouting in a particular direction, which am sure was the Big cat, but there was no movement. The worst part was we heard a few roars, but seems the cat was sitting down and relaxing and would walk post it was dark. It was getting late and if we reach late at the gate their jeep permits and guide permits could get suspended for a week and these guys earn only in the 5-6 months when the tourists are around, that too when they get their names in turns. The monsoon months are to relax or alternate jobs. We decided to take a round nearby and comeback here, since if a tiger is there, it will not run or move that fast, we would spot it. Well, since we had read about the wild dogs or dholes as they locally say, we requested the guide to take us there and soon we approached a lake called Sravan Tal, where the chances of spotting a tiger is also easy especially in summers. We saw some deers and monkeys here, but little ahead, we hearing some running sound on the leaf and guess what some dogs – 4-5 of them were running. They were thin, reddish-brown and normal looking but strong. These were the wild-dogs, whom we followed for a while and then they vanished into the deep jungles. We then moved further and came across a cluster of jeeps looking at something, When we checked, we were told there are 2 sloth bears there. Everyone was showing us a black spot near a definite tree and we tried our best with the binoculars, 40x zoom handicams but could not see that black stuff moving. Post half an our – forty minutes wait we moved ahead on being satisfied at seeing the sloth bear which could be a stone too ! But the fact that there were honeybee womb near by and the bears like feeding upon honey and there were mahua trees which is the core diet of the fermented alcohol for the bears, the rest of guides were sure to have seen the bears here since a few days. Wish we could have seen it closer. We came back, but with bad luck for the second consecutive time. Guess, the hare shouldn’t have had crossed our path !!

The next morning and our last safari at Kanha – All our prayers made, we reached the gate. Checking around for some information from the forest guards about any movements, but no one would share anything. The RFO whom we told that it was our last safari and his jungle was so beautiful, but we would not want to go without the tiger sighting was kind enough to reveal that there is a possibility of a tigress near the swamps and his elephants have left early in the morning to track it. We directly, without wasting much time went towards the area where we could see the elephants. The Mahouts (rider) said, he saw some movements in the morning. The day broke and more jeeps came around. There were atleast 5-6 of them. Soon all of a sudden, we saw the elephants reacting and to our left was a mighty shiny tigress walking with all its pride, letting the elephants know to beware- she is here. The mahouts were right. And soon, the tigress went inside the grassland and sat. The elephant safari began and we with more excitement and cameras and handicams on boarded the elephant and moved close to the tiger and soon saw it just from a 4 feet distance – with equal excitement and equal fear, that if we fell or if the elephant got afraid and even sat down near the tiger, it was the last day of our life. We captured some amazing moments of a stuff-toy like tigress rolling on the ground, with absolutely surf-ultra white chest and stomach which we saw while she rolled. We were told, she just had her meal and hence is lazy. It was a great moment seeing here eye to eye and that too for minutes put together. Was not feeling like moving back, but this elephant safari also has a time line of a 3-5 minutes and we were back to the jeep. We tipped the mahout for all his efforts and courage.

As we moved ahead, we told the guide and the driver to take us to No. 7 ! The background behind number 7 was our information sought from the mahout (post tipping) on which one single place he recommends us to sight a tiger since it was our last day and he had said No. 7 tigress. Every tiger or tigresses are locally names after the area / territory they live in like Shravatal tiger ; living near the Shravantal or Siddh-baba tigress, spotted around the Siddh-baba temple area. Similarly, Saat Number or Number 7 was a tigress which had given birth to a few cubs a month back, so according to the mahout she would definitely be with her cubs and not too running or moving around, so we could chance seeing her. But the driver had a counter view that the same tigress in fear of her cubs getting hurt and being possessive had charged and chased a tourist jeep for half a kilometer and he would not want to risk it. We still persuaded him to take us there, but that bloody hare, we were yet unlucky this time too !

It was getting late and we had to reach back to the gate in time. I had seen almost all the animals in the wild till date, besides a leopard. Soon, as we were going out, there were very loud calls of deers and monkeys, maybe the loudest we had heard. It was sunny and the chances of a tiger walking was less, but who knows, there could be a tiger like me ! We stopped the engine and awaited. The calls were just coming from the front, 50 feet ahead of us and we could also spot deers looking towards a tree. Guess, what ? Thanks to Abhi’s binos and my 40x zoom handicam, we spotted the much awaited – Leopard. Though it was not very close, but it was a leopard, sitting beneath the tree and about to kill a prey, I guess. We were praying and wishing for the shiny yellow with black spotted cat to move closer, but on the contrary, the driver started the engine and asked us to quickly shoot pictures and he is about to zoom. The reason was that, unlike a lion or a tiger which would calmly and harmlessly walk a feet away from you, the leopard is one animal which could attack and kill humans and chase a jeep for long and at a 5x speed. We rushed away from the spot blessing the Hare which crossed our way to the first safari for such a pleasant sighting in the forest.

But, the hare would have been killed, if it came in front, as what happened next on our way out is something one would have never expected in the least of ones thoughts. The jeep broke midway ! We were greedy and had let all other tourist jeeps go past us thinking that we will be the last ones to leave today being the last day and the disaster happened. The driver had no walky talky, mobile no network and there were no weapons in our hands to protect if any animal would charge us in the middle of the jungle in our Open jeep. The worst part was that the driver didn’t knew what was wrong and cluld not get down the jeep. When we intervened and forced him down (we were still on board) the jerk came and told us the fuel was over ! We swore and abused him as all of us were getting weird thoughts over that last 15 minutes we were stranded. The silence of the jungle which we had earlier praised and adored was killing. The scent of the forest we loved was now terrorizing us as psychologically, we could smell some animals too !! But, this is what adventure was all about ! I tried recording the situation on my handycam, which I did till the swearing and abuses being thrown at the driver turned towards me and I had to silently sit down shutting my gadgets ! We forced the driver to do something and soon he started walking towards the gate, which was around 3 kms for help and that too with just a stick in hand. The guide said, good we are closer to the gate and the risk is not as much, but the fact was that the risk was still there. Listening to our prayers, God, sent a forest rescue van, which was coincidentally passing by, which stopped and gave us a lift till the gate. And that was an end to our great wildlife experience at Rudyard Kiplings- Kanha !

TAG WORDS:

Kanha National Park

Tiger Safari

Wildlife in India

Junglebook

Yamla Pagla Deewana - Review and Strategy

2011-01-15T13:40:00.002+05:30

One may call it a reiteration of the fact that Nitin Manmohan knows better filming than Karan Johar or Yash Chopra (former, no doubt) or it may be called as a reiteration of the fact that the Deols still have the balls to rock the nation more than or equal to what Rajnikant, Salman (Dabang) or Big B can ! Some told me that it was a come back for Sunny, Bobby and Dharam paa jee, but in my sense, they don’t need a comeback.

One may look at them (Deols) as underdogs, having delivered more hits independently than SRK, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khans of the world. (besides Bobby) The yesteryears He-man Dharampaa jee whos completed 50 years in bollywood, much more than Big B, was to my belief always underrated as against the Big B and Rajesh Khannas of his time, despite 250 films and acknowledged handsomest Indian Actor. And so was Sunny, but India remembers hits like Joshiley, Tridev, Chalbaaz, Nagina, Border, Ghayal, Damini, Gadar (National Award winner for that last 3) of Sunny Deol which were super duper hits !

Well, back to the subject – Yamla Pagla Deewana was an amazing entertainer – if u liked or appreciated the Dabang or Rajni types of movies this one was 10 times better with super reminders of the hit dialogies, stunts and situations of the yesteryear with a decent storyline, where no one could get bored !
Sunny gave the most rocking action scenes, which would beat Salman Khan and Rajnikant (btw, they too have their target markets and segmentations – UP-Bihar and down South respectively, the Deols too have a huge fan following across the Punjabs and Punjabis and they are all over ! I heard more cheers and whistles than in Dabang in a suburban theatre jam packed for the Friday 11 PM show.

Dharam was on his as usual charming act and almost 90% of the shots with daaru (alchohol) – what he is known for (don’t miss the suitcase he carries with glases and bottles and even chakhnas (snacks) when he travels. His sense of humor and famous Dance steps got more whistles than that of Sunnys dance steps and actions. Btw, Sunny beats Dharam on the daaru when he drinks it from a bucket (balti) !

Bobby was as usual trying his best to cope up with his bro and dad, somewhat trying to manage well, but overall the trio along with a brilliant comedy and acts by Anupam Kher, Mukul Dev, Johny Lever, Kulraj Radhava (the new heroine), Nafisa Ali and a lot of Sardars do a brilliant job, worth a watch !

The fundamentals of segmentation clearly works here – there were huge number of Sardars witn elaborate families watching this movie. My friends mom which is from Punjab was reminding us since a month about YPD (Yamla Pagla Deewana) and how the women of yesteryear loved to see Dharmendra ! And the cheers and whistles in the suburban theatre was loud to reach Caneda (Canada – the 2nd country of Punjabis post India) This for sure is gonna be a good hit (cant tell about South, besides Metros) but the movie would draw the hardcore DEOL FANS (till yesterday, I was not so sure about their fan clan) all over India and especially in the NRI Markets – US and Canada for sure ! Movies like Robot, Dabang etc remind us that there is a strong fan club for such movies and they despite any great story can really do well. YPD is also on the same lines with a strong package and add-ons.

It was a pleasure seeing the 3 Deols together in this LYBH- leave-your-brains-home- laugh riot depicting the larger than life style of the Punjabis, making pun of them while not demeaning them with small and multiple jokes around the plot. And above all Sunny, Bobby & Dharam pajee’s sincerity and passion to perform and give the best to the fans and audiences clearly shows in each act. A good entertaining movie with a good comedy, a great team work, fresh jokes, 2-3 hot item numbers and above all the loaded DEOL TRIO - I would rate is 4/5 and a must watch !

Movies like YPD, Dabang etc should give Farah Khan, Karan Johar and Ram Gopal Vermas and Priyadarshans of the industry a last warning on not to waste the audiences hard earned monies for their selfish business motives by giving the worst flops in the name of comedy or a good packaged story (even a 10 year old kid can make better movies than them) and a movie like this should remind them that they are what they are good at and not direction for sure and should focus on their skills of dancing (Farah), gay activism (KJo) and I don’t know what can Ramu on Priyan is capable or fit to do (may be retire, go on to Himalayas and meditate for life)

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve - The baap of Kruger scene

2011-01-10T22:39:00.001+05:30

Tigers chasing Sambar – The Baap of Kruger Scene !

2 Tigers on Land and 2 Crocodiles in water await to kill the Sambar

Tadoba (Nagpur), 12-14 Nov 09

Met the Chief Forest Officer, Thane Zone, IFS (Indian Forest Service Officer, equivalent to an IAS) – Shree Bhagwan a few months back with connection to business. Myself being a wild life enthusiast got into some long drawn conversations which resulted in live experiences and future of the Wild Life in

India

shared quite passionately by Shree Bhagwan. I shared my poor perception of wild-life in Maharashtra purely on my experiences at Melghat Tiger Reserve, Chikaldhara and on the under developed Sanjay Gandhi National Park which has immense potential but no-one doing much about it, and the way Madhya Pradesh has projected its sanctuaries like Bandahvgarh, Kanha and Pench.

Shree Bhagwan differed with me saying that one should go to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (625 Sq. km), which is just 150 kms from Nagpur. Shree Bhagwan had headed Tadoba around 2003-2006 and he was passionate enough to show me some brilliant pictures of tigers and other animals there and I parked his views in my mind. We had discussions on my experiences of Wild life across India and South Africa and what can turn around the same in Maharashtra and the same was taken in positive spirit by Bhagwan ji and each point was given a logical reasoning and view which a layman can not have. The discussion with such a wild life lover and a passionate IFS official was very enriching and remained in my mind and months passed by.

One fine day, had plans to visit Nagpur and the thought lying in the corner of my mind lighted up. I communicated with Shree Bhagwan and he was kind enough to meet me and spend some time guiding and mentoring me on Tadoba-Andhari.

And then, the Headlines followed. We saw a breath taking scene, though post a long patient wait of 4 hours and the scene can be termed as a Baap of Kruger (No.1 National Park of the world). Usually, the scene of Tiger chasing a prey and killing is quite common – all would have seen on Discovery, but a situation, where 2 Tigers chasing a Sambar and the Sambar survives by jumping into the water, but unfortunately 2 Crocodiles await their prey and the battle goes on for 24 hours and finally makes the Headlines of Times of India – Front page on 16^th November 2009.

I witnessed the same and was able to capture a 35 minutes live video of the battle and Star News and Star Maza took my Interview and the same along with my video which was broadcasted on the National television at Prime time 9:30 PM on 16^th November (Attached the News video)

JALPESH MEHTA ON STAR NEWS EXPLAINING THE KILLER SCENE OF TADOBA ANDHARI TIGER RESERVE

The World class battle of Kruger

The famous Battle of Kruger, which took place in South Africa’s Kruger National Park is one of the most widely-watched vidoes, after being posted on YouTube in 2007, it depicts how a buffalo calf, which is separated from its herd, survives a tug-of-war between a pride of lions and a few crocodiles. Soon after, the buffalo herd, in a stunning display of courage, regroups to rescue their young one, with full-grown members chasing away the lions.

The Rare Battle of Tadoba-Andhari

It was Telia Lake of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve where the battle went on for 24 hourson 13-14 Nov 2009

13 Nov : 6:30 AM : The poor Sambar (The Bigger deer species with long horns) was there grazing on the banks and suddenly 2 tigers attacked, but the sambar was lucky enough to run down the water and save its life, but it never knew that 2 crocodiles were awaiting their dinner ! The tigers went back, but were hiding in the bushes for the Sambar to come out. The Sambar struggled from the crocodiles who finally gave up and the Sambar came on the banks and the injured Sambar, unable to walk came out.

13 Nov : 5:30 PM : We sat in our jeeps (only 4-5 in the whole park, unlike 50 in Kanha) from 2 PM and at 5:30 PM saw the female tiger slowly coming out of the bushes and strategizing her secret moves to attack. She took the way from water and then the bushes and finally attached but was unlucky again. I was able to capture the whole live incident on my Sony Handicam with 2000X Zoom.
14 Nov : 6:30 AM : When we entered the park, the brave Samber had already lost its battle in the night and the Tiger was enjoying its breakfast and the 24 hours long battle thus ended.

A Background on TADOBA :

Tadoba is Dry Deciduous Forest of Central India with lots of leafy bushes, meadows and Bamboo trees. There are 3 ranges – Moharali, Tadoba and Kolasa. Main area is Moharali which is close to Chandrapur – just 25 kms and there are other gates like Kolara gates and Navegaon gates which are much closer to Nagpur, if one is coming from Nagpur – saves an hour. The Park is a Tiger Project and claims that there are 40 Tigers in the park. Other animals include panther, bison, sloth bear, hyaena, jackal, wild dog, blue bull, sambhar, cheetal, barking deer, four-horned antelope, chinkara, hare, porcupine, langur etc. There is a variety of Birds – around 140 and reptiles and insects. One should not miss the huge Cob webs and Spiders in the jungles of Kolasa.

How to reach : This National Park is in the Nagpur-Chandrapur district, easily accessible with good roads – takes 2-2.5 hrs from Nagpur (directly to Kolara or Navegaon gate) or through Chandrapur to Mohrali gate.

Jeep Safari : The only developed area is Mohrali (25 kms from Chandrapur) or one can say commercial – around 6-20 jeeps enter this gate while other gates hardly get 2-3. This gives you a place with less tourists like BG and Kanha and once can also have a little leniency in terms of timings. The park opens to Jeep Safaris (from 6AM to 11AM and 2PM to 6PM). We were there for just 3 safaris (1 Morning and 2 evenings). There are not much jeeps and hence no unions which has its own merits and demerits.

Places to stay : There were foreigners but not as much as in MP and may be this is what is lacking for the development – lack of awareness, hence lesser footfalls, hence lesser business opportunities, hence lesser commercialization (eg. Not many good hotels to stay except MTDC, Saras and moderate rates -1200-1400 for AC rooms and Tiger Trails – around 5000. There are not much private hotels and resorts either. Eating restaurants are also limited to 2-3. Chandrapur is also a decent option to stay (Hotels Sidhartha, Hotel Kundan Plaza)

The People, Guides, Forest Officials : The place gives you a real upcountry feel as not much developed or commercialized like Kanha and Bandhavgarh. There are still some villages in the park area and yet to rehabilitated, so you may find some adivasi – tribals cycling or walking around which is not so common in BG and Kanha.

The Guides and Forest systems are good and well trained, they have exchange programmes and trainings at BG and Kanha.

The Animal tracking is a but different here - No calls of Cheetal or Monkeys over movements of the Tiger or No common tracking of the Tigers movement like pug marks by guides or jeep guys who would identify an area where tigers are frequenting and all would try the luck there, which in most probability helps see the tigers.

Coverage of entire ranges – There are 3 ranges. Drivers of Mohrali Range prefer staying around Mohrali only and usually avoid going too far to other ranges like Tadoba or Kolasa giving fake excuses that there are not much sighting etc and the first timers get fooled. The reason of this is to save fuel and efforts driving (they charge Rs. 1300 for each safari and if they make you sit at one place waiting for the animal they save the whole cost). Believe me, the best forest so far I have seen is the Kolasa, which beats even Kanha in terms of the feel of forest. It was just one jeep and the roads are much less travelled with absolutely bushy roads with just two tyre lanes and huge long bushes even on the middle of the road and lot of greenery. It gives you that irky feeling of what if the jeep breaks down here as there are no other jeeps or connectivity – Kolasa drive is a must and there are some points where one can sight animals, though we didn’t like – Kakadghat, Ambewadi, Shravani Zari etc.

Some Useful Numbers :

Jeep Owners : Sameer Maji – 9325770530, Anil Tewade – 9579010493, (They can organize the stay etc without any charges) –Jeep Fees – Rs 1300 per safari; Guide Fee – Rs 100, Entry – Per Jeep – Rs 50, per Person – Rs 20. Forest Office – TADOBA – 07172 251414; Forest Officer Chandrapur – 0712 2528953/2552518/2765

My Views on TADOBA and Wild Life Tourism in Maharashtra :

Most of us think of beaches or hills or pilgrimage when we think of holidaying near our home – Mumbai, somewhere close for 2-4 days or a weekend trips. Wild Life which is a very exotic and upcoming tourism (Africa’s leading revenue making industry) – the problem is

(a) Indians have not really taken this sort of a tourism so seriously, though there is a niche segment. –(My mother says, why do you have to go to such deep forests and for so many days just to see tigers – you can go to the zoo – The mentality of Indian tourism is primarily Beaches, Hills and Pilgrimage no matter however crowded they are !) In this age when space tourism or Horror tourism (you are taken to real haunted places where you “may” encounter ghosts or spirits) are evolving, India should look beyond the typical holidaying and wild life is such an area where more foreigners come as compared to Goa ! Many Yound Indians are getting into Adventure Tourism and that’s a good sign.

(b) The experience of Wild Life tourism has to be better than what one gets in the routine holidaying and that is what South Africa and many National Parks like Kanha or Bandhavgarh have achieved. Maharashtra is way behind.

