3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue 1 & 2 Jan - Apr 2 3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue | Page 41

I visited Ranthambore during the
summers of 2018 and during one of my
game drives in a zone that is seldom visited
by the tourists, I sighted a young Tiger and
only the head was popping out of a small
watch tower. I was overwhelmed to see a
Tiger in an ancient structure like that and
was truly a dream sighting. That moment
was very joyful and I was hoping to get the
sight of the full Tiger. I waited very patiently
for a while and I could see the Tiger coming
out of the abandoned watch tower.
What I saw was very disappointing as the
Tiger, a 3-4 month old cub was barely able
to stand due to weakness and hunger.
Our guide who had accompanied us on
the drive was also equally surprised to
see a cub in that state. I was hoping to
see the mother, T-13 close by, but there
were no signs of her and it looked very
evident that the cub was abandoned for a
long time without food.
A forest officer who happened to come
there as a part of his daily beat, told us
about the mother. It seems the mother, T13
was nursing a very serious injury and was
not to be seen for almost 3 weeks. This
got us worried and I lost all hopes of this
cub’s survival. She later went into a water
hole to beat the summer heat and to drink
Vol 4 | Issue 1 |Jan - Feb 2019
water which was
the only source of nourishment.
Time was up and we had to exit with a very
heavy heart. Though I prayed that some
magic would happen and this Cub would
survive, I knew heart in heart that its next to
impossible.
But something told me that the cub
would fight it out, after all she has the
lineage of the great Machali... the queen of
Ranthambore who had ruled for almost 17
years. Machali is T13’s Aunt and that’s how
this Cub is connected to her....With this
hope I returned to Ranthambore 6 months
later. The first drive was to the same zone
where I had last seen the cub. I went to
the same abandoned watch tower and
searched around the entire place hoping to
see the cub, but in vain.
We got information that a different jeep had
sighted a Tiger in a different place and we
quickly drove to that place. I was thrilled
with what I sighted and my guide confirmed
that its the same cub.
A cub once who had knocked on the
heaven’s door was right in front of me Hale
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