Melghat (Chikaldhara, near Badnera Rly Station) was the saddest experience in wild life in Maharashtra, where could not see a small mouse in the forest, no regrets, but regrets over the poor attitude of the forest officials – the babu culture where they ridiculed the far claimed tiger project names by just a 30 minute safari on some jungle roads, where you literally don’t find any single insect, bird or animal and the guide had to be forcefully picked from home as no one in the village was willing to come unlike other places where the forest department has evolved the lives of local adivasis (tribals) bu uplifting them rehabilitating them and creating multiple job opportunities for them (guides, trekers, helpers, drives, jeep safari owners, restauranters and even employees of forest departments etc) despite of their illiteracy and lack of communication skills. If I could, would want the park to be delisted from being a Sanctuary but am told maybe the landscape of Chikaldhara is such hilly and terraineous unlike Kanha, BG. But in that case the place should not be promoted for tourism but should be maintained as a Core Area only.

Tadoba was great experience but luck factor was also strong. But Tadoba speaks of the future of Wild Life in Maharashtra and the scene sighted above is a challenge to all the national parks where tourists could see such a scene at all !

Bandhav Garh, Kanha, Pench in Madhya Pradesh or Ranthambhore in Rajasthan or even Jim Corbett have created a brand of theirs that attract tourists. Not that they have assured or 100% probability of sighting (Have know many who have spend days in the park with futile efforts to sight a tiger), but the awareness is so strong (through media, word of mouth etc) and the commercialization is strong (Good lodging, boarding, infrastructure, roads, security etc), that people visit these parks. Besides being Commercial, they provide great hospitality and service as they know that their house runs on the same – Right from Hotels, government officials to locals and that is one more reason. The distance or reachability is also discounted. BG or Kanha are the most difficult to reach parks in terms of airport and rail connectivity (eg. To go to BG from Mumbai, one has to go by train to Katni or by flight to Jabalpur and travel by bad roads for 3-4 hours, but still lots of people come – lots of foreigners come as these places are becoming brands and the government plays a major role. The same happens if this Industry is taken seriously or the Department of Forest has some strong weight in the respective State. Or the last way is, if the Minister is a strong person with a vision and passion and a will to change things. In Maharashtra, the new Forest Minister, is Shri. Patangrao Kadam and he is known for his administrative skills and the way he has mould the education industry and I sincerely hope and appeal to the Hon. Minister to help evolve the Wild Life Industry in Maharashtra. And hope to have more IFS officers like Shree Bhagwan who have given their lives for forests and wildlife and on whose names there are villages (In Tadoba, people have renamed their village as Bhagwanpur as the IFS Officer had rehabilitated the tribals and had helped them evolve in lives and had helped the Forest evolve as a valuable park.

Maharashtra is usually known for Beaches, Hills and Pilgrimage, but Wild Life is also abundant here. Tadoba, Melghat and Pench (One portion is in MP and other in Maharashtra) and even Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai – these can be developed and promoted very well and can attract good tourists as well as revenue to the state. Hope the state looks beyond Electricity, Sugarcane and Commerce !

Wildlife Conservation and Empower Foundation...

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Wild Life and Nature Conservation

Each one of us encounters China atleast once a day, either when we see a traffic signal urchin selling a Chinese toy or colleague carrying a new expensive looking cheap Chinese gadget to an extent that even the traditional Indian items like the lanterns for diwali (festival of light) and the idols of Lord Ganesha (the Indian elephant God) are made in China. We either appreciate or or crib about

China

for its mass production strategy almost taking over the Indian market. Having said all, China definitely has given a dent in the Indian Economy and even the wildlife sector has not remained untouched of this dent.

All would have seen the 1411 Tigers and Save the Tigers Campaign, but, one of the biggest hand in the declining population of our National Animal is

China

! The hunting for Chinese medicine and fur is the biggest cause of decline of the tigers.

The Wild Indian and Empower Foundation with this blog is trying to give all Indians a brief background on the whole issue with some way forwards too.

A Background :

Nearly one tiger is getting killed everyday in India despite many Tiger conservation programs, mainly due to habitat loss and indiscriminate poaching for pelts, bones and teeth used to make medicines allegedly providing the tigers strength. A 40000 Tigers number at the beginning of the 20^th Century is at just 1411 today !

For a poor Indian farmer, for whom word suicide is like common cold, the money from selling a tiger equals six months of hard work on the fields, no wonder killing an endangered animal seems a tempting option. Tiger pelts can fetch up to $12,500 to $15000 in China. Infact, there are poaching tribes existing in the country, many of them are caught with the tiger skins and bones and are spending their lives behind bars.

As per data by greendiary, even in the woods of Ranthambhore, the only dry deciduous tiger habitat in the world to spot the elusive cat, the tiger population has dwindled to just 35. Meanwhile, the number of people living next to the park has more than tripled, from 70,000 in 1980 to 250,000 today. The new arrivals have brought construction, logging and nearly 1 million grazing livestock. Even as their habitat shrinks the tigers tend to seek out this livestock, resultant in revenge killings by the farmers. Its almost humans versus tigers, with land getting more and more limited. Also, Human activities including carbon emissions, other pollution, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and climate change are driving an unprecedented wave of destruction and habitat degradation that is leading to species extinction on a scale never before seen in the Earth’s recent past.

I began with the Tigers for 2 reasons – (1) Tiger is our National Animal (2) Save the Tigers Campaign has atleast set the base or created the basic plinth about the cause and building on the same will be easy as there is much much more beyond the Tigers. And ofcourse, the government has various projects for other species too.

Equal number of Elephants (for their tusks & bones ), Rhinos (for their horns & bones) and Lions (for their skins and bones) are being killed year on year. There are many species like the Indian / Asiatic Cheetah, Snow Leopard, Barasingha, Rhinoceros, Pink-headed Duck, Himalayan Quail, Gangatic Dolphins, etc on its way to extinction. If you even recall the last time you saw a sparrow in Mumbai. We are loosing animals and birds, an important part of our world and the day would soon come when our kids would be shown a tiger in a museum like our parents showed us the Dinosaurs !

What can we do ?

It is quite alarming – when you ask someone to Save the Tiger – How can I save a tiger is the first question and the cause itself gets killed in the first shot. The campaign gets you only one thing and that is Awareness, well atleast. But what next ? This is a bigger question.

Being friend with some CFCs (Chief Forest Conservators) / IFSs (Indian Forest Service Officers) below are some simple ways on how a common citizen like me or you can Conserve the Wild Life or Nature.

CITIZEN LEVEL – A very important stakeholder for the Conservation are us – the citizen of

India

, who need to learn, understand and appreciate the cause. Then would follow the other steps.

Awareness – The first and the most important step is creating awareness on the subject. For eg. How many of us know about the Wild life of India, how many of us understand and appreciate the same. How many of us consider Wildlife tourism as a holiday option ? How many of us have initiated a process of taking our kids and showing them the beauty of jungles, animals in their wild habitat and teaching them to appreciate the nature so they can conserve it. Ideally, thewildindia and Empower Foundation would try doing this basic.

· One can read websites/blogs and forward good articles to the peer group for awareness. Do you know that Gangetic Dolphin is our National Aquatic Animal ? or do you know that there are many natural destinations near Mumbai where you can explore nature without the crowd of the tourists to the closest over a weekend ?

Spread the Message - One can display their respect or love for the cause by means of using a wild animals picture on the desktop/laptop/screen saver or wear a T-Shirt with such cause (Surrogate advertising)
Participate in a Campaign - One can participate in a petition/pledge for a certain cause (thesedays the same are online). Raise your voice against this injustice. Peaceful protest, human chain, petition and rally are some ways to do it. You can also write a heart felt and logical letter to the government stating your ideas about this issue and how it can be solved. Remember- an RTI has to be replied else the government officials are fined !
Contribue and Collaborate - One can contribute (time, money) to various NGOs working in that area post being satisfied with their process. Choose and Fight for a cause - Visit Zoo / Circus and if you find poor state of the animals, you could directly or through an NGO file an RTI and fight for the Right of the animal. It hardly takes a few minutes of your life.
Protest -Refuse to buy products that contain animal ingredients such as fur, ivory, and tortoise shell. Refuse to buy products that have been tested on animals. Think about what you eat. You get Zebra, Antelope, Crocodile Flesh very easily in Africa. Some of my acquaintances in India have experienced Wild Hare, Deer and Peacock Meat. Ideally, all should become Vegetarians, but it’s a personal call. Buy recycled paper and save paper for recycling to help conserve forested habitats. Protest illegal tree –felling and Plant trees – a common one though

GRASSROOT LEVEL – The most important stakeholder for the Conservation are our Tribals. - Man-Animal Conflict has to be tackled at the ground level and its not that difficult.

Awareness at the GrassRoot level- One can Join the Forest department officials for some social initiative – As we all know that man-animal fight leads to the extinction of the wild life. Not just wildlife, even teak plantation would soon become endangered with the illegal cutting of trees. Here too, Awareness at the grass root level is required on what to do and what not to do. Forest department is too small in strength, be it anywhere in the country and would always require support from the citizens.
Engaging with the Tribals and educating them as the same is the base, so that they who are on the ground can conserve nature first.
Empowering the Tribals with employment generating opportunities (eg. Art)
Promote Rural Tourism so a revenue generation can happen.
One can donate Old Clothes, Old cycles, two-wheelers other household items to the tribals.
One can mentor a tribal family or a class of tribal youth

SOUTH AFRICA - The Unbeatable Wild Life Experience

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July 12, 2008, Johannesburg, South Africa : It was around 4 AM in the morning, pitch dark and 2 souls awake in the morning, one not so enthusiastic, till he was there – there at the Pilanesberg Wild Life Sanctuary, my maiden experience in the wild (in my whole senses, besides the ones when I was a small kid). We were on a South Africa business visit for the International Partners business of the bank post which I wanted a Saturday to be spent in the Wild of Africa, post much of Discovery Channel pumping in. With me was Gautam Sehgal who I convinced to join in with an add-on of the Sun City visit (where Ms. Worlds or Universe were held) in the evening ;)

The Pilanesberg National Park is situated in the Northwest province, about a 2 hour drive northwest of Johannesburg. The park ranks among the largest of the national parks in South Africa (it is in fact the fourth largest park), and covers an area of 55,000 hectares. It also has the bonus of being a non-malaria area and is home to the 'Big 5' – Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard.

A Dark green Pajero arrived at our hotel in the morning, with a 7 ft African (Vincent) greeting us enthusiastically at 4 in the morning with a warm namaste, courtesy his regular business with the bank and Indian officials visiting South Africa and courtesy my friend Afzal Azmi who had almost imbibed many DNAs of India in him !

We left and post 2 hours of lovely drive, experiencing the sun break in the midway reached the gates of the Pilanesberg Game Sanctuary. It was yet little dark and to our first surprise was the “Declaration Form” which made us sign on various terms, the most astonishing one “ I would be responsible for any accident or death caused due to any circumstances in the sanctuary and not the government or the sanctuary authorities. Like normal humans, since all were signing and as there was no scope of questioning at 6 in the morning, we too signed and moved ahead.

As we entered the scene around of the lovely jungle game me the dejavu of the discovery channels with light orange long grassland and a flat topography. And soon the 10-12 jeeps which entered together at the gate vanished into thi9n air. The first animal which we saw, I still clearly remember was a Rhino along with a Baby Rhino, and that too while passing by, as in we did not put in any major efforts finding them as they were on their morning walks. The first sight of the large animal bigger than our Pajero was like still a dream. We waited there for the movement, though they did not much, we clicked a few pictures and moved ahead as Vincent said theres lot to se, as he has visited this place around 5 times.

The next 30 mins were boring, not being able to find any animal around, though a few birds which Vincent showed us but we were typical Indians and cared least for wasting time on the birds, wherein the britishers and Americans were shooting them as if they were more dearer than their spouses.

Soon, we entered into a different topography, a bit hilly at the end, but a greener grassland and we saw a scene which beats our first encounter – a herd of more than 100 Zebras ! The scene was fascinating…. The color scheme was breathtaking, any camera could not have captured. And as we moved closer, saw a few different type of animals camouflaged in the herd of zebras. They were neither horse, not goat, nor deer, but a mix of all called the wild beasts. This animal was fascinating as had never learned about it in school or as a child in a zoo or circus ! Well, this was just the beginning as per Vincent. He drove further and soon we neared a big lake and he stopped and asked us to stay silent. We did so ! But post 5 minutes asked him does he see something and he said he did, but now that something was not visible and soon in a while we saw a stone like structure move in the water and emerging on a bank near me and another smaller stone too flowing in. As it emerged, we knew we had encountered the Hippo and the Baby Hippo and Vincent felt or knew that and since these animals are extremely shy and sensitive, he had asked us to be absolutely silent and not murmur a word amongst us.

We moved further and saw many monkeys (Indians don’t care much as we keep seeing them so often, but there are 23 types of monkeys, 8 of them in this park) and also beautiful deers. Soon Vincent screeched and stopped on the way and showed us porcupines running into bushes, which we just managed to quickly take a note of. Hats off to Vincent for his sense of identifying or catching a life in the thick dense African forest. He says it’s the local tribal instinct and he is mostly right. We moved further and again halted as Vincent literally got out of the window to find us a huge herd of African Elephants ! They were far, but beautiful – thanks to my Sony 40X Digicam which could capture what the cameras could not and what a beauty – much different than the Indian elephants, these animals had huge ears and long white tusks and Vincy thanked, that they were not near !

Being so much impressed with Vincent and his instincts, and having seen these animals, we – the typical Indians asked for just one thing to Vincent – show us some Big ones ! Well, the park housed some lions and leopards but these animals were difficult to sight as the forest his huge and its purely on luck, where instincts also don’t work. But there are ways to arrive to this luck. Well, we were asked to hold our expectations low, so we don’t feel too bad if we don’t see one, but the overall package with so many animals was definitely much important. Vincent promised us more excitement and he only knew why and how.

We quickly had our breakfast (packed one at hotel) at a common point, where tourists were allowed to step down, refresh and answer the natures call. It was around 11 noon. And we spent 5 hrs in the wild.

We moved further and Vincent drove us suddenly over some hill, don’t know how and where did it emerge from and asked us confidently to await some surprise and soon we were in a terrain with long trees all around on a plain bushy land and then came our surprise – the tall shining giraffes – not one but many. This topography with tall trees was the best for the giraffes and our man Afro knew it – I shall call it common sense now and no instinct. As we traveled we saw many giraffes and one thing was common none were single. Were always with one to three fellow companions and then were told that these are unconfident animals and like to stay in small groups, of like minded ones, though not in herds. And 3 of them together can make hell out of a lions life and Vincent has seen a lioness being kicked 10 ft in the air by one of the giraffe. The best part with Vincent was to learn the detailed nature and habits of each animal.

Well, now the desire was to see the King of the Jungle and it was getting dark and we desperate, but Vincy said not to worry as dawn and dusk are the best time to trace the Big 5s and imagine what we encountered a Lion and Lioness and Majestic was the only adjective which could describe the scene. What and experience at Pilanesberg – a dream come true ! And at this place took birth of my Bug for the Wild and Nature and I said to myself –

India

has much and why haven’t I explored it ?

We moved to Sun City post the great day and returned back to our hotel rooms as satisfied as cracking a big deal… but as a greedy human, the real dream is still due- the Masai Mara – Kenya-Tanzania migration experience in Africa – Hope to realize this dream soon !

VINCENT, GAUTAM & MYSELF

TOURISM – The Indian way to look at it !

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Most of the Indians go in for the following 5 types of Tourisms :

(1) Hills – Plenty of them, not just Himalayas, but anything above 500 m above sea level and having a climate of 20 degrees as against the average 37 degrees is proudly considered a hill gateway ;)

(2) Beaches- 70 % of

India

has a coastline giving some great beaches to visit and each state has some great and more importantly accessible beaches

(3) Pilgrimage – Indians are usually the God-fearing or god-loving types and all religions be it Hindus, Jain, Muslim, South Indians, Sikhs will have multiple options for the same, and each state would have multiple places worshipped since ages and believed strongly in

(4) Leisure – this would cover luxury properties, spas, massages, shopping etc. That’s why some of the best properties do a great business !

(5) Heritage tourism – would be like Rajasthan, Jaisalmer, Taj etc. where one would find good history, monuments and the buried stories of the past.

Most of the Indians spend across Category 1-4 and a very few towards the 5^th one – Heritage tourism as the same requires a flare of history and above all patience, which Indians would normally lack.

Ideally a core requirement of a common Indian from anywhere in the country would be a good memorable place, good food and good spots to visit. Therefore crowded places like Simla, Darjeeling, Kulu, Lonavala, Khandala etc thrive in business despite the shitty offerings full of crowd much more than the local trains of Mumbai ! But, the numbers speak good – what can one do !

Offlate, you hear Indians splurging on Adventure sports like Bungee Jumping, Skydiving etc. Again a typlical Indian mentality of “why do I spend my own money to screw my happiness” overlaps the attitude to buy your thrill and the witness is the lack of such sports in India besides some River rafting sports in various parts of India. The world is moving a step further where tourists go for a “Horror Toursim” where you are taken to various locations and haunted properties like palaces, theatres, colleges, etc where you”may” encounter a spirit.

The Niche

But

India

, is still too behind in the evolving tourism options, but yes- there is always a niche for these tourisms. There are people like us who would want to go to a place less traveled and explore and enjoy the nature. Be it, exploring and sitting on a silent lake at Jawahar, Maharashtra where no tourists would come or find a natural waterfall in Panchgani valleys or taking a night walk at Periyar, Kerala or the not so common boat ride at the Rain Forests of Tama Negara in Malaysia where Anaconda was shot or explore the unexplored side of Goa where you may not find much Indians. Every place has such unexplored side of its and one common factor here is “NATURE” – Untouched and gifted !

Wild Life Tourism

One such niche tourism for the Nature lovers is WILDLIFE TOURISM. I come from a Gujju family and till date, 99% of our family tourisms in India or abroad were in the above 5 categories, till the last few years wherein our trips in the above 5 categories are just 20% and 80% into the NATURAL LOCATIONS, where the common man would not want to go. When I ask my mother or uncle to join in for a Wild life tourism, the reaction is “Sher dekhna hi hai to itni door jungle mein kyon jaaye, zoos are here” (If you want to see a Tiger, why take so much pain to go to a jungle, better visit a nearby zoo) and this will be the statement in most Indian families, the proof is 75% of the tourists for wild life are foreigners.

But, its not just seeing a tiger, the whole experience of exploring the jungle on your own, in an open gypsy early in the morning when its pitch dark and seeing the shades of the forest changing every minute as the sun rises and the efforts you put in to trace a tiger or a lion and the adrenalin kick you get when you after good efforts find a tiger with its cub or a herd of wild elephants or a rare leopard is more than winning a Million Dollars in the Vegas. And enjoying the wild in its natural habitat is a heavenly experience which many of my other holidays put together could have given me.

How it started

This started in 2007, when me and Gautam, my past colleague visited South Africa on a business trip. I used to surf through TV Channels and the shots on beautiful wildlife made me stick to the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet that I ended up spending hours on it. I had decided that post our business trip, we would want to visit a Wild Life Safari or a Game Sanctuary in South Africa as most of the wild shoots were from Africa. We decided to go to PILANESBERG SANTUARY in South Africa and my “Wild Life Bug” was born. Though as a Kid, I had visited Sunderbans and Kaziranga as a part of my 5 category Indian trip, the same was not that exciting as (a) I was a small kid and (b) It was not so important to visit these places and we just happened to have visited them.

But, post (1) PILANESBERG- South Africa, its 4 years now and I have visited 7 Wild Life Safaris / National Parks like (2) BANDAHVGARH (Madhya Pradesh) (3) KANHA (Madhya Pradesh) (4) MELGHAT TIGER RESERVE (Maharashtra) (5) TADOBA NATIONAL PARK (Maharashtra) (6) HIMACHAL PRADESH (7) PERIYAR TIGER RESERVE / THEKKADY (Kerala) and have committed myself to visit at least 1-2 a year !

India has a huge resource of Wild Life which attracts huge number of foreigners every year mostly between October to March and also from April to June (which is very hot- 47 degrees, but best time to site animals). It was in 2009, when a friend, philosopher and guide from the IFS (Indian Forest Services), the then CFC (Chief Forest Conservator) of Thane, Maharahstra, Shree Bhagwan guided me to Tadoba, where once he held forte, and I was able to sight the best wild life scene of my life, also covered by an interview by the Star News and Star Maaza, I thought that I should do my bit towards “Wild Life” !

Being from the Rajput clan of the Princely state of Wankaner in Gujarat and may be, as my Mom says there is some genes from the ancestors, that I have such a strong liking for wild life. The process remained same – exploring the jungle, tracing the wild, the only differences being they used guns and I use my camera. The big cats adored their palaces and walls and they adore my memories, they cherished and showcased their collections of stuffed tigers and other wild animals to the world, and I through this blog am trying to showcase the beauty of the Indian wildlife to the world.

The Wild India - www.wildIndia.blogspot.com

Welcome to the Wild India and through this medium, I would try to bring you close to each of the exciting wild life and nature experiences we have, right from explaining you how to go, where to live, what to do, some secret spots and ofcourse some exciting pictures. Hope you enjoy this and hope this blog would help promote wild life as a tourism adding on to the revenue of the country, giving employment to the local tribals and for the generation of tomorrow to conserve nature ! Do share your feedback.

An Open Letter to Vineet Jain, The Times Of India

2010-11-11T05:04:00.000+05:30

November 11, 2010,

To,
Mr. Vineet Jain,
Managing Director,
The Times Of India,
Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
Mumbai

Congratulations Vineet Jain & The Times Of India for taking the lead...

….the lead in cleaning the corrupt India... Well, India is shining, but behind the glare are a huge number of corrupt individuals who are in a looting spree raping India day by day.... And you and The Times of India have in the recent past shown the courage to bring these demons in public which others have not been able to.

Being born and brought up in Bengal, have been fed by the rich media of The Telegraph and The Statesman, which let me be upfront, had and has much much higher quality of editorial and literature, may be the intellectual Bengal touch... But, even in the communist driven state they could not do what u guys have started....

My compliments once again for shifting your core from being just an “Aggregator of news” to becoming a “Social Change Agent”. I sincerely hope its not just momentary... this is what me or any common Indian has noticed in the past few years only... Be it the 26/11 or the CWG or the recent Adarsh Society Scam, you guys have done a good job and are responsible to get biggies like R.R. Patil, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Suresh Kalmadi and the latest one being CM Ashok Chavan get thrown out of their chairs, which the “Aam Aadmi” only wished, abused over a cutting-chai and forgot !

Some of your critics say that since you and TOI did not get the CWG Business contract, you screwed up the Common Wealth Games. It is not that it is for the first time in India, that some scam happened. But yes, it is definitely for the first time in India, that a Scam of a stature was brought out and people behind the same exposed, and the system pressurized to take a tough call. Some say that Vilasrao Deshmukh or Narayan Rane or the Opposition and others have used you to open up the Adarsh Society matter against Ashok Chavan... But for a commonner like me, it doesnt matter as far as the facts are coming on table and actions are being taken... Tomorrow, there will be another TOI to take care of Vilasrao and others... Some people say that you and your paper write only against a few segment or sect or lobbies of people, but for a commoner it does not matter, as the Awakening you have started, would create some other TOI to expose the segment you may be avoiding, if at all.

So in this Media Awakening, for whatever reasons be it, hope commoners like us are awakened and benefited in whatever ways. Thanks Vineet Jain and Team TOI for giving India the required literacy, being the medium of that lieracy. There are yet many areas that you - TOI initiated for eg. Avinash Bhonsle- Cidco and MKVDC Scam, the Lavasa scam, the Citiscape issues of Mumbai, which are as of now, hope not permanently lying low. Look forward to see them reach the right logical end, courtesy TOI !

Many literates and educated segment like us do mock down your “Aman ki Asha” or “Lead India” or “Teach India” as pure CSR activities which would bring in huge mass visibility and ofcourse the Ad revenues (Come on, lets not shy away from the core of the business we are talking about). I too personally feel the same at times, but well the above activity which you have not branded otherwise is the one which a commoner is appreciating and applauding and wish you the best and hope to see you playing this role of a “Change Agent” and not just a “Commercial Media” !

With Best Regards,
Jalpesh Mehta
Citizen of India
www.jalpeshmehta.blogspot.com

The Indo Foodiee - Exploring the Indian Food from the "Heritage" to the "Hole in the Wall" Eateries !

2010-10-14T03:10:00.000+05:30

http://www.indofoodiee.blogspot.com/

Born and Broughtup in Calcutta means getting a tastebud extra than others... might seem an exaggeration or a bit blunt statement, and my Northie friends would lay their bets too, but a combination of a Gujarati and a Calcuttan can beat that too.... If I talk about Cal food, it can run into pages, hence saving it for future...

Well, Some eat to live and I live to eat and I dont have any hiccups in confessing that upfront. I have been exploring new places and cuisines to eat - not just in India, but in all my trips abroad also. But being a Veggie, India is a place, take any State of the country, which brings out a superb multidimensional culture and this culture is represented primarily by the people, their art and living and their Food... So, we all agree that Food is a strong representation of the Culture and one may not speak more on the diversified Indian Culture.

I never knew that in Maharashtra - one can have 4 different broad tastes of food - Paschim Maharashtra, Khandesh, Konkan, Vidharbha - they all have their different and unique tastes... Gujarat food is not always sweet - try out the Kaathiawaadi food and for a Urban Mumbaikar, Idli-Dosa means South Indian Food and vice versa... my Mom feels anything below Maharashtra till Kanyakumari is "Madrasi" and maybe in my Childhood I too though so.... but post traveling across the country have explored that Andhra Pradesh, kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka food are as different as Punjabi and Bengali food... so with this blog, would try and explore the Regional and Local Taste/Flavor of the Food and would recommend the place with my Ratings too....

I have been visiting the "Famous Joints" - right from the 5 Stars to the "Hole in the Wall Eatery" at any place I travel...any smallest town I go, I have also barged into a tribals house requesting him to make me some food and have also bribed people to make me the best dishes post their closing hours... so, here I go.... have inititiated a separate BLOG for the Food Reviews and Pictures - My blogs come with a lot of pictures, as Food is something you cant just read about - its not "the Touch and feel" but "Look and imagine" item ! Thanks to my Nokia E71 for all those beautiful pictures ! A separate blog, since I dont want to mix it with my core articles on (1) Management (2) Social and Political (3) Strategic Areas and they would still keep coming on www.jalpeshmehta.blogspot.com

This Food Blog is known as www.indofoodiee.blogspot.com - Indo Foodiee is a Foodie with and EXTRA E - which represents (EAT)... thats all bull...actually some one had already blocked the earlier one...and with this, I would atleast attempt at sharing 1 Review a Week.

I have already put in 10 reviews over the weekend covering food across Maharashtra, Gujarat, MP, Kashmir, Kerala...but the USP of the site is Food in and around Mumbai - where most of us live.... there are seriously some great joints in Mumbai and all over and with this platform, I would sincerely try acknowledging the efforts and passion of the food makers - they truly deserve this.... and I truly believe that Good Food can be the most Satisfying element - sometimes more than Money too !!

Radhika (My brothers wife) keeps saying that I might give Mayur from HOMP- Highway on my Plate from NDTV Good Times a good run for his Money..... I sincerely respect the concept of HOMP, but Mayur - Dont Worry Buddy - this is just a Time-Pass for me !!

More on :

Kathiawadi Food just 20 Kms from Mumbai

www.indofoodiee.blogspot.com

South Indian Meal on a Banal leaf 20 mins from BKC

Typical North style Chole Bhature 5 mins from Andheri

Kashmiri Cuisine in Mumbai

Gujju's Sunday Breakfast - only a few good places

Spicy Satara (Maharashtrian) Meal

DABANGG – Positioning, Segmentation and Re-positioning

2010-09-10T15:51:00.008+05:30

Some fundamentals first....all products have a certain lifecycle and the same can vary ie increase if re-positioned, re-packaged, else the same would die a natural death. Eg. Pantene, Lux, Pepsi and even Colgate are the brands which had to go through this phase for survival amidst stiff competition from new players in the segment. Even a giant like State Bank of India has to pass through this phase given the stiff competition from young banks like ICICI, HDFC, AXIS etc. You keep seeing Bank of Baroda, Union Bank etc changing their branding, positioning, logos etc. Al Ries and Jack Trout - the management gurus have shared some great cases on Positioning from the international perspective.

Some products do not require the same and are always a hit – eg. Maggi, Thumsup etc. The same yellow package and snacky branding for the former and the same simple black cola drink with a thumsup logo emphasizing on strongness or ‘’dum’’ positioning for the latter which still keeps the same alive and any tweak in the perception or positioning of the same could be fatal.

Now, taking this fundamental to our Bollywood – Not all actors are like Shahrukh Khan or Aamir Khan who could play a college kid as successfully at an age of 40 as successfully at an age of 20. Anil Kapoor still can play a young guy as compared to the old stooping Jackie Shroff. But all are not lucky enough like the Maggi or Thumsup to have a strong intrinsic brand value within. Many actors are smart or foresightful enough to understand their product life cycles and shif their positioning – like Akshay Kumar moving from action towards Comedy, where his peer Sunil Shetty still got tagged as an action hero and died his natural death. Diversification is not an answer, but complete shift in the positioning is. Look at Amitabh Bachchan. He too failed miserably trying to woo actresses post Agneepath in movies like Indrajeet, etc. He died almost a natural death till he repositioned himself as a different product like a senior police inspector in Khakhi or a senior role player in Black etc. And he changed his segmentation from the Big Screen to Television (KBC). Re-positioning and segmentation saved the Big B.

The Biggest example is Rajnikanth. He knew well in advance in his career (post Hum) that he does not want to die a natural death like his counterparts like Mithun, Govinda (He still lived longer, due to his niche), Jackie Shroff or Rishi Kapoor. He made his style a strength and his silly stunts of popping a cigarette, or his sunglasses or similar unhumanly possible stunts became his strengths and the brand relived post repositioning with super hits in the South and even International markets with movies like “Sivaji-the Boss” and now, the forthcoming “Robot’’.

Well, following the same principles of management, here comes Salman Khan with DABANGG ! (*) Sallu knows well that he is almost on the wrong side of the age so he cant do the college kids role.
Sallu knows that he is a little naughty one or not so serious one to get considered as a “cause-for-actor image” like Aamir, Ajay etc.
(*) He has his SWOT analysis in mind, knows his strength and what roles he can do well with.
He has experimented and tasted failures in his recent tries like Yuvraj, Veer, Hello, God Tussi Great Ho and many recent ones.
(*) He knows his competitors like Ranbir Kapoor, Imran Khan in the young genres and the inevitables like SRK, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn (btw, these also have shelf lives).
(*) And more important, he knows his segment – The rural India…sounds different ? But, that’s the fact. Not just youngistan and young girls crazy after his body and attitude are his audience. This will be proved with Dabangg with a release around the eid and the rural segment targeted.

Well, quickly on the movie DABANGG – well since theres not much to write – Dabangg is a good movie for Salman Fans and gives you a treat of a Rajnikant flick. First, the meaning of Dabangg - Dabangg means someone who’s power is dominated on everything. Most of the time, this term is used in UP, Bihar. Eg. “Raja Bhaiyya ek Dabang neta hain”. This way people in the area show respect for the person. Its like “Todu aadmi, Pahuncha hua khiladi or Stud-Champ” etc. Those who are Dabangg are never afraid of anything/anybody. They do whatever they want to do.

Keeping your brain aside, it is a generic time-pass with some Rajni & Matrix like fight stunts, a couple of good scores, some good dialogues and a fresh Sonakshi Sinha who seems promising (a good launch pad with Salman and with more efforts could be a good competition to the young genere' like Sonam Kapoor, Genelia DSouza etc). With almost no storyline at all and complete wastage of talents like Arbaaz Khan, Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar and even Om Puri, Dabangg is a story of a corrupt cop Chulbul Pandey and his tiff with the local politician-gunda Chhedilal played well by Sonu Sood. Good and honest efforts by Salman Khan, Sonu Sood and a refreshing Sonakshi. For a change a Cop wins against the Politician in UP scenario (though must be close to Gangajals, Omakaras and Gulals of the world…but no closeby…actually a different product altogether with not much UPism in it)

The movie would do good given (1) the Segment (Rural markets; Tere Naam was a Super hit), (2) the timing (Eid, Ganeshotsav, Weekend) and (3) even in the Metros the game of first 3 days especially Holidays will help gain the scores for the movie with the first show at 10 in the morning houseful ! The attitude would be “3 days holiday – atleast lets go and watch the Salman flick !” Don’t go by any great ratings as Taran Adarsh and Masands of the worlds are all fixed. From a movie perspective (story, screenplay, direction etc) its 2/5 and from just entertainment perspective 3.5/5 !

Nothing to take away from the movie - a time pass Masala movie - equal to Singh is King, Hey Baby and much better than Khatta Meetha, Tashan…..Am sure this will be a better performer at the Box office than the recent flops of Salman like Yuvraj, Wanted, Veer, Hello, God Tussi Great Ho …. It’s a good decision Salman, to go on Ranji track and repositioning your brand and segment rather than choosing a dead end like Sunny Deols and Sunil Shettys of the world…and thanks for making me revisit the strategic fundamentals of Positioning, Segmentation and Re-positioning !

Kalmadi should be sacked and Indians should note 3 points !

2010-08-13T01:51:00.008+05:30

As the CAG report emerges this evening, Suresh Kalmadi’s crime gets formally endorsed (Don’t understand why the F*#$ were we waiting for this, when every day we are seeing multiple proofs of frauds and scams worth Rs 2000 Crs in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) which are of huge budgets of Rs 11494 Crs (ref TOI headlines dtd. August 10, 2010) which is Public money – your and mine tax money (I just paid some more tax on July 30, 2010! And it pinches !)

TOI carried Headlines news in its Front pages for a week as below :

August 6, 2010 – Despite denials of shady Games contracts, heads begin to roll. Flower pots worth Rs 30 crs…
August 7, 2010 – OC had hand in all big deals
August 8, 2010- Kalmadi says – ready for judicial probe and would not quit as 40 days left for the game.
August 9, 2010- Kalmadi cleared payment for AM deal which he claimed he had never heard of. (Documents exposed)
August 10, 2010- Indian Medalists at CWG to get raw deal
August 11, 2010 – TOI forgot the issue in awe of the full page BigBazaar Ad;)
August 12, 2010- Key investors in top CWG supplier have fictitious village addresses. Got hockey turf contract at twice the market rate, lawn bowls at 8 times.

Despite all this, do not understand the heights of shamefulness of Kalmadi that he is still having balls to stand up and not resign and the as usual gayish stand of Manmohan Singh’s government to sit silent on this matter for so long ! This evening, post the CAG report, Arnab in Times Now was triggering the issue of Kalmadi to be sacked or stepping down..seconded by all the panelists from Sitaram Yechuri, Vinod Mehta, Kirti Azad etc. But, when I look at one resigning or being sacked, it gives me a feel of ridiculousness and mockery as the same joker lies underground for a while and springs back equally or more powerful…forgot Chhagan Bhujbal & the Telgi scam ? and today Bhujbal is the king once again, forgot RR Patil and his stupid comment on 26/11 ? and today he is back into the chair…its mockery and lets not discuss sacking or resigning for that matter ! There are many such examples….

I ridicule Subrata Roy Sahara (don’t say that he too has some hand or involvement, but he is not a patriot for sure to think about the country and advice the citizen and media to hold back the issue till the games are over.) I ridicule Sahara for even bothering to waste time convincing media and people.

Let us understand 3 things now :

Point 1 : PROTECT THE IMAGE OF INDIA : Whenever I have kept meeting investors abroad, they have been showing immense confidence in India, more than that of China or any other BRIC Country…primarily because of our demographics, DNAs and stable and better image of the government. Else India always had a reputation of being a corrupt country (Lets us accept the fact that we are…. I don’t want to go negative on the branding of the country as the readers of this blog belong to various countries and origins, but since majority of you are Indians, don’t mind sharing that its still easy in the country to do any level and intensity of crime and roam free and even win an election post that and rule the country too…..look at Satyam and Ramalingam Raju for an instance…

So coming back to the point, since only 40 days are left and the whole world is coming to India for CWG, it is important to sack Kalmadi and all relevant officials involved and revamp the whole board else the focus of Media would be more on the scam, scamsters rather than the game as each day a new skeleton would pop out of the box and the world would carry back the wrong image of India and because of handful of corrupts we all would suffer, right from entering another country to doing business with them, all would see us with a sight of suspicion. Media has done its job and no one (Subrata Roy or others) can stop them as they are bringing out facts, but dammage control is required with revamping the whole administration and the government giving confidence to us and the world that no one is indispensible and irreplacable and India has more qualified and experience people to run the show much well and much clean...net net, without Kalamadi and team... the show can go on..

Point 2 : ITS TIME WE WAKE UP AND LEARN TO REACT IN OUR OWN WAYS : India is one of the most literate country – I agree to it and the figures say so….but there is a difference between Literate and Literacy….We are literate but lack literacy….complicated ? Let me put a perspective….We are literate means educated and academically strong, but when it comes to literacy, we lack literacy ….literacy of what is happening around, what has happened and what are our duties….Indian memory is short and we believe in Chalta hai attitude…. We pay tax and we spend 5 minutes to crib about such issues, be it IPL corruption, Satyam Scam, or be it CWG….it is a gossip and time pass topic for us over a cutting chai and we immediately forget it…and when it comes to doing our duty, we fail…we never stand for injustice (I am generalising and not being specific that all do so), push back the corrupt officer for asking for bribe, rather we encourage as we are getting late to work and shelling out a hundred rupee note is simpler and the biggest point we crib about politicians….today we crib about Congress and tomorrow we may crib about the BJP….but most of us don’t even bother to go out and vote ….look at South Mumbai which contributes around 18% of the countries TAX, only 40% people bother to vote…rest take Holidays, enjoy movies and have Page 3 parties on an Election day which is just another Holiday ! This needs to change.

Point 3 : SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO FRONT : Last point…. When I had been to Pune in 2000-2002, Kalmadi was a huge name there…. As Huge as Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra ! But if you go to Pune today you will not even hear K of Kalmadi. Even the paan-waala knows that Kalmadi has shifted towards sports where he makes more Money. Same is the story of almost all the heads of such associations (rich associations which are better on a cost benefit analysis than a city or even a state) are people not belonging to that field. What does Sharad Pawar understand of cricket ? Does Kalmadi even know how many games are there in CWG? Even Lalit Modi would not know what is “Manka dead”, and we have such people heading these bodies…. Where would passion, feeling or push come of one would not even understand the game and well, if you say they are good administrators, please give me a break....our IAS/bureaucrats are much better to do that or even someone from a common walk like Nandan Nilekani, N.Narayan Moorthy, Deepak Parekh, KV Kamath with fair credentials could be identifed to take this responsibility, if we feel Gavaskar, PT Usha, Milkha Singhs of the world are just sports men and incompetent for this job !. Well, or it should be a mix body comprising of specialists, administrators and if required (you cant do without because of various reasons) politicians. But all these should not be politicized. I dont know how much of this could a common man like me or you contol, but am sure somewhere down the line, this would make an impact !

Coming back to Kalmadi….but India, we are loosing confidence !! For us Kasab and Kalmadi are similar, (besides their last names starting with K;)…there are for similarities (1) Both played with Country and countrymens trust and money (2) Both are standing untouched today and god knows till when ? But one things is proven now…unlike the perception, the enemy is not next to us or in our neighbours, it is right there in our house and we meet him every time we tolerate or encourage corruption and contribute in building another Kalmadi !

And sincerely hope, that the Media (compliments for the initiative) and citizen like us with our own capacities and ways are able to throw out this Kalmadi in the next 24 hours and other Kalmadis in our daily lives !

Bharat Bandh- Only a Performance Appraisal of the Opposition

2010-07-05T12:25:00.007+05:30

Sipping my filter coffee, stretching my legs on my bean bag - at 10 AM on a Monday morning – sounds surprising ? Well, its July 5, 2010, a nationwide strike- Bharat Bandh called by the Opposition parties -13 parties like BJP, Shiv Sena, Left front etc to protest against the inflation, price hike, high commodity costs and fuel price hikes. Well, sitting at home - don’t want to risk going out and have a stone pelted at my car for being over-loyal to my work, especially when the office is almost empty.

Back to the topic, if u ask me, Bandh is not an answer to get the prices in control. But the estimation is that the government would budge off in pressure of the opposition, which is 100% unlikely and if that happens that will be a victory of the opposition. UPA Government may reduce some prices next week, as they have been doing pre-elections to fool the short visioned voters, the would not be deemed under the so called opposition pressure. Bandh, to me is a wastage of productivity and loss of precious manhours but well, if my tax money is going to give me what the UPA government is giving, why not sit, relax and enjoy a holiday instead !

Having been born and broughtup on Bengal, I could claim myself as one of the most experienced writer on Bandh’s. In Calcutta, almost 1 to 2 days of a month even today are passed off as a holiday due to some strike or the other… those also went upto 10-11 days in a month with slogans of Inqellab Zindabad echoing in the streets, Chakka Jam (Flattened tyres / held tyres) of Buses and Trains and also seeing burning buses and private vehicles was a common sight there. When I see Bandh’s in Mumbai, they seem so docile and low lying comparatively. Well, one should not be inspirational on this front atleast.

Well, back to the Bharat Bandh – from being a unconstitutional means of demonstrating against a cause this is more of a Performance appraisal of the opposition political parties. To give you a background, all parties have National Heads, State Heads, City Heads, Area Heads, Ward Heads and so on…Well, the State Heads of Opposition parties are under the performance pressure to do well and their fate, future role depends on today. Today evening will decide, how long will Nitin Gadkari stay as a BJP President - for 1 year of 4 more years. Today evening will decide who is stronger Shiv Sena or MNS and where the Marathi vote should go.

Now, a better example in a laymans terms. Mr. A is the head of X Opposition party in North Mumbai (Goregaon, Malad, Borivli, Virar, etc) and Mr. B is the head of Central-Thane region of the same party. Mr. A and his team in North Mumbai by the day end have ensured that (1) All shops are closed (2) There are no auto rickshaws and taxis on the floor (3) There are 5 trains stopped (4) There are 10 dharnas (Protest sit outs) outside the government offices. Mr. B ensured 1,2,3,4 and (5) also his men are seen in Media channels slapping some train commuters (You can see even on TV one clipping this morning) (6) There is a lathicharge on the activists and (7) 2 of their senior leaders have been arrested in full glare of media. Take a guess, will Mr. A be rated higher or B ? Ofcourse, undoubtedly, Mr. B and he is sure shot the party’s favorite candidate for being nominated as the Party chief for Mumbai or getting an MP ticket. Well, this is nothing but a Performance appraisal, PMS or Rating as you would call in your HR parlances.

To add on, Media plays a critical role. If a certain party has a good networking, they would carry along most of the channel guys for their event or action plan (for eg. Rail roko- stop the train, Fire the Bus etc). What do you think, is media so smart that they will be covering the whole city and would genuinely come across all of these ? Well, so the winner today is the one who is able to showcase more of his/her performance on the TV and Print media. And that’s the “Visibility or Perception” factor which you may find in the organizations where along with performance the same is required to excel. Here, the raters are not just the party bosses but also the junta !

Though none of us bother much, we may criticize or even call them fools, but sorry we are not their audiences, we are the 60% who wishes to be absent of go on a vacation while going to vote – so they care a shit about your and my views ! Their TGA (Target Audience) is the rest 40% - Lower and Lower middle class who would by being impressed or afraid come to vote for. They would also themselves with family step put with the parties. (some may claim they are the worst hit, but who is not?) And that’s the politics of India.

Well, its just 11:30AM and here is the interim report card (guess what will be the status by the evening)
Bandh is so called very successful ! Successful on all the performance appraisal and rating parameters like – Most Flights cancelled, Airport stranded. Public transport and private vehicles almost out of roads, shops shut across all states. Thousands activists /protestors arrested. Schools, colleges, markets shut. Offices Empty !!

Kolkata and Bengal shut as usual.(Left ruled)
Kerala, AP also shut as the opposition strongest (Left and TDP)
Delhi – the centre so full focus of the opposition.
UP – Lucknow - Lathicharged and Power hoses (water charge)
Bihar- Patna badly effected.
Mumbai – Major protests, roads empty, no taxis, autos, trains blocked, buses stoned and broken in Worli and Vakola, Private Cars of oversmart people pelted and hit.
Pune- 26 buses broken. Shiv Sena, BJP leading the fray across Mumbai and Maharashtra
Leaders of Opposition- the big names like Kirit Somaiyya, Sardar Tara Singh, Vinod Tawde (BJP) Abu Azmi (SP), Chandra Babu Naidu (TDP, Hyderabad) (they have become heros and will be released at night- cool, that’s the Law and Order in India )

India is a country with a thin margin between the Government and the Opposition (all put together) and hence the bandh has to be successful and for the opposition , this is possibly the last few chances for their power show (shakti pradarshan) The bandh so far is super successful but is this the answer to reduce the price hikes ? I leave it upon you to answer (if you are a voter, then you have right to question this, else not)

Today, the total Opposition – the rightist, the leftists, are together for the bandh- the question is where were they, when the same could have been taken up in the Lok Sabha by a motion bill by the representatives of the citizen. But, the question is would they have got this visibility ? And if by any chance, the government reduces any prices post the Bandh (if Murli Deora and colleagues have been delivered their respective suitcases) – that will be the icing on their cakes.

Well, let me leave it upon the representatives you and I have chosen, if in case you have also chosen one…. I have plans for some cool beer, a sumptuous lunch, an afternoon nap, and evening movie or some teen-patti / poker at friends’ on a Monday !!! (unlike Calcutta, cant play cricket on the highway)

Picture Courtesy - bengalnews.blospot.com and Suresh

My Name is Khan – A Win-Win Strategy for 3 Parties

2010-02-12T06:16:00.004+05:30

My Name is Khan will be more famous in the History not for the content or the great acting of SRK-Kajol or the sensitive topic, but merely for the Controversy around it with the Shiv Sena's protest against Shah rukh Khan this Pro-Pakistani players approach in the IPL

Today, the Cub turned young Tiger woke up and roared – at the right time with right data. The man is non other than RAJ THACKERAY who speaks the fact so true which neither the accused nor the media has an answer to. Was thinking since last few days, where did Raj Thackeray vanish amidst the re-hijacked Marathi Maanus and Mumbaikar Issue raised by the so-dead-now alive Uncle Bal Thackeray Re-Hijacked as in it was erstwhile the agenda of Shiv Sena to play around the vote bank with Marathi Card, which was successfully hijacked by much dynamic and young nephew of Bala Saheb Raj who proved the same by data in the last 2 elections. And again the agenda is Re-Hijacked by the Uncle. One thing is simply clear – Caste and Creed are the only productive cards for Victory in Indian Politics. Development is some strange new word in the dictionary of Indian Politicians.

This is for the first time Raj spoke about his rival party’s protests against the movie. This as well as some more facts can open eyes of the Citizen and as a Marketing Strategies, I would refer the whole controversy around the Movie as a Win-Win Situation for 3 Parties. The Shiv-Sena, SRK and the Congress-NCP Government. The only party left out this time is Raj and his MNS and hence we hear him. (Pls Refer - http://ibnlive.in.com/news/why-slam-srk-and-spare-big-b-raj-asks-shiv-sena/1099743.html?utm_source=IBNLive_11feb10_MCDB_110210&utm_medium=mailer )

Raj’s point is very clear, which helps open the eyes of the Indian Citizen on the whole issue. The point is simple. “Such a noise is made over Shah Rukh Khan for this one statement of his. But no one is saying anything about Amitabh Bachchan singing poetry with Pakistanis for a newspaper,” said Raj at a press conference in Mumbai. “They are demanding an apology from Khan for his remarks on Pakistani players. But Bachchan was seen a couple of days ago sharing the dais with Pakistani artistes and reciting poems. If Khan has to apologise, then why not Bachchan."

This is a hard fact and I agree with Raj atleast for this. Some brief analysis on the 3 beneficiaries of the whole Controversy (1) Shiv-Sena and Bal Thackeray (2) SRK (3) Congress-NCP Government.

(1) Beneficiary 1 : Uncle Bal Thackeray who was almost a written off case as good as a Jyoti Basu, who most Calcuttans abused to the core, but when he died, all paid homage to, - Bala Saheb has all of a sudden come into limelight. The base is the Marathi Vote Bank and the existence (hindi- astitva) of Shiv Sena in front of the growing strong MNS of Raj Thackeray. Since 2-3 years, no one wrote or quoted Bal Thackeray so seriously except his own party run paper Saamna. And todays TOI is all praises about the man quoting that all from various walks of life come to Bal Thackeray to seek his divine blessings.

Well, nothing is wrong from their perspective. Any party will need some strategy to regain its lost vote bank and it is their job. This controversy will help get them some mileage as each of the 1500 arrested Shiv Sainiks who would have spent 3-4 nights in the lock up will be almost like a small semi demi god in their chawls and areas when they go back. They will be garlanded and welcome and will gain more popularity as much as Bhagat Singh gained to become like a martyr and fight for his cause. Each Sainik will get a new lease of life, a refreshed vote bank and this will help in the time to come.

(2) Beneficiary 2 : Bollywood Baadshah SRK- Well, I highly respect this guy not exactly for his acting, but for his marketing and branding skills and this could be the best possible way to outshine much stronger competitors around. That is the difference between Sachin Tendulkar and SRK. The former, sleeps on the floor and touches the feet of Uncle Bal and the latter squeezes the complete mileage out of the situation before doing so. The common factor is that possibly both sleep.

Now, coming to SRK – One fact is a mystery as per Raj and all of us too – will tweet SRK on this and am sure he will reply back with some convincing answer- that’s his skill. The Mystery is if SRK is backing the participation of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL, why did he not select Pakistani cricketers for his Kolkata Knightriders team.

The cast and crew of "My Name is Khan" are attending its premiere in Abu Dhabi and later head to Europe for a screening at the Berlin film festival. Well, one more fact that Raj missed out and may be some of us is that (1) the movie of Rs 50 Crs, bought by the Fox group for Rs 90 Crs- My Name is Khan is going to make ONLY Rs 10 Crs from Mumbai – That is hardly 10% - so why would some one be so bothered over it – but well, the publicity out of the controversy can make the Mumbai contribution Rs. 6 Crs, but the other places would make up or may be gross much more than expected due to the whole controversy.

A good strategy SRK- to overpower the recent fame of Competitors - Aamir Khan (3 idiots) or even Amitabh Bachchan (even at this age,he keeps on doing anything to be there) or Sachin Tendulkar even Rahul Gandhi (if he sees him a peers from any angle). Atleast I see this a little positive as compared to others who have always bowed down and said sorry... Good stand SRK, atleast from a Citizens view.

(3) Beneficiary 3 : The Congress-NCP led government, where in CM Ashok Chavan and RR Patils Home Ministry has arrested 1500 Shiv Sainiks and warned 50 Middle level leaders (what do you mean by warn ??) and are assuring the Citizen of Mumbai full security and support just to fool us, where on the otherside, their own leaders like Sharad Pawar (NCP Head), DY Patil (Congress past few days to seek good wishes and blessings.strong man, educationist, now the Governor of Tripura), have been visiting Bala Saheb over the past few days to seek good wishes and blessings.

Lots of questions arises in the Middle and Upper Middle class on the assurances of the CM and team to control the situation - this class ideally do not matter for the politicians as they are not the vote banks. The proof is despite the assurances of Police and the whole bandobast, the cinema and multiplex owners do not have faith in the system and have not been selling tickets. But yes, the Lower and lower-middle class is ga-ga over the superb guts of the Government to commit full security and safety. This class does not understand that its the Governments job and they get paid for it. The Government is gaining more confidence of the so called votebank, the masses.

Thanks Raj, intriguing me to write this piece post reading your pain point. But you should also remember that when you were a part of Shiv Sena years ago, you and your team also protested against Sanjay Dutt (For Khalnayak due to his TAT case ) , Aamir Khan (For Fanaa) and your Favourite Amitabh Bachchan for Shahenshah (during Bofors).

Strategies aside, I am looking forward to see My Name is Khan either today, tomorrow or whenever and am sure many of us would - We should not get surprised, if we see Aditya Thackeray, the young and creative Shivsainik – son of Uddhav Thackeray watching and enjoying My Name is Khan with close friends. And one more good news for the young lovers… feel free to express your love this valentine, as the Sainiks will be busy achieving their targets for My Name is Khan !

26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks - One year has passed !

2009-11-20T10:53:00.005+05:30

As we near 26/11 Anniversary, there are a lot of thoughts coming to mind…ofcourse not at all on the “Spirit of Mumbai” – That is a farce word to camouflage the looser in us. The so-called “Spirit of Mumbai” was back on track just after a few hours of attack in Mumbai last year. This “Spirit” evaporates when Raj Thackeray tries to divide Mumbai…this “Spirit” evaporates when its time for the citizen to setp up, vote and create their own future – only 40% people turn out to vote, rest 60% sleeping (I should call them traitors if I could). I guess those 60% don’t have rights to complain or cry foul when something happens to them. Actually, the so-called “Spirit of Mumbai” exists in the person or the family which is not a victim….ask the victims family or near and dear ones, where is their “Spirit of Mumbai’? A city like Mumbai which provides such great opportunities to people can not have a Ganpat absent at work for a day – He will not be able to pay the school fees of his child, if Rameshbhai bunks office, he will loose the trading deal and will be unable to fund his daughters wedding, if Pankaj does not attend an important meeting at 9, his counterpart Vijay would bag all the attention and will get the promotion, not just that – even being 30 mins late, Vilas will loose his half day Salary – will not this keep up the “so-called Spirit of Mumbai “? It’s a no brainer… And well, the citizen are practical – of something is destined t happen it will not happen – even if you are at home…so run..

Well, a year has passed and if you look at the impact on the Civil Liberties, there is much- even in the US post 9/11- the civil liberties were impacted – so even in India- the society is going through a lot of pains of being scanned, harassed but for good, the state is spending huge monies on security devices and the Metal detector companies multiplying their profits – all is fine…we all can take this pain, but what is the result - The result is Zero !

(*) Today, anyone can again attack Mumbai from the coast or the land as we are yet not adequate. The terrorist does not come through the metal detectors or the malls, they are masterminds, much smarter than our Intelligence agencies and they will find better and safer ways to come and attack…who knows in Mumbai, if your own neighbor is a terrorist?
(*) Judicial system forms a part of Civil liberties and here we are offering more liberties to the culprits than the civilians – Afzal Guru is still enjoying after attacking the parliament and Kasab dares to ask for a favourite dish and our system cries hue and cry if Manu Sharma is pubbing in parole…. Please for God sake get serious !
(*) We have freedom of speech, religion but still a representative of public gets slapped for using the National language in the parliament much against his civil liberties and we talk of Civil liberties for the citizen.

Net-net, as we near the Anniversary of the 26/11 Attacks

Why was RR Patil asked to leave (erstwhile Home Minister for his remark of Terror attacks as in such big cities, such small things keep happening) and what has he done or what confidence has be build that he is again made the Home Minister ? It is a complete joke and ridiculing of the Civil liberties, but I don’t blame the politicians for this – it’s the 60% sleepers (non-voters) who have chosen this minster again – Congratulations and bear the heat now.
Why are only Motor bikers and Tourist Taxis checked in Search operations by police (Naka bandis) ? I have never been stopped in my private car except just once immediately post the attacks. Does it mean that Terrorist will not come in normal cars or bus ? Or the police is smart to know who is an easy target to harras ?
Why have the police and their search operations (naka bandis) totally disappeared post the recent elections in October ? Guess, Police have information that the Terrorists would not come post the elections or the farce visibility drive that the state is hard on security is over now post the elections and its time to mint money by catching drunken drivers – that’s where the money is.
Why are people still avoiding Metal detectors at Railway stations and police seeing silently and waiting for another attack ?
I just traveled a few days back and the security at the Airport is as strong as it should have been – why is the difference between the security seriousness of CSF and Mumbai Police. When I asked a police man – he ignored the fact and said, they are yet not equipped or trained for the same and when a Neta comes – they all become equipped and trained. He has a point – its frustrating to check each passerby knowing that you are not going to find anything.
Supposedly Security boats were bought for patrolling on the coast and understand that the same is not having any fuel – where is mine and your tax money going ?
Someone very rightly asked the MNS guys – where was Raj Thackeray during the attacks ? The same remains unanswered !
Some famous politician (forgetting the name, was it Narayan Rane ? – see how short sighted a Mumbaikar is) made public claims that the Politicians of Mumbai

NDTV 24X7 triggered the thought of sharing my views on the Subject by asking the avid bloggers on the Social Issues share their Views and Questions with Barkha Dutt, who would represent us on a Talk show, but there are many more questions and Mumbaikars will keep on asking, that’s the best we do – but finding answers ? I guess not many are really interested !!

TADOBA NATIONAL PARK - The Historic Battle !

2009-11-19T15:03:00.009+05:30

Tigers chasing Sambar – The Baap of Kruger Scene - LIVE !
2 Tigers on Land and 2 Crocodiles in water await to kill the Sambar
Met the Chief Forest Officer, Thane Zone, Shree Bhagwan, IFS (Indian Forest Service Officer, equivalent to an IAS) – a few months back with connection to business. Myself being a wild life enthusiast got into some long drawn conversations which resulted in live experiences and future of the Wild Life in India shared quite passionately by Shree Bhagwan. I shared my poor perception of wild-life in Maharashtra purely on my experiences at Melghat Tiger Reserve, Chikaldhara and on the under developed Sanjay Gandhi National Park which has immense potential but no-one doing much about it, and the way Madhya Pradesh has projected its sanctuaries like Bandahvgarh, Kanha and Pench.

Shree Bhagwan differed with me saying that one should go to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (625 Sq. km), which is just 150 kms from Nagpur. Shree Bhagwan had headed Tadoba around 2003-2006 and he was passionate enough to show me some brilliant pictures of tigers and other animals there and I parked his views in my mind. We had discussions on my experiences of Wild life across India and South Africa and what can turn around the same in Maharashtra and the same was taken in positive spirit by Bhagwan ji and each point was given a logical reasoning and view which a layman can not have. The discussion with such a wild life lover and a passionate IFS official was very enriching and remained in my mind and months passed by.

One fine day, had plans to visit Nagpur and the thought lying in the corner of my mind lighted up. I communicated with Shree Bhagwan and he was kind enough to meet me and spend some time guiding and mentoring me on Tadoba-Andhari.

And then, the History followed..... We saw a breath taking scene, though post a long patient wait of 4 hours and the scene can be termed as a Baap of Kruger (No.1 National Park of the world). Usually, the scene of Tiger chasing a prey and killing is quite common – all would have seen on Discovery, but a situation, where 2 Tigers chasing a Sambar and the Sambar survives by jumping into the water, but unfortunately 2 Crocodiles await their prey and the battle goes on for 24 hours and finally makes the Headlines of The Times of India – Front page on 16th November 2009. I witnessed the same and was able to capture a 35 minutes live video of the battle and Star News and Star Maza took my Interview and the same along with my video which was broadcasted on the National television at Prime time 9:30 PM on 16th November (Attached the News video)

The World class battle of Kruger
The famous Battle of Kruger, which took place in South Africa’s Kruger National Park is one of the most widely-watched vidoes, after being posted on YouTube in 2007, it depicts how a buffalo calf, which is separated from its herd, survives a tug-of-war between a pride of lions and a few crocodiles. Soon after, the buffalo herd, in a stunning display of courage, regroups to rescue their young one, with full-grown members chasing away the lions.

The Rare Battle of Tadoba-Andhari
It was Telia Lake of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve where the battle went on for 24 hours on 13-14 Nov 2009
13 Nov : 6:30 AM : The poor Sambar (The Bigger deer species with long horns) was there grazing on the banks and suddenly 2 tigers attacked, but the sambar was lucky enough to run down the water and save its life, but it never knew that 2 crocodiles were awaiting their dinner ! The tigers went back, but were hiding in the bushes for the Sambar to come out. The Sambar struggled from the crocodiles who finally gave up and the Sambar came on the banks and the injured Sambar, unable to walk came out.
13 Nov : 5:30 PM : We sat in our jeeps (only 4-5 in the whole park, unlike 50 in Kanha) from 2 PM and at 5:30 PM saw the female tiger slowly coming out of the bushes and strategizing her secret moves to attack. She took the way from water and then the bushes and finally attached but was unlucky again. I was able to capture the whole live incident on my Sony Handicam with 2000X Zoom. 14 Nov : 6:30 AM : When we entered the park, the brave Sambar had already lost its battle in the night and the Tiger was enjoying its breakfast and the 24 hours long battle thus ended.

A Background on TADOBA :
Tadoba is Dry Deciduous Forest of Central India with lots of leafy bushes, meadows and Bamboo trees. There are 3 ranges – Moharali, Tadoba and Kolasa. Main area is Moharali which is close to Chandrapur – just 25 kms and there are other gates like Kolara gates and Navegaon gates which are much closer to Nagpur, if one is coming from Nagpur – saves an hour. The Park is a Tiger Project and claims that there are 40 Tigers in the park. Other animals include panther, bison, sloth bear, hyaena, jackal, wild dog, blue bull, sambhar, cheetal, barking deer, four-horned antelope, chinkara, hare, porcupine, langur etc. There is a variety of Birds – around 140 and reptiles and insects. One should not miss the huge Cob webs and Spiders in the jungles of Kolasa.

How to reach : This National Park is in the Nagpur-Chandrapur district, easily accessible with good roads – takes 2-2.5 hrs from Nagpur (directly to Kolara or Navegaon gate) or through Chandrapur to Mohrali gate.
Jeep Safari : The only developed area is Mohrali (25 kms from Chandrapur) or one can say commercial – around 6-20 jeeps enter this gate while other gates hardly get 2-3. This gives you a place with less tourists like BG and Kanha and once can also have a little leniency in terms of timings. The park opens to Jeep Safaris (from 6AM to 11AM and 2PM to 6PM). We were there for just 3 safaris (1 Morning and 2 evenings). There are not much jeeps and hence no unions which has its own merits and demerits.
Places to stay : There were foreigners but not as much as in MP and may be this is what is lacking for the development – lack of awareness, hence lesser footfalls, hence lesser business opportunities, hence lesser commercialization (eg. Not many good hotels to stay except MTDC, Saras and moderate rates -1200-1400 for AC rooms and Tiger Trails – around 5000. There are not much private hotels and resorts either. Eating restaurants are also limited to 2-3. Chandrapur is also a decent option to stay (Hotels Sidhartha, Hotel Kundan Plaza)
The People, Guides, Forest Officials : The place gives you a real upcountry feel as not much developed or commercialized like Kanha and Bandhavgarh. There are still some villages in the park area and yet to rehabilitated, so you may find some adivasi – tribals cycling or walking around which is not so common in BG and Kanha. The Guides and Forest systems are good and well trained, they have exchange programmes and trainings at BG and Kanha. Overall, the people are war, co-operative and simple. The Animal tracking is a bit different here - No calls of Cheetal or Monkeys over movements of the Tiger or No common tracking of the Tigers movement like pug marks by guides or jeep guys who would identify an area where tigers are frequenting and all would try the luck there, which in most probability helps see the tigers.
Coverage of entire ranges – There are 3 ranges. Drivers of Mohrali Range prefer staying around Mohrali only and usually avoid going too far to other ranges like Tadoba or Kolasa giving fake excuses that there are not much sighting etc and the first timers get fooled. The reason of this is to save fuel and efforts driving (they charge Rs. 1300 for each safari and if they make you sit at one place waiting for the animal they save the whole cost). Believe me, the best forest so far I have seen is the Kolasa, which beats even Kanha in terms of the feel of forest. It was just one jeep and the roads are much less travelled with absolutely bushy roads with just two tyre lanes and huge long bushes even on the middle of the road and lot of greenery. It gives you that irky feeling of what if the jeep breaks down here as there are no other jeeps or connectivity – Kolasa drive is a must and there are some points where one can sight animals, though we didn’t like – Kakadghat, Ambewadi, Shravani Zari etc.
Some Useful Numbers : Jeep Owners : Sameer Maji – 9325770530, Anil Tewade – 9579010493, (They can organize the stay etc without any charges) –Jeep Fees – Rs 1300 per safari; Guide Fee – Rs 100, Entry – Per Jeep – Rs 50, per Person – Rs 20. Forest Office – TADOBA – 07172 251414; Forest Officer Chandrapur – 0712 2528953/2552518/2765

My Views on TADOBA and Wild Life Tourism in Maharashtra :

Most of us think of beaches or hills or pilgrimage when we think of holidaying near our home – Mumbai, somewhere close for 2-4 days or a weekend trips. Wild Life which is a very exotic and upcoming tourism (Africa’s leading revenue making industry) – the problem is

(a) Indians have not really taken this sort of a tourism so seriously, though there is a niche segment. –(My mother says, why do you have to go to such deep forests and for so many days just to see tigers – you can go to the zoo – The mentality of Indian tourism is primarily Beaches, Hills and Pilgrimage no matter however crowded they are !) In this age when space tourism or Horror tourism (you are taken to real haunted places where you “may” encounter ghosts or spirits) are evolving, India should look beyond the typical holidaying and wild life is such an area where more foreigners come as compared to Goa ! Many Young Indians are getting into Adventure Tourism and that’s a good sign. And believe me - seeing a Tiger in its wilderness is a great feeling ! The Animal is a majestic one and the feeling of finding one your self is the most exciting part of the whole thing !
(b) The experience or value for time and money - of Wild Life tourism has to be better than what one gets in the routine holidaying and that is what South Africa and many National Parks like Kanha or Bandhavgarh have achieved. Maharashtra is way behind.
eg. Melghat (Chikaldhara, near Badnera Rly Station) was the saddest experience in wild life in Maharashtra, where could not see a small mouse in the forest, no regrets, but regrets over the poor attitude of the forest officials – the babu culture where they ridiculed the far claimed tiger project names by just a 30 minute safari on some jungle roads, where you literally don’t find any single insect, bird or animal and the guide had to be forcefully picked from home as no one in the village was willing to come unlike other places where the forest department has evolved the lives of local adivasis (tribals) bu uplifting them rehabilitating them and creating multiple job opportunities for them (guides, trekers, helpers, drives, jeep safari owners, restauranters and even employees of forest departments etc) despite of their illiteracy and lack of communication skills. If I could, would want the park to be delisted from being a Sanctuary but am told maybe the landscape of Chikaldhara is such hilly and terraineous unlike Kanha, BG. But in that case the place should not be promoted for tourism but should be maintained as a Core Area only.

Tadoba was great experience but luck factor was also strong. But Tadoba speaks of the future of Wild Life in Maharashtra and the scene sighted above is a challenge to all the national parks where tourists could see such a scene at all !

Bandhav Garh, Kanha, Pench in Madhya Pradesh or Ranthambhore in Rajasthan or even Jim Corbett have created a brand of theirs that attract tourists. Not that they have assured or 100% probability of sighting (Have know many who have spend days in the park with futile efforts to sight a tiger), but the awareness is so strong (through media, word of mouth etc) and the commercialization is strong (Good lodging, boarding, infrastructure, roads, security etc), that people visit these parks. Besides being Commercial, they provide great hospitality and service as they know that their house runs on the same – Right from Hotels, government officials to locals and that is one more reason. The distance or reachability is also discounted. BG or Kanha are the most difficult to reach parks in terms of airport and rail connectivity (eg. To go to BG from Mumbai, one has to go by train to Katni or by flight to Jabalpur and travel by bad roads for 3-4 hours, but still lots of people come – lots of foreigners come as these places are becoming brands and the government plays a major role. The same happens if this Industry is taken seriously or the Department of Forest has some strong weight in the respective State. Or the last way is, if the Minister is a strong person with a vision and passion and a will to change things. The New Forest Minister, Maharshtra, Shri. Patangrao Kadam is known for his administrative skills and the way he has mould the education industry and I sincerely hope and appeal to the Hon. Minister to help evolve the Wild Life Industry in Maharashtra. And hope to have more IFS officers like Shree Bhagwan who have given their lives for forests and wildlife and on whose names there are villages (In Tadoba, people have renamed their village as Bhagwanpur as the IFS Officer had rehabilitated the tribals and had helped them evolve in lives and had helped the Forest evolve as a valuable park.

Maharashtra is usually known for Beaches, Hills and Pilgrimage, but Wild Life is also abundant here. Tadoba, Melghat and Pench (One portion is in MP and other in Maharashtra) and even Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai – these can be developed and promoted very well and can attract good tourists as well as revenue to the state. Hope the state looks beyond Electricity, Sugarcane and Commerce !

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES - Waste of Vote unless you have seen them work !

2009-10-13T09:54:00.002+05:30

Just came back home post doing my duty of a responsible citizen – voting for the assembly elections. Was amazed to see some candidates with signs like “pressure cooker”, “diamond ring”, “car”, cricket bat” and “whistle” asking the citizen to punch on their symbols. Had heard about even symbols like gas cylinder, sewing machine, brush, cupboard, torch, table, cot, candle, iron, hat, ceiling fan, television, coat, electric pole and camera. We might ridicule these, but if a foreigner sees Lotus, Hand, Railway Engine, Cycle of an Elephant he will see it no differently than the gas cylinder, pressure cooker or a ceiling fan.

If you read todays Times of India (13 Oct 2009) you will find that more than 50% of the candidates (1820 out of 3559) are Independent candidates, which was just 14% in 2004. Now the question is why is there such a steep rise in the Independent candidates ? The thought around the same is as below.

Had heard some senior corporatizens talking about increasing independent candidates which is good as they might be unbiased or uncorrupted and one should vote for them or give them a chance. There is a point, but take an example of Meera Sanyal of ABN Amro who stood and lost from South Mumbai seat in 2009 elections or for that matter an example of Mallika Sarabhai who stood against Advani or even stalwarts like IAS Chandrashekhar, Capt. Gopinath of Deccan taking their plunge as independents and loosing miserably, forget the unknown common man of India who stands as an independent candidate.

Well, let us agree to the fact that with 60% middle class and upper class sitting at home enjoying a holiday – watching movie, playing golf or having a pre-diwali get together one can never expect candidates like Meera Sanyals and other independants to win as it is the masses who go out to vote. Agree to ANOTHER SCHOOL of thought which says that why should I vote for a “Film Star” like Govinda or a Personal Secretary of a Politician ? and there it follows what happened in the corporation elections in Juhu in 2007 when Adolf D’souza with Candle as a voting symbol won from a prestigious Juhu constituency slapping the candidates of the leading parties hard on face. But these are exceptions and are valid in smaller elections like chosing the local corporators but definitely not the MP or MLA, where the constituency span is comparatively huge. One always looks at either the party or the personal record of serving the society or the area where the candidates are seeking votes.

Many politicians who are denied tickets by their home party and do not want to switch to the opposition often stand as independants and also win…. Can look at examples of Buta Singh or even George Fernandes, there are many. Many stalwarts entered Parliament unaffiliated to any party in India’s early years, including Minoo Masani, V.K. Krishna Menon, and J.B. Kripalani. Later, Purushottam Mavlankar was elected twice from Gujarat. Maneka Gandhi, too, has won as an independent. Well, if one studies these candidates they had some background and also had put in their efforts into serving the society or by participating in public life in their own way and not for just a short time but for a considerable time.

People object to independents for 4 reasons. (1) that they can’t win. (2) that they take away votes from a more winnable, but not necessarily more competent candidate, even if the best way to describe such candidates is that they represent “the lesser evil”. (3) independent members of Parliament (MPs) cannot be effective without party machinery. (4) they would be hostage to their constituents’ agenda. A recent news article dated May 20, 2009 14:59 IST (refer http://election.rediff.com/report/2009/may/20/loksabhapoll-most-independent-candidates-lost-polls.htm) clearly states that 99.75% independent candidates lost LS polls.

Well, if there is a consistency data then also why do independents stand is the only question I am sure you would be thinking of. Having some close links, the underlying answer which we as citizen might not aware could be as below :

No Ramlal who is a mere tailor earning Rs 800/- a month have political vision or an urge to change India. No Nandu, who is the secretary of the local Ganesh Mandal have the funds to campaign and gain support for himself and No Ganpat, the auto-rickshaw driver has his reach beyond his chawl that he can see any chance to win. Some have a reasoning that it is to get some fame, but why would one put his self respect at stake where he know he is going to loose and will not even manage to get more than 200 votes.

The reason is simple, if you see the Big 70mm Maharashtra Picture in a Silver Screen size. As per the political analysts, many argue that MNS is backed by Congress-NCP to break the Sena-BJP Vote bank. What stops Sena-BJP or NCP-Cong or any political party to promote some Ramlals, Nandu and Ganpats where they see the opposition strong- atleast they would break away some votes of the opposition, thus making way for the prospect, their candidates. It is no secret formula, even the common man at the chai stall is heard talking on these lines....The second school of thought is that look at the reality shows thesedays- why would a mother give away her baby to Rakhee Sawant to mishandle in the Reality Show – Pati, Patni aur Woh ? For Money or for Fame – there can be no other option. Why would a family come to the reality show- Sach ka Saamna and break their relationships by divulging the dark secrets where the wife has slept with the neighbour – that too on the National television – again 2 reasons – Money or Fame.

In the case of Independents also – there can be the same 2 reasons – Money or Fame. Fame is not that important but money is. Ganpat knows that in the rest of his life which is 10 years @ Rs 800/-pm, he is going to make Rs 9,60,000/- and if he is offered Rs 5,00,000/- he would stand for the elections as the short fame would help him earn Rs 1000/-pm instead of Rs 800/-pm. One also speculated that like in the Sales Structure of products, they too have Slab structure where 500-1000 Votes gets him Rs 1 Lac, 1000-2000 Votes gets him Rs 3 Lac, 2000-5000 Votes gets him Rs 5 lacs and so on and less than 500 votes NIL. And ofcourse some basic expenses and small amount of Deposit covered.

But, as I write this, many would still be voting for Independents who could be friends or for a so-called incumbency or need of change, but am sure the results would show. Am sure out of 1800 Independents, we may see some winners too, but am sure they would have put in a lot of efforts and hard work in their areas and the voters would know it. The only appeal was to alert fellow citizens not to vote just for voting and because you don’t like A and don’t want B to come to power. Just think, analyse and act. At the end of it the beneficiary is you and the sufferer too !

And for the Independent Candidates – please put in some years of social service in your area- create some visibility of your work – and then go asking for votes –and then I assure you that even if your Election symbol is “Chappal” (shoe) or “Lota” (tumbler-which people in rural India still carry for washing their shits) people would vote for you and you would win - else thesedays, the citizen be it the literate junta or an illeterate junta - are getting smarter - they will not even let Amitabh Bachchan as an Independent Candidate win !

Prepaid Taxis at Mumbai Airport on a looting spree !

2009-10-05T17:25:00.008+05:30

Yesterday (4th Oct), I arrived from Delhi to Mumbai at the Mumbai Airport - Chatrapati Shivaji Domestic Airport and proceeded to the PRE-PAID TAXI Counter in the Departure section and got myself a Pre-Paid Taxi booked by paying the designated fare plus Rs 10 Service Charges. This is a good service initiated by “Domestic Airport Pre-paid Taxi Service” especially better for foreigners who were forced to pay exhorbitant monies for cabs – I remember a cabbie asking me for Rs. 500 for a distance of Rs 60/- some years back and I said “bahargaon ka nahin hoon…ch***** banata hai?” (I am not from outstation, I belong to here and don’t try to fool me) and then he came half price and I had to bargain further as no cab was willing to travel by meter. I saw foreigners paying Rs. 700 for Airport-Juhu ride instead of Rs 110 and there was no process or system to stop this money exhorting act of the taxi-drivers. Thanks that the Pre-paid taxi system was introduced in Mumbai that faulty metered taxis and arrogant taxi drivers charging exhorbitant prices finally ceased to exist, though some might yet argue that private taxi’s like Meru and Mega Cab (022-44224422) are better and professional than these Unionized yellow black Fiat taxis of Mumbai.

While booking the cab at the counter – I was asked – do you have any bags and since I had only strolleys (60 cms X 40 cms) which we carry for week long holidays, I said no and they guy cut a receipt of taxi fare and service charges and no luggage charges, which are Rs 10 per bag of 70 cmsX50 cms (Pls see the scanned copy of the Receipt - circled area). Many fellow passengers with small kids and families declared these similar strolleys as bags, when they were asked “kitna bag hain” (how many bags do you have?) and the pre-paid counter guys added Rs 10 to each and billed them, which they conveniently paid.

When I moved out, I was directed to a cab by the private security agency (GIC) person and the taxi driver post seeing the receipt refused to move as he said I had 3 strolleys/trolleys and the receipt should have 3 luggages – ie. Rs. 30 more. I argued that all the bags are much smaller than the HUGE – 70cmsX50cms bags and hence I do not have to pay the luggage charges. He asked me to come with him to the pre-paid counter and I refused and asked him to get the manager of the “Domestic Airport Pre-paid Taxi Service” – The officer who cut the receipt came and said I will have to pay luggage charges and when I asked him to get the measure-tape and measure the size and threw some big names, he was scared and asked his manager to intervene. Being a Sunday, I was free and fighting for human rights is a passion and hence waited for the manager. Till the time Cops came and were quite supportive and literally screwed the Cabbies for refusing to go. Let me acknowledge the support of the constable Mr. Nalawade and his Senior colleague who acknowledge the behaviors of cabbies asking for extra money from the customers and since customers are in hurry and Rs. 20-30 is not a big deal, they silently pay up. Time is more important than money, but if you see collectively, which I saw- almost every 7 out of 10 passengers, depending on their outlook were charged 2-3 luggage charges and these 20-30 ruppees does not matter – had it been a Monday morning, even I might have paid, to reach early to office rather than saving a few bucks.

The manager came and he also tried telling that I have to pay luggage charges and when the cops also saw on the receipt explaining the bag size (70cmsX50cms), they cornered the manager and the manager asked the taxi driver to go without the luggage charges.

The taxi drivers in frustration were trying to explain that they have to wait for 7-8 hours in queue and there is a nexus wherein the extra money for luggage is shared between the taxi drivers, the union and the service agency which is roughly – Rs 1 Crore as per rough estimate and back of the envelope calculations ( Rs 86 lacs as per the rough calculation- 1700 taxis X 70% = 1190 X Rs. 20= Rs 23800 per day X 365 days = Rs. 86,87000/=)

In this age of RTI and empowerment of knowledge the key, in my small way, I want to help all fellow passengers understand the concept of luggage, which no one bothers to look at as the quantum of amount is small – The rule (on the receipt) says that any BIG BAG of more that 70cmsX50cms size only. The taxi drivers can not charge for any bag smaller than this and not even for Big hand-bags – however bulky they are or even cartons which are small. Since there is no weight system in India, the taxi drivers and the private authorities – hand in gloves are trying to make bug bucks – and the concept remains subjective – but it is clearly written in black and white on your Pre-Paid vouchers that the Luggage charges are for Bags above 70 cms X50 cms– though small for each one of us individually, but imagine these 20-30 bucks can buy food for a poor family.

Hope this helps all understand and fight for their rights and was quite happy to see the Mumbai Airport Police supportive to the customers. One can look for the cops around the area as the GIC Private Security guys are useless as they also get tips for positioning the taxis ahead. One can call Airport Police Station on 26156315 /09 or even a toll free number 1800 2099 596. (I tried calling all these numbers before writing on this article and they pick up calls). Understand that these 20-30 bucks are no big deal but the attitude to give in to corruption is a big deal and all of us talk about changing India all the while, when it is in our own hands – in our own small ways ! And yes – let us stop such unionized cabbies and agencies spoiling the name of our Mumbai and India right from the first step one enters the land !

RACISM - The Slow Poisoning !

2009-09-04T01:43:00.011+05:30

Human Rights being a close topic to my heart, my cousin Rajvir gave me a DVD of “AMERICAN HISTORY X” which I just saw. This was based on our discussion a while back on one of my friends being mugged in the South Africa by some localites and the recent racist attacks in Australia. One of us commented on the blacks as the spoilers with a past family incident of a group of blacks looting my cousin brother’s departmental shop in the US some years back. This movie was a touching one, clarifying the actual situation in the US and the fundamentals of racism to an extent that triggered me to write this piece.

Before we get into Racism, a summary of this 1998 American film directed by Tony Kaye – The film tells the story of two brothers, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) and Daniel "Danny" Vinyard (Edward Furlong) of Venice Beach, Los Angeles, California. Both are extremely bright and charismatic students, and Derek is drawn into the neo-Nazi movement after their father, a firefighter, is murdered by a black drug dealer while trying to put out a fire in a South Central neighborhood. There is one Doctor who promotes anti-black activities and entices young whites to join. The gang commits acts of intimidation, such as damaging a store owned by a Korean and challenging basketball games against groups of black players, in order to win the basketball court as turf. One night while Derek is with his girlfriend, he kills two black gang members trying to steal his truck, and is sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

In prison Derek joins the Aryan Brotherhood – the White prisoners lobby, but has differences over the group's friendly dealings with a Mexican gang. When he voices these opinions, he is quickly shut down by the other white supremacists, so Derek chooses to not associate with them any more and is beaten and raped in the showers. It is while working in the prison laundry room that Derek gradually becomes friends with a black inmate named Lamont (Guy Torry).

The story shows how Danny is influenced by his older brother's actions and ideology and how Derek, now radically changed by his experience in confinement, tries to prevent his brother from going down the same path. The movie is a hard one and also violent at some points, but leaves one with a one liner well said in the movie – “Life is too short to get pissed.”

WHAT IS RACISM ?

Although the term Racism usually denotes race-based prejudice, violence, discrimination, or oppression, the term can also have varying and hotly contested definitions. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each racial group possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or racial groups. The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular racial group, and that it is also the prejudice based on such a belief. The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism as: "the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others." One can find a good content around the fundamentals of racism on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism but if I were to define Racism, here it would go – An activity or action or a reaction for the benefit of an individual, community or a group by demeaning any other individual, community or a group is Racism. Racism is an action as well a reaction to an action. What our Indian colleagues are facing in India might be a reaction of something wrong done with them, maybe a threat of loosing out to our people in terms of success in jobs and life. Many brand Muslims as Terrorists which is absolutely wrong and racist thought, but that might be a reaction of 9/11 or 11/26 any multiple such incidents creating top of the mind recall as we marketing strategists would call.

Its not just the US ten years back, but also India since centuries witnessing Racism and doing absolutely negligible to curb it. Below is some analysis on the same and certain actionables which can help the society at large. Racism is like chicken and egg story in a little different perspective. You can not kill and egg because there are chickens around to lay more eggs and you can not kill a chicken as there are enough eggs to create these chickens. What one can do is reduce the eggs and chickens – on a lighter note somebody rightly said – Go vegetarian !!

RACISM IN INDIA

India perhaps is not the victim of Racism but to an extent mother of racism too, there are many mothers though. Its hypocrisy to crib about our Indian students being victims to the recent Racist attacks in Australia or Shilpa Shetty being a victim of racism in the UK’s Big Brother Show by Jade Goody or the latest being SRK being detained at the US Airport recently or Imran Hashmi being denied a flat in Mumbai because of being a Muslim. There are enough evidences on the first one, but there is a huge chance the rest three examples might be real cases or also publicity stunts or overhyped claims – Its hypocrisy to crib about the same when we ourselves call our North East brother and sisters as “Chinki’s” or “Nepali”- even the Mizoram Chief Minister recently shared the same feelings in an International conference in July 2009- damn it – they are equal Indians….and we are the ones who is building another Al-Qaida or an LTTE within India by such negligence, soon we would see a Kashmir like situation where our brothers would feel more comfortable of becoming Chinese.

Its is ridiculous when most of Indians even today classify any fellow Indian living below the Tropic of Cancer as “Madrasi” – Its just illiteracy or rather failure of the education system in India which taught me some illogical subject called “Trigonometry” in school which I have never used or will use in life, instead of teaching “Ethincity” which could have defined our fellow brothers below the Tropic of Cancer as “Malayali”, “Tamil”, “Kanadiga” and so on…. Instead of calling them “Madrasi”. Living in Mumbai for more than 10 years, I still don’t understand why Non-Marathis in their local lingo or slang call every Maharashtrian a “Ghati” !!! This is racism or a seed to it and this is purely a failure on part of the Education system in India.

Well, its not today, but since the time of Kings ruling India that we had Un-touchable as a species in India and they even exist today. We flush in a lot of money after so many causes right from Health, Education etc but when it comes to Equality, we do not hear much – sometimes it feels atleast Mayawati is doing some good for Dalits even if people say she has a personal agenda – who does not have these days!

If one reads the recent newspaper (Times of India –September 2, 2009, Pg1 and Pg13), it shows the shameless side of India wherein the Government in the state of Rajasthan has instructed the Bureaucrats – the highest strata of India Civil Citizens – Indian Administrative Services Officers to stand up when an MP or an MLA (Public elected representative) comes. This ridicules the whole system and the essence of Racism at the highest order.

RACIST VIEWS ABOUT OUR MUSLIM BROTHERS IN INDIA- COMPARISON WITH TERRORISTS

Ofcourse as a Marketing Strategist, I would agree that if you keep on hearing every day that praying to this deity results in this or drinking water empty stomach is good, you start believing in the same – its nothing but “belief” which comes from repeated triggers, data points and repeated trends – the “belief” becomes “belief” – how weak or strong is a factor of “personal feeling multiplied by number of triggers touched”. The same has happened for our Muslim fellow citizen – 9/11 in the US, 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts, The Black Tuesday Train blasts, 11/26 Gate of India attack added with reports on the D-Gang and perception of Pakistan, Kashmir etc has created a wrong image of every Muslim being a terrorist. Here, some one would hold Media and Politicians responsible, politicians to an extent of our Independence fighters with basic disconnect of letting India divide on Religion, which itself is a debatable topic. But, net net, such repeated events create a perception which overshadows and outnumbers one of Hindu Terrorist attacks and who can change this – the Media, Politicians and us. Some one rightly quoted – that “All Terrorists are not Muslims- the assassinator of Mahatma Gandi was a Maharastrian, the killer of Indira Gandhi was a Sikh and the killer of Rajiv Gandhi were LTTE – so one can not brand Muslims as terrors, but data has to change to change the perception and it is a collective process. Imagine, to top on it, our own ministers claiming that India knew about the 11/26 Terror Attacks in Mumbai shows how things could be hand-in-glows, but such important statements are buried and what remains are such perceptions which are racist and harmful to the society as a whole.

RACISM IN MUMBAI

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, has been in headlines offlate for racist attacks on North Indians. This was not the first type of such a racist attack in Mumbai. South Indians and Gujarati community has been on the point long back. The reason for the North Indian attacks by Raj Thackerey’s MNS Party has been analysed by analyst as a political move. The reason is somewhat reasonable from Mr. Thackerey’s perspective where everyday 10000 people from UP & Bihar come into Mumbai. But naturally, they use the infrastructure and make a living also at times chipping into the livings of the local maharashtrians. There are job quotas already for localites and the jobs the so called “North Indians” do would never be doable as per the dignity of a Maharashtrian. Asked commonly, a maharashtrian would refuse to milk cows, drive a cab, launder the clothes. These jobs are largely done by the North Indians in Mumbai. Similarly, most waiters and cooks in Mumbai are from East India- Bengali and Oriyas. Well, it’s a matter of an eco system – who fits in fits in and who doesn’t doesn’t. But, any political party, especially a new one, would need an agenda and it was a successful agenda, but the same resulted in disharmony and racism at the ground levels. The strategy at the top is different and the repercussions on the grounds are different, which is a known fact and that creates the gap here. I always think of why no one thinks of the Illegal Bangladeshis immigrants in Mumbai who could cause terror too or the illegal local urban poor increasing the slums and encroaching lands in Mumbai – guess this segment might be sensitive from a votebank perspective versus the former which has its own niche.

RACISM ON INDIANS IN OTHER COUNTRIES

When there is so much of Racism within India, how much do we speak of the same outside. But the fact remains, the same is a huge concern with more than 14 attacks in a period of 30 days on Indian students in Australia.

We would have heard of racism against our fellow Indians in the US, Middle East, UK etc, but this time, the frequent series of racist attacks and the role of Media has somewhat helped us notice and feel the heat more.

Just guaranteeing the victims of racism in Australia some seats in colleges in India or the foreign minister wasting the tax payers money to go to Australia does not solve the purpose. Though there have been political acknowledgements and regrets on both sides – the same is not justified. Ofcourse, various students groups and associations have come out and protested and that is the way out to begin with. The Indian High commissioner should have been thrown out long back, but guess no one dares to or no one is really concerned.

It is not just Indians who are victims here. It’s the worldwide phenomenon where people are classified as BLACKS (Primarily from Africa), BROWNS (Asians), YELLOWS (Chinese) who are seen as lower strata as compared to the WHITES (British, Americans). My work has helped me visit many countries and have friends from various ethnicities and castes. They on a personal note have spoken about their insecurities from Asians, who are perceived to be aggressive, go-getters and smarter lots with cheaper cost, who can snatch their breads. Infact, racism is something, which exist almost everywhere – not just amongst foreigners but within their own people too – for eg. One of my friend had diverse views on Jews. Similarly, there were huge differences in the Christians – Roman Catholics and Protestants.

We need to agree that universally, the Eco system is something which can not be changed entirely or overnight (there always would be a higher and lower strata in the society), but definitely things can be better for all. Somehow, Australian attacks have given us a clue to look at racism in a different view

(1) by coming out in unity, without any political backdrop, but as citizen like in Australia.
(2) by creating more awareness on ethnicity and culture right at the ground levels. Here, media would play a big role.
(3) To remind the relevant authorities as citizens about their duties on Racism control and Human rights. Also working along with agencies and organizations (NGOs) by sparing some of our time and energy towards this cause.
(4) Treat a lower strata person with equal respect and dignity (servant, cab driver, beggar, urchins, call centre cold callers etc)
(5) The movie “American History X” left me with a single line learning which I would repeat – Life is too short to get pissed !

Bandhavgarh – The best place on earth to encounter the Tiger !

2009-01-02T18:43:00.001+05:30

January 28, 2009, Bandhavgarh, MP - It was the 5:00 AM in the morning and viz.a.viz a 35 Degrees of temperature, it was 8 Degrees in Bandhavgarh National Park (BG), Madhya Pradesh. We knew it would be cold, but not this cold. Our Thermals, Sweaters, Jackets, Monkey Caps were not at all enough and we had to take 2 blankets each from the Hotel as we left in our Open Gypsy for encountering the Pride of India – the Tiger !

Day 1- (Morning Safari (1)- As we reached the Park gate –4 of us - Me, my wife Sheetal, my cousin Hetal and her hubby Abhishek- we paid the park fees (Guess Rs 100/-) and fees for using Digital Cameras (Guess Rs 50/-) and Handycams (guess 200/-) and there were around 30 Jeeps in queue. All were being allotted a Guide (the tribals were trained to guide by the forest dept and this generated a livelihood for them and it was compulsory to have one, Cost, Rs 200/- guess). Here too, one has to sign an undertaking that the park or government will not be responsible for any accident/death etc. This made Sheetal a bit nervous !

Also allotted to each jeep were different routes - A,B,C,D within the park, so the park is not crowded in one area. The Rule was that the Zone Token has to be kept and abided till 8:00AM and then post all come to the centre (choice is yours) for some tea, refreshments (You get there and ideally hotel you stay pack it in a basket for you – toast, sandwich, paranthas, juice etc), one is free to roam anywhere in the park. How it works is that when all the Jeeps meet at the Centre point, all the drivers exchange their feedbacks and then all rush to the area/zone where the movement of tiger was seen in the early morning. Thanks to our government linkages, thanks to Dr. Nigam Uncle, dad of my colleague Gaurav Nigam, that our visit was radioed to the forest officials and local police and we were given VIP Entry where in we were free to get into whichever zone we wished to. The driver was smart and took us to the C Route where in the last safari the earlier evening a tiger was seen very closely.

As we moved in, it was still pitch dark and the headlines were on the first encounter was of a herd of deer – around 30-40 of them crossing our path. Their eyes hone in the lights of the headlight and so did their skins… We moved further. Well, actually the experience of the jungle early in the morning is so fascinating and beautiful that no blog, no photographer can express the same. Soon, the day broke and the forest became light orange post the violet blue shade as it Hussain was stroking his brush.

The driver, post watching all the deers, wild boars, sambhars and monkeys directly took us to the area where the earlier evening the Tiger was seen. As soon as we reached there, the driver and the guide, started look down as they drove very slowly - they were looking for the fresh pug marks of the Big Cat – a tried and tested method of finding a tiger and tracking its movement. They found and showed us – and we were excited ! Another way to find the big cat movement was to follow the “Call” – the call means – when a deer or monkey sees a tiger walking – they would make a panic sound which would echo in the jungle – when the cat is sitting, they wont shout. The guide, driver would try to move towards the sound and then would wait somewhere to welcome the Tiger. We too did the same and the wait was becoming unending and we were becoming impatient. Post a long wait we went to the centre at 8 and to addon to our frustration, we met other tourists showing their photos and video clips of the tiger they encountered on Route A. Nothing could have been more frustrating in life than this ! But, one thing which we sighted that others did not and the same is not so easy sighting is a Jackal with a fawns head (baby dear killed) in its mouth whom we chased around for 5 minutes !

Post my SA Experience, this is my first Indian Wild Life Experience. Expectations were high and it was my India to prove that its no lesser than Africa ! We chose Bandhavgarh as the park is smaller as compared to other parks and the density is also not too much and thus probability of encountering His Highness of Her Highness of the Jungle was much higher ! So I was trying to play a short shot and my confidence shattered in my first safari from 6 to 10 AM as we did not see what we came for. But, we had planned for a 3 Days/2 Nights in BG which means 5 Safaris – 3 Morning (6-10AM) and 2 Evening Safaris (2 to 5 PM).

We went to the Route A but as the Jungle rule goes the probability of the Tiger viewing is highest between 6-7:30 AM and between 5-6:00PM – nearing dark. When there is sun over the head, the big cat too rests in shady places ! So post our futile safari, we returned back to the Hotel. And to addon salt on wound was a board at the Safari Entrance/exit saying – “you may or may not see the tiger, but for sure, he is seeing you” ;(((

Day 1- Evening Safari (2): Recharged with our motivation, we hit back at the Park for the afternoon safari and somehow rather than exploring the beautiful jungle our solo objective of coming to BG was becoming too too evident – just give us the Tiger and maybe god heard of our greedy wish and as we went to route A – we finally saw the Majestic Cat – but was a 500 m away ! We were satisfied but not much ! After enjoying the scene, the driver & the guide – a different one at each safari – told us that they would explore a water lake where the tigers come to drink water (but usually in summer – 110% chances of viewing remains, subject to you bearing 45 degrees heat !) and at a place called Sidh Baba temple area. We asked the guide how and we were told another Rule of the Jungle – Each tiger marks his/her own territory – by pissing on the trees and scratching on them with the sharp nails and no other tiger would dare to enter the others territories. So, it means that in a 10 sq km area, you would definitely have a tiger, a tigress or two and some cubs for sure – its then your luck – how and when do you spot them. But, seems lady luck still chose not to smile at us !

Day 2- Morning Safari (3) : Again an early morning safari with more excitement and hopes. We chose Route B as the forest officer wanted to oblige us by leaking the news of hearing the tigers roar there. We roamed and followed the same process to locate the Big Cat. In a day, we too were experts to identify the pug marks and listen to calls. An hour passed by and futile. Soon we passed the Sidh Baba Temple (with a Shiv Ling) and my wife and sis prayed to the god – give us a tiger… we still roamed and then came the best moment of our lives – as we re-passed the Sidh Baba temple once created by the local tribals – the driver screeched and stopped – and at a distance of 4 ft – a huge 8 ft big Tiger walked out of the meadows, stopped, stared us eye to eye, walked, stopped, changed poses and slowly moved up the hill. This was for 60 Seconds – but each second was orgasmic – our cameras and handycams would too swear ! You could have seen the shiver in each of our spines and the awestruck faces were like a kid being amazed to see a rabbit out of a magicians hat ! Thanks to Sidh Baba – we did gave the local guide Rs 51/- to offer a coconut and flowers to the Almighty for this obligation – and almighty only knew whether these reached him or not ;)

We were too satisfied and flaunted our experience and the Centre at 8:00 AM and the best part was we were the only Jeep who encountered this and no others. Well, now we were motivated enough to explore the rest of the jungle post getting what we came for.

Day 2- Evening Safari (4) : Being satisfied with what we saw in the morning, we explored the beautiful jungle in the 2^nd half and then understood that well, tiger ofcourse was what one comes for, the real beauty of the jungle is what overrides everything else – the landscape, the trees, the mountains, the plains, the flowers, the other animals and the entire feel of the forest – the air, the scent and the energy, which pen can not explain neither a camera could !

Day 3- Morning Safari (5) : This was probably another lucky day. As we entered the park, the rumors were already around that there was a young tiger in the rocky area a few kilometers away. We directly rushed there and there were a few jeeps lined up for something unique called the elephant safari or the tiger show. The forest team on 2-3 elephants would leave early morning tracking the movement of the big cat and once traced would inform the jungle authorities, which would open limited bookings for the show. Rs 150 or Rs 200 per person. Soon 4 of us boarded the elephant which started climbing up the hillock. We never knew the elephant could climb almost vertically on a rocky terrain and every mover was a shaker filled with fear for us, thinking we may fall anytime as we weeded past the bushes brushing almost us and saving our heads and faces from tree branches and wild thorns. Soon, the mahout (rider) who guides the elephant in hindi shouts ‘ruk’, which means stop and we see a tiger walking on the rocks just 10 feets away. Soon the mahout takes us closer and the tiger climbs down and sits near a tree. What a scene, what a posture and the moment of his opening his mouth roaring as we almost wet our pants added by the fearful thought of what if we fall down the elephant as there are no safety belts or covered seats. And what if the elephant fearfully sits down in front of the tiger ? but the mahout told us that both the elephants fear and respect each other and rarely a tiger attacks. We took closer looks and captured all the moments in our digicam and handicams. Soon the big cat started walking and the elephant too followed. There was another elephant from the otherside with other tourists and the tiger was just in between. It stopped, did a fashion show type of walk and climbed the cliff again. This was a superb and a very close experience. There are 3 elephants which does a 5 minutes show each on turn. Luck is a factor that the tiger has to stay closeby and the elephant takes one to the closest. On the positive side, this is a unique initiative of the forest department to ensure that no unlucky tourists go without seeing a tiger and on the negative, this is interference in the wild and maybe the tiger is too used to the elephant and tourists coming to see it daily, so then its not the wildest wild tiger, but all said and done, it is a great great experience to see the big cat so close with all the risks on the elephant back !!

Soon we moved ahead and it was a double whammy for us… soon a tiger from no where emerged out of the bushes and started walking on the road. We followed it for 2 minutes and then it moved towards a tree and started scratching it and peeing on it to mark his territory – what a rare sight to see the cat almost climbing the tree to scratch it with its sharp nails. This rendezvous lasted for 10 long minutes and then the cat vanished into the forest. Soon the time to come out was coming closer and we moved ahead with the most satisfying wildlife day of our lives !

Day 3- Afternoon Safari (6) : As we saw in a BG documentary, there was a priest who stayed in the BG fort and temple 811 m above the sealevel and the tigers used to come and sit next to him since years. He had died, but the temple is still around. We hired a jeep and went up there to have a look at the beautiful fort. The route over the hill was superb and good for sighting vultures and tortoises near the temple. And if one is lucky, once can surely sight tigers here, but guess we had enough for our BG Trip, 5 Safaris and 4 tigers sightings – that too 3 of them from a 4-5 feet distance, what else could one ask for !

Location

Bandhavgarh National Park is one of the wild life sanctuaries in the Indian state Madhya Pradesh. The national park is situated at 197 km away north-east of Jabalpur. This wild life park derived its very name from an ancient fort in the area. Bandhavgarh National Park belongs to the Vindhyan mountain ranges of central India and it boasts to have the highest density of tiger population in the country. Now there are about 46 to 52 tigers one can spot here. Bandhavgarh National park is located in Umaria District on the extreme north eastern border of Madhya Pradesh.

The terrain is of great rocky hills rising sharply from the swampy and densely- forested valley bottoms. The finest of these hills is Bandhavgarh, sided with great cliffs and eroded rocks, and on its highest point stands Bandhavgarh fort, thought to be some 2,000 years old. Scattered throughout the park, and particularly around the fort, are numerous caves containing shrines and ancient Sanskrit inscriptions.

Covering 448 sq. km., Bandhavgarh is situated in Shahdol district among the outlying hills of the Vindhya range. At the centre of the park is Bandhavgarh hill, rising 811 mt above MSL. Surrounding it are a large number of smaller hills separated by gently sloping valleys. These valleys end in small, swampy meadows, locally known as 'Bohera'. The lowest point in the park is at Tala (440 mt above MSL). The vegetation is chiefly of Sal forest in the valleys and on the lower slopes, gradually changing to mixed deciduous forest on the hills and in the hotter, drier areas of the park in the south and west. Bamboo is found throughout.

Bandhavgarh National Park is spread at vindhya hills in Madhya Pradesh. Bandhavgarh National Park consists of a core area of 105 sq km and a buffer area of approximately 400 sq km of topography varies between steep ridges, undulating, forest and open meadows. Bandhavgarh National Park is known for the Royal Bengal Tigers. The density of the Tiger population at Bandhavgarh is the highest known in India.

History

Prior to becoming a National park, the forest around Bandhavgarh had long been maintained as a Shikargah, or game preserve, of the Maharajahs of Rewa. Hunting was carried out by the Maharajahs and their guests - otherwise the wildlife was relatively well-protected. It was considered a good omen for a Maharajah of Rewa to shoot 109 Tigers. His highness Maharajah Venkat Raman Singh shot 111 Tigers by 1914.

Bandhavgarh has a very deep-rooted importance of it's own in the history and mythology of India. Looming high over the entire park and located in the heart of it's core area, is a fort dating back to the mythological era of Rama and Hanuman from the Hindu epic Ramayana. It is said that the two monkeys who created the "setu", or bridge, between India and Lanka to enable Rama to cross over and vanquish the demon king, Rawana, were also the architects of the Bandhavgarh fort. This fort was used by Rama and Hanuman on their journey back to their kingdom from Lanka. This fort was later handed over by Rama to his brother Lakshmana who came to be known as the "Bandhavdhish", lord of the fort.

This title is still used by the Maharaja of Rewa, who even presently owns the fort. It is thus necessary to procure his permission before entering the fort. This permission can however be obtained locally. In the northern areas of the park is where you will come across the oldest indicators of bygone eras. These are caves dug into sandstone and carry "brahmi" inscriptions dating back to the 1st century BC. The Chandela kings of bundelkhand, who are famous for the Khajuraho Temples built by them, also ruled Bandhavgarh. The ancestors of the Maharaja of Rewa were the Baghela Kings who started their rule here in the 12th century. Bandavgarh was the capital of their dynasty till 1617 after which it moved to Rewa, which was 120 km to the North. Due to this moving of the capital, Bandhavgarh went through a period of neglect in the times to follow. This was in one way a boon for the present forest present there.

Once this area got taken over by forest cover, the animals in the area too began to multiply. The negative aspect to this was that the royal family and their guests started using it as a hunting reserve. This continued until the Maharaja decided to hand it over, minus the area inside the fort, to the government.

Flora And Fauna

The Bandhavgarh National Park is a jungle consisting mainly of bamboo and Sal trees. Only on higher sides the vegetation changes to Sali, Sage, Saja, Dhobin etc.

There are more than 22 species of mammals. Carnivores include Tiger, Leopard, the Asiatic jackal, Bengal Fox, Sloth Bear, Ratel, Gray Mongoose, Striped Hyena, Jungle Cat, Common Langurs and Rhesus Macaque represent the primate group. Around 250 species of birds like Little Grebe, Egret, Lesser Adjutant Saru Crane, Black Ibis, Lesser Whistling Teal, White- eyed Buzzard, Black Kite, Crested Serpent Eagle, Black Vulture etc.

The Famous Tigers of Bandhavgarh

Bandhavgarh has the highest density of Bengal tigers known in the world, and is home to some famous named individual tigers. Charger, an animal so named because of his habit of charging at elephants and tourists (whom he nonetheless did not harm), was the first healthy male known to be living in Bandhavgarh since the 1990s. A female known as Sita, who once appeared on the cover of National Geographic and is considered the most photographed tiger in the world,[citation needed] was also to be found in Bandhavgarh for many years. Most of the tigers of Bandhavgarh today are descendants of Sita and Charger.

Another female, known as Mohini, became prominent following Sita's death. She gave birth to three cubs: B1; B2; and B3, from whom she was separated in 2003 following a vehicle accident and an incident in which tourists separated her from the cubs. She later died of her wounds from the vehicle accident.

Charger died in 2002. Between 2003 and 2006 his family met with a series of unfortunate ends. B1 was electrocuted and B3 was killed by poachers. Sita was killed by poachers. Mohini died of serious wounds to her body. The fully grown B2 survived as the dominant male in the forest between 2004 and 2007, mating with a female in the Siddhubaba region of Bandhavgarh and fathering three cubs. One of them was a male. This new male was first sighted in 2008 and is now Bandhavgarh's dominant male; however, one of his daughters has been known to mate with another male tiger who is likely to challenge B2's son for the crown.

Structure

Tourists are restricted to an area of 105 km² of the park, known as the Tala range. However this area is richest in terms of biodiversity, mainly tigers. There are four more ranges in the reserve namely – Magdhi, Kallwah, Khitauli and Panpatha. Together, these five ranges comprise the 'Core' of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve constituting a total area of 694 km². The buffer zone is spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni and totals another 437 km². The legal status as a national park dates back to 1968, but was limited only to the present Tala range for a considerable length of time. In 1993 the present scheme of things was put in place.

Sight Seeing

Bandhavgarh Fort
Baghel Museum
Village Tala
Mahaman Pond
Climber's Point
Bari Gufa etc.

Activities Planned

Bird watching, Jungle Safari, Visit to Fort, Wildlife excursion in the National Park by Jeep and elephants

The Fort

No records remain to show when Bandhavgarh Fort was constructed. It is thought, however, to be some 2,000 years old, and there are references to it in the ancient books, the Narad-Panch Ratra and the Siva Purana. Various dynasties have ruled this fort: for example, the Maghas from the 1st century AD, the Vakatakas from the 3rd century; the Sengars from the 5th century and the Kalchuris from the 10th century. In the 13th century AD, the Baghels took over, ruling from Bandhavgarh until 1617, when Maharajah Vikramaditya Singh moved his capital to Rewa. The last inhabitants deserted the fort in 1935

Best Time To Visit

The ideal season for Tiger sighting is from October to June. The park is closed from July 1st to September 30th.

Weather

The temperature ranges from a maximum of 42 degrees in May and June to around 4 degrees in Winter. The mean annual rainfall is 1,1173 mm.

What To Wear

Light clothes preferably in beige or jungle greens in summers with the definite inclusion of cap and dark glasses. During winters, especially between the Month of November and February, carry warm clothing for chilly mornings and misty evenings.

How To Reach

By Air : The routes to Bandhavgrah are either by air to Khajuraho ( 210 kms) or Jabalpur ( 170) kms from the national park.

By Rail : The nearest railheads are Jabalpur ( 170 kms), Katni ( 102kms), And Satna ( 112kms) on the Central railway and Umaria ( 30 kms) on the South Eastern Railway.

Places to stay – We stayed at a superb property called Mapple Bundela. The best and the most luxurious property is Taj Mahua Kothi and there are properties for all budgets right from Rs 1500 per night to Rs 25000 per night available. Some of the good properties are :

Infinity Resort, Bagh Sarai Resorts, Nature Heritage Resort, Tiger Trails Resort, Baghela Resort, Salvan, Hotel Narmada Palace, Tiger Hut Resort, Nature Heritage Resort, Churhat Kothi, Tiger Den Resort, Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge, Maharaja Royal Retreat, Tiger Trails Resort

Ghajini Movie Review

2008-12-25T03:01:00.006+05:30

24th Dec, Wednesday, Mumbai : Amidst the controversies of release of Ghajini, finally made it to the Review Show and in the nutshell it was a good Christmas Eve treat. The 3 hour movie, though a Tamil and a Hollywood photocopy…..starring our perfectionist was a decent effort fetching 3.5/5 Rating and Aamir’s acting at 4/5 and new comer into Bollywood Asin at 3.5/5 clearly beating Anushka Sharma of Rab ne, giving Deepika Padukone a run for her money….way to go !

The story as most of us know is of one Sanjay Singhania a young MD of a telecom giant who falls in love with a simple girl Kalpana who is bubbly, generous and caring and that melts the heart of this Harvard return who does’nt disclose his real identity to her. The flashback shows their past and also the brutal murder of Kalpana and how Sanjay was injured and becomes a victim of Short Term Memory Loss and looses his memory after every 15 mins. Its exciting to see how he keeps his memory / important aspects rejuvenated with Polaroid images and Tattoos on his body (not disclosing in details) and finally how he takes his revenge.

The Assets of the movie : (in ascending order)
(1) Aamir Khan and beside his amazing acting skills, his new body and hairstyle is cool. Shows his sweat behind !
(2) Asin Thottumkal (Mallu Beauty from Kerela) has done a fabulous job & has an edge, by being in the Tamil version too.....she does not a typical south star (from accent or the extra inches). A Fresh face and much better than wasting (pls underline) your money on Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zintas of the world (Still Katrinas, Bipashas are a worth)
(3) The Thrilling sequencing of the story….
(4) The Superb Cinematography, Shots and angles… Ravi K. Chandran deserves an award.
(5) The Great Direction by A.R.Murugadoss.

(6) Jiah Khan was also decent – it was a sizable role as compared to rumours of her doing some 4-5 minute role or a dance number.
(7) A fight around the climax is an edge of the seat experience.

The Negatives :
(1) The movie is of 3 hrs and could be reduced to 2.5 hrs.
(2) The name itself is something which doesn’t call for the tittle stature – Ghajini is the name of the villain (Ghajini Dharmatma played by Pradeep Rawat – not the best choice ). Seems Murugadoss who has directed the original Tamil Ghajani or the banner would have kept a condition to use the same name....If it would not have been Aamir, this name would not have pulled the audience.
(3) Poor lyrics – Prasoon Joshi – everyday is not a Sunday ! (full marks on cinematography though and Rahmans music was average)– One Song is “Lattu”….and another “Aye Bachchu” its purely not required except “Guzarish” and “Behka” which is written and shot well.

The original film was adapted from critically acclaimed Hollywood psychological thriller Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan, but much different in many senses, is a must watch as the last and possibly one of the best movie of 2008 ! Reproves the steel of Aamir and his versatility – if Akki can become Comedy King, his throne of Action King could be taken way by this Khan ! Do watch it – you don’t have an option as the other offering is the animated movie Jumbo, which again will help Ghajini garner more cash at the box office for being there in the right time at the right place from a marketing perspective !

THE RUSSIAN MEDIA

2008-12-23T13:40:00.000+05:30

Jalpesh Mehta - The Russian Media Article

http://www.openspace.ru/society/world/details/6194/page4/

THE TIMES OF INDIA Article

2008-12-23T13:27:00.002+05:30

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Potpourri/Putting_their_message_across/articleshow/3832152.cms

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - Review

2008-12-13T02:06:00.006+05:30

Just came back from the night show of RNBDJ (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) or Rab ne and thought of sharing my view. In the nutshell –one thing is sure – Some may rate it 1/5 or some may rate it 4/5 (you can buy ratings), but people would still get pulled because of SRK !

Central Character of the Movie – Middle class salaried employee (9 to 5) in a Cat B town. This will hit the masses.
Plot of the movie – Small town – Amritsar, small lanes. A Cinema hall shown frequently in the movie is “Chandan” at Juhu and guess what I was there as I wanted to see the mass appeal of SRK in a non-multiplex atmosphere…. and was as usual stumping with whistles being blown at various instances !
Broad Storyline – Its a no new idea but presented so so and enacted excellently by SRK.

Its about an Amritsar based simple man who gets married to a bubbly small town girl due to pressure from a dying father of the girl who was the professor of this studious man ; his favorite student Surinder Sahani – alias Suri ) as the “baraat’ met an accident.

The girl is initially sad due to the circumstances and doesn’t accept Suri has her husband in the true sense…She loves Bollywood movies and Suri tries to make her happy by becoming a hero of the bollywood standard in real life by getting into a mod getup and style...but ends up checking out his wife’s love for him – the modern Raj or the simple man Suri….. one has to watch to see who wins !

Some Pros of the Movie –
(1) SRKs ever charming acting – the character also plays a real life actor a double role ( remember the Amol Palekar act in Golmal –old – with and without moustache) A great body language and acting as a simple humble man Suri working with Punjab Power, even in his dances to a stylo Raj and back to Suri… worth a watch.
(2) A new face – Anushka Sharma – seems a Shiamak’s choice as she dances quite well and though may give Shilpa Shetty, Lara Dutta a run for their money in terms of height. It’s a simple logic – when you take biggies like SRK as a producer, most of your monies go on his cost that you need to have such new comers debut – remember Gayatri Joshi (Swades), Deepika Padukone (OSO) etc.
(3) Vinay Pathak does a decent act and (4) One Surprise song...

Some Cons of the Movie –
(1) Post interval it gets slow in between, but picks up soon. One might guess why is this happening.
(2) If you have seen “Main, Meri patni aur Woh” starring Rajpal Yadav and Rituparna Sengupta in 2005, you may feel this is a copy – it’s a same set up and characters and story line. I found that story better than Rabne…. But SRK changes the overall game altogether. So no points to Aditya Chopra for No extraordinary work.

Some may find Rab ne…..okay, but even if critics give this a thumbs down or mid, still people will go to see the movie for SRK. People knew that Dostana was all bull – but still went ahead to see John Abraham, Priyanka Sharma and the young feel in the movie. For Rab ne, atleast in Mumbai the movie will garner the cash at Box Office as the last 2 weeks were empty for any movie post the 26 Nov Terror Attack and the strategy for the movie is right – “3 din – cash in” with having shows running every hour at major places. (Heard Aamir Khan to counter the movie has put up huge life sizes at all multiplexes and have made all the staff change their hairstyles to his Ghajini look)

I would rate the movie at 2.5/5 and SRK 3.5/5 for his acting. Worth a watch.

10 Questions Mumbaikars are asking !

2008-12-07T12:17:00.004+05:30

Its 14 days now that a few kids took Mumbai with a big police, army and NSG force on hostage– official sources say 10, but some media sources said 15, and former CIA counter=terrorism and militant networks expert Farhana Ali in Washington said 23 terrorists have come in India as per her information from Pakistan ( Source : Timesgroup paper). As per the same source – Taj CCTV Footage at 1:30 AM showed 4 terrorists and we have only 3 dead ? Where is the remaining one ?

Well, imagine a situation like this…………….4 terrorists with British or other country Passport enter TAJ on 20th November – 3 days before the attack….. and are living in there, exploring the whole area and creating a blue print for the assault after 3 days….3 more join in from the Sea and kill many, they die but the 4 who planned and also killed, leave back their weapons, change into some other hostages outfits and smartly walk out as a relieved hostage. The police would track this but to an extent….not going into details of each hostages last 20 years of life history… and may be the orders from the top could be for ignore this leg altogether.

There are some questions in the Minds of the citizens of Mumbai :

(1) Where are the other terrorists ? Are they preparing for the next assault ?
(2) Still the security of the state not in place, remember the recent report of a man carrying a revolver at the CST station freely passing through a metal detector ? shameful is’nt it ?
(3) Its very obvious that its not easy to enter a new country and attack without knowing things around or without having any Local support. Who is the local support, does it take 14 days to find that out ?
(4) Who in the Taj was involved – How can such weapons pass through the security and how can they have grenades piled up on all floors without internal help ? How did room Service ignore the presence of weapons in the room. Why is no reference to the booking names yet out in public ? Why don’t we have the CCTV of Taj– hour by hour – a week before the attack ? Am sure much could be dug from it. And if we have, hope the facts are not suppressed, which can easily happen, because if it comes out then imagine who will have to resign.
(5) Where did the SIM Cards come from – we saw some links to Calcutta, but more is yet to be revealed. Hope its comes out and is not suppressed.
(6) Where did the Credit Cards came from ? Its easy to track down the same ….every card sold has an application form stored with the name of the agent and code etc. Every agent / executive outsourced has to go through a reference check and physical verification and even if he has left the job now, one could easily trace him and further the roots. Hope police is doing so, or may be not as they don’t have orders ! And some press said that those cards were of the hostages... why would a terrorist collect cards from hostages ? to pay the Taj for food ???
(7) The most important as also stated by the DGP, Mr. S.S.Virk, -“Get Kasab to confess on TV”…. Before he changes his mind or memorizes a script given. Why aren’t we putting Kasab in front of the International Media, rather than running the tom and jerry race with Pakistan ! Are we afraid that he would name a few local ministers ? or spill some messy beans ?
(8) Look at the audacity of the Pakistanis recently in a news channel claiming that the Indian Army orchestrated this event ( well, personally I feel its bullshit) but the way the general spoke was worth some entertainment claiming that “Inki Shakalein Hindu wali hain” – (they (terrorists) looked Hindu from faces only.) They wore saffron bands, kadas etc… Am attaching a link for reference - http://www.hotklix.com/?ref=content/152704 . There was no reaction from the Indian side on this, surprisingly. If this link is void by the time you see it, take it that something was fishy – else have fun !
(9) The latest being Narayan Rane claiming evidences of involvement of politicians behind these attacks ( Why is that not yet revealed ? or will this too be suppressed ? )– As per former IPS and Lawyer YPSingh, withholding of information is a crime under section 39 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Lawyer Majeed Memon also confirms the same as an offence). Hope the facts are out before they are suppressed.
(10) The last question will be about politicians – as this is the last thing a Mumbaikar would want to discuss now. A slap on the face of politicians was the recent gathering at the Gateway on 3rd December – a first in its kind Non-Cooperative, no Leader led movement post 1947, showing that Indians – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs can come out TOGETHER on the streets. If tomorrow there is a scam, Indians can jam the roads in front of Mantralaya. The message was clear, though outcome not concrete besides Preity Zinta encashing on the pires of dead and some Media channels being there at the right time and right place for their business ! But the regional divide which any politician could not go without, is now disappearing and people are uniting over a larger cause then caste and creed. Well, Mumbaikars are angry and will remain, though have seen the anger melting down. The message is clear that “changing of politicians” is not enough… Chhagan Bhujbal is more tainted and worst than Mr. Patil, who lost out purely because of his communications skills. What will the Candle-lighters be able to do now is a question…will the movement go on ? And that reminds, one has to file an RTI asking for the reason behind giving Deshmukh and Patil Z Cover, if they still have !

Hope these questions get answered soon and Mumbaikars and Indians do not calm their anger.

Lighting Candles at the Gateway of India is not enough !

2008-12-01T17:04:00.005+05:30

Mumbai Terror Strikes ; December 1, 2008, Monday : I got an sms on Sunday to come to the Gateway of India and light a candle.... there were some more SMS's and emails inviting citizen to Gateway on 3rd December, 2008.

Well, it’s the normal Indian Tendency–call it the “why do I bother attitude” within the hearts or Mahatma’s principles of “forgiving and forgetting” on the outside that handful of terrorists can have courage of molesting India time and again. They too know that behind the mask of “Spirit of Mumbai” or “bouncing back” lies a “docile, hapless selfish person”–The “poor selfish person” also knows he can’t do much–as he knows the judiciary system, the politicians and willingly chooses to stay out. Hence people tend to forget these assaults and hence we get more assaulted.
For a change now, since media has become quite active there is some impact of our anger and hope this anger remains. Last 24 hours has seen 2 Big Resignations and 1 on line–(1) The Union Home Minister–Mr.Shivraj Patil (no loss to the mankind), (2)Mr. R.R.Patil–Deputy CM (called this a small incident and the public gave it back)(3) Mr.Vilasrao Deshmukh (Someone more concerned of helping his son in Bollywood, having audacity of taking RGV to Taj). But is this an end or just a beginning–we all have to decide !

We will need to learn from our mistakes -to begin with our Security System. It is evident that our Intelligence has failed and we need to follow other countries in stepping up our security be it the US,UK or even Israel. Secondly,Pakistan’s Involvement is very clear. Dr. Manmohan Singh could be the next, not just for reading out the most impassionate speech in this time of crisis, but for the soft approach on the Security Issue or on Pakistan.The Citizen of India will give it back if not so fast, then in the elections soon.

The Politicians should be clear that gone are the days to buy votes against Biryani, Saaris and play the Divide & Rule Games-atleast in certain strata of society, though things will not change overnight.Thanks to the citizens like Shobha De, Suhel Seth, Rahul Bose, Arjun Rampal, Farooq Shaikh, Prahlad Kakkar for speaking out. The Corporate Citizen did not come out in that large number except Kishore Biyani, Ajay Bagga etc (may be dependencies). Net-net there are clearly 3 type of people who TOGETHER can make a change;of course supported by Media:(1)The Opinion Maker Citizen-The Educated,networked. (2)The Industrialists/Corporate Citizens-CEO's, Business Leaders, Fund sponsors (3)The Common Man- Aam admi- the lower & middle class minus religion, caste.

It could be a mass decision, a forum, or a movement or supporting even one life lost. Just by lighting candles at the Gateway of India will not achieve anything. The Basics need to be in place. The mindset of people will have to change. We will need to question,be assertive and aggressive with non-performers who need to deliver out of our taxes.

Today we are angry and that anger needs to remain else 26/11 will repeat itself…..it would be a normal scenario where people will get aggressive for a while and again come back to normal,forgetting and forgiving–Thanks to Mahatma and the “Spirit of Mumbai”.Hope people try The Bhagvad Gita and “Krishna & Arjun Strategy’ for a change too !

Mumbai Terror Strike : Ranking of Politcians.

2008-11-30T01:05:00.005+05:30

November 29, 2008, Saturday, Mumbai

Mr. R.R. Patil showcased once again the insensitive side of an Indian Politician – The Citizens of India feel that today there is nothing wrong in generalizing any politician as Insensitive or selfish. Selfish to make bucks, selfish to get mileage out of any grave incident. Though there are many exceptions to this type, but the same is too less to change the generic perception. Mr. Patil – You are right to handle Dance Bars and Drunk Drivers only, so better you stay limited to it.

Mr. Patil on Saturday said "small incidents like this do happen in big cities" while referring to the Mumbai terror attack. When asked at a press conference whether the terror strike was an intelligence failure, Patil said in Hindi: "Aisa nahi hai. Itne bade shahar mein chhota hadsa ho jata hai. To total failure nahi hai. (It is not like that. In big cities like this, small incidents do happen. It's is not a total failure.)"

One such statement left behind other Politicians behind in the Rank, even Raj Thakrey. If we look at the Mumbai Terror Strikes in the last 3 days – here goes the Rankings of Politicians in the parameters of (1) Selfishness(2) Insensitivity and (3) Ruthlessness.

So here the Ranking of the Politcians during 26/11 goes as below : The TOP 5 Politicians !

(1) Mr. R.R. Patil – Cares a shit about these attacks which are called India’s 9/11. As Mr. Prahlad Kakkar stated in the recently held chat session, the whole defence operation till the NSG / Army came in was direction less and without enough planning and capacity, which caused the loss of lives of our policemen including Hemant Karkare, Salaskar and Kamte. And above all he dares to call this a “Small Incident”. Hope you travel with your Z security, else someone may pelt a stone (no one will waste and egg) on you.

(2) Mr. Shivraj Patil –or we call him Mr. Failure or Mr. Whocares – as these phrases means Shivraj Patil and Shivraj Patil means the same. Well, why the intelligence has failed is a no brainer and what has happened under his leadership is very well known. Not just once, but repeated ! This head will have to roll, else the Congress will face a lot of dent.

(3) Dr. Manmohan Singh – The most impassionate speech I have ever heard in my life. The street side wannabe politicians are much energetic ! And it was very clear that Dr. Singh was reading out a script written by a strategist and vetted by Ms. Gandhi. The speech has left behind a very poor perception worldwide on the passion, anger, aggression a leader should have at this time, if not emotional. Look at Bush, Gordon or even Osama ! Another instance to prove that not necessarily an economist can lead the country in times of such criris (even in economical crisis, the feeling is same). Well, Indians have ahabit of giving all a second or third chance, we give it to the terrorists too..as you saw…. So, people of India will see (1) how you handle the situation now (2) How aggressively you take up Pak (summoning and ISI chief is not enough) (3) How do you create Security System to protect further 26/11 – All this will decide your and your Party’s fate in the time to come…

(4) Mr. CM – Deshmukh – As Suhel Seth said, he would be more visible in his Son’s Movie Premier. If we all remember, the News Channels were off the air as per the DGPs instructions on Friday and were forced back on air, as the CM wanted to deliver a speech…what non – sense ! As it was debated in the chat show, if ML crashes the CEO has to take responsibility and resign as a gesture, some socialists are hell bent on the same being implemented in case of a state too.

(5) Raj Thackrey – No need to say more, but am sure all of us have received those innumerable forwards asking for Raj Thackrey’s and his peoples number so that they can be intimated that NSG and Army who are non – Maharastrians were fighting for the Mumbai and he and his team was missing. The Citizens have now made it quite clear that they would no more tolerate the non-sense of divide and rule and politics of religion and caste.

In fact, though not in Top 5, there were various politicians who started dropping by to – “take a feel, or jaayaza”…..diverting the security focus for them which was not at all required. What feel did you get and what are you going to do about it ? All the citizens have a question in mind. Is it something concrete or announcing a free bee of a few crores that to be thrown back on the face.

Thanks to these incidents and media, that the citizen of India is becoming more literate to know who matters and who does not and what to expect out of a politician, set their goals, do appraisals ( through opinion leaders in the media chat shows) and rate them (in the elections). Gone are the days to buy votes against Biryani, T Shirts, Saaris and Liquor. (Stoves, TVs, and more down south )

Thanks to the citizens like Shobha De, Suhel Seth, Rahul Bose, Arjun Rampal, Farooq Shaikh, Prahlad Kakkar, taking the lead. People may feel that they had nothing to loose and hence they came out in open and the most needed the Corporate Citizens / Industrialists are still behind – as they will need the politicians to function their machinery. Some like Kishore Biyani etc came but were quite diplomatic – as good as not coming out….There are clearly 3 types of people - all have their own areas to act upon,but it needs to be a coordinated effort who, only TOGETHER can make a change :

(1) The Opinion Maker Citizen ( The Educated, well to do, networked, not neccesarily rich )
(2) The Industrialists / Corporate Citizens ( The CEO's, Business Leaders, the Fund Holders )
(3)The Common Man (Aam admi - the lower class, middle class minus religion, caste etc.)
We would ideally be a mix of 1 and 3.

Till the time all 3 types of people would come out TOGETHER, things will not change and 26/11 will repeat itself… . And the Media who is playing a role of the Change agent will have to stand by ! Else, the same situation would continue as it is today and the masses will get used to the same…..it would be a normal scenario where people will get aggressive for a while and again come back to normal, forgetting and forgiving everything – with the so called “Spirit of Mumbai” – Thanks to Mahatma Gandhi …… Hope people try and follow – The Bhagvad Gita and “Krishna & Arjun’ for a change too !

Mumbai Terror - 24 hours plus !

2008-11-27T22:07:00.007+05:30

Its now 24 hours, I am compelled back to visit my blog to share some unsettling thoughts - Its now 24 hours to the bizarre terror strike, let me rephrase this as PROXY WAR at MUMBAI as Mr. Manmohan Singh was reading out of speech written by his secretary, vetted by Ms. Sonia Gandhi, the ONLY feeling which is coming to anyone I am speaking to – be it any SVP, businessman, college youth or a watchman is that Administration has failed (nothing new) miserably – giving the citizens of India an only feeling that if India goes on for a War, surely we will loose as we have failed to control this strike for 24 hours with so much of Police, Army and Navy Support. The List of failure tops with many politicians – I would not name anyone particular, actually there is no point !

Here’s some analysis / thoughts :

What went wrong :

(1) Low Equipped or No Equipped : The ATS and Police went ahead to fight the terrorists without any proper gears. They are responsible for the death of the 3 stalwart officers and the state government and central government should be ashamed to proportioning so much of the tax payers money to Security, and they have balls to give away loan benefits to the farmers who are the voting bank….

(2) Intelligence or Fools : The high failure of intelligence and private security of the Taj, Trident Oberoi where so many terrorists could have used the back doors, kitchen areas of the Hotels – how did they knew about the map, the Mumbai police does not have a map yet ! As Mr. Advani said this is a well planned and coordinated attack based on an effort of 2 months – were the Intelligence and Police day dreaming all this while and focusing on making brownies in front of seniors for Drunk and Drive Case, closing of Dance Bars, looting poor two wheeler, taxi and car users for any possible reason to pocket their booty or over achieve their targets.

(3) Limited or No Capacity : All our force not even apt for a handful of terrorists ? How will we ever fight a war ? The only hope was the Army, navy, the commandos, but 24 hours of efforts, with more policemen killed than the terrorists is yet another shame, proving that Mumbai is as unsafe as Noida, Ghaziabad or Azamgarh.

(4) Slap on the face of the Administration : The well planned assault by the terrorist , more effortful than 9/11 - especially hijacking the Police Vehicles have made the statements, hope we learn something from this costly mistake !

What is worth appreciating :

(1) The Media for keeping the administration on toes by building the necessary pressure. Not just the great journalists, cameraman, speakers and all behind the scenes.

(2) The Efforts from the Police and Army though not much result as they are not to be blamed for the unequipped strategies - where is our tax money going, Mr. Home Minister ?

(3) The efforts of the Hotel Staff (those who are not hand in gloves with the terrorists) for managing and bearing the pressure…

(4) The spirit of the citizens affected and all their relatives. 2 MBA passouts of 2007 batch from a premier institute passed away and got to hear the entire story through a close friend.

Some Questions which remain unanswered as of now :

(1) Where are the Power bearers ? Where is the PM, HM ?? Why have they not yet reacted on this as compared to the parliament attacks ? Is there something more important than this ? Deshmukh gave an interview and as Suhel Seth said in Arnab’s show in Times Now, Mr. Deshmukh would have been more visible in his Son’s Movie premier ! The only leader I saw initiating a speech was Mr. Modi !, though Mr. Advani and Mr. Jaswant Singh ( was looking as if he was forced to come along and his wife was weeping ) made an appearance.

(2) Did not see the same “Spirit of Mumbai” this time as even was shared by Suhel Seth, Farooq Shaikh etc on Arnabs Show ( I don’t know Arnab, matured people like you have to get some female in your show for glamour factor – Shefali Shah (Chaya) this time ? In what capacity ?? ) Offices were empty today as people and their families are worried and if the netas and leaders can stay back home, the citizens can also have their rights. But am sure the city will soon rise back, though taking a little while this time. As the physics law, bounce will come – every action(read by leaders, administration) has a reaction, but if there is no action, who would react ? But, the citizens would react – in a few days by being back to work with the same spirit and in the long run - hope in the forth coming elections too.

(3) Why do we sleep on these issue as always ? Why don’t we have balls to take drastic action against Pakistan or is it that there are many pass backs ! One should settle the scores for once and all.

(4) Time to prove the difference between a Boy and a Man : And Mr. Manmohan Singh, its time to come out of the shadow of your god-mother and prove that you have turned from a boy to a man! There is so much you can do from just sacking Mr. Shivraj Patil, whom God could also not save this time.

Well, all said and done, one would feel – gyaan dena to asaan hai, kuch karna mushkil- and that is a fact, but even trying the former is an effort or a thought and the latter would follow, has to…. if not during these 24 hrs (bumping into this would have added to more confusion) then later - Many injured would need blood and otherwise - every and any smallest initiative or control to ensure security at home, workplace, nearby areas would be worth a contribution. And only thing which I can do is pray right now for the end of this crisis at the earliest (it has to, but hope these 24 hours don’t go to 36, 48...) If this goes long, the administration will showcase, they will have to have some reason for it - that they saved so many “x” lives and that’s why took so long, no one will speak of the lives lost...and no on will speak of the loss of revenue the country had in the last 24 hours ?