AN ELOQUENT EXPEDITION TO JIM CORBETT

It was the last day of the school and I was very excited about the beginning of winter vacations as it was a great relief after strenuous schedule of exams. By the way, I am Yashvi, a bubbly 4th standard kid who believes in living life to the fullest like theres no tomorrow. I comprehend life as Jeopardy buy the ticket and enjoy this roller-coaster ride. Besides adventure, I am a huge animal lover and passionate about wildlife photography. My mother remains very worried about me watching Discovery and National Geographic all the time but Dad supports me a lot. I have an elder sister too, Tanya, who pampers me like her own baby! So, as soon as we entered home, Tanya and me dropped our bags on the floor and ran to reach out for Mom and hugged her tightly. I said, Mom, Its holidays nowWhats the plan? My mother surprisingly said, Plan? Well, I havent thought about any kind of plan. I was really disappointed and said Its vacation time and no outing??How Boring!. I sat on the sofa in disgust. My mother said, Wait till your father arrives! and winked at me mysteriously. I was amazed by her reaction. In the evening, I and Tanya were having our routine Hot Chocolate gossiping about school and suddenly, Dad arrived and said, Wassup kids? keeping a pink envelope on the table and went in his room to freshen up. Me and my sister exchanged glances in surprise thinking about dads cool gesture and what was inside that envelope. I said aloud, Dad, What is there in this envelope? Can I open it? My father replied from his room, Go ahead kiddo! It is for you only. Astonished by his reply, I immediately opened the envelope and shouted, OMG! Tickets of Safari to Jim Corbett! I love you Dad. Finally, we were going to Jim Corbett National Park, a place where I always wanted to go. I just couldnt express my excitement to experience the essence of flora & fauna. Jim Corbett National Park one of the oldest national parks in India famous for its tiger reserves is situated in the foothills of Himalayas, in Uttarakhand and considered as an ecstasy for wildlife lovers and thats me! Next day, we went to the market for shopping. We bought hiking boots, binoculars, cool animal print jackets, cowboy hats, duffle bags, insect repellants, torch etc. At night, I took out my Nikon DSLR D5100 from the cupboard which was essential for my photography and went to bed. Woo-hoo! The journey to the ultimate destination had begun. We started off early morning, at 5 am, in our new Renault Duster scanning the scenic and breath-taking landscapes on the way. My mother had prepared lots of lipsmacking snacks and rock music playing in the car to top itIt was amazing! It took us nearly 5 hours to reach Jim Corbett and finally, we reached to one of the resorts, The Corbett Highway, where my father had booked 2 rooms for us. We kept our luggage in the rooms and rested for a while. I went in the balcony to explore more; Wow! Lovely weather and an exotic location, I sighed. There was greenery everywhere and I could feel as I was sitting in Mother Natures lap. My father had booked for a jeep safari with a guide, so we entered through the Bijrani Gate at 2 pm. My voyage inside the jungle was fascinating. We could sight lots of sambar, deer, elephants, langur, wild boar, dancing peacock, various birds, distinguished trees etc. I clicked a lot of pictures but my eyes were searching for someone else, The Bengal Tiger. The guide told us that it was just a matter of luck that we could see the tiger. I was disappointed by his statement; after all, I had come up a long way just to see him! I decided that I wont leave from Jim Corbett until I see the tiger. My father understood my emotions and advised me to relax. Suddenly, we heard a hustling noise in the nearby bushes. We could sense it was an animal but couldnt see it. Then, we saw a wagging tail. It had black stripes on somewhat orange skin. The guide, at once, shouted, TIGER!!! We all looked at each other in confusion. The tiger was inside those bushes but we couldnt catch a sight of him apart from its tail! We kept waiting for two hours but the King was not obliged to come out and rather went away, hiding itself in those bushes. I felt discontented but we had to rush back to our resort as it was getting dark. Though, I had captured many mammals but no sight of The Bengal King made my expedition incomplete. Feeling depressed, I went to bed early that day It was chilly at night and my sister forgot to shut the windows. So, I got up to close them. When I peeped out of the window, I was attracted by the holy sight of the moon. I had never seen a moon with this kind of intensity I decided to take a stroll in the resort garden. I was surrounded by many trees and could feel the cool breeze flowing swiftly in the air. It was purely magical. I was so engrossed exploring the scenic ambience that all of a sudden, I realized, I had entered the jungle and my left leg was stuck inside a hole. Crap! How do I get out of this mess now?, I said. Forthwith, I heard a husky voice from behind, Need any help, young lady?. I moved around in amazement and to my surprise, I screamed aloud. It was THE KINGTHE TIGERRR!! He was just 10 ft away from me. His presence gave me goose-bumps. I got extremely scared and closed my eyes enchanting rapidly, Oh God! Please help. I dont want to die so soon. I am just 9. To my astonishment, the tiger laughed as hard as he could. He said, Dont worry, my dear Princess; I am not going to hurt you at all. So, Chill! I was puzzled, a stream of mixed emotions was running through me; a tiger called me a Princess, rather he could talk, and said himself as harmless. I didnt know how to react and was going to faint. He said abruptly, I know, you are an avid animal lover. So, why would I hurt you sweetie when I know you love animals and have come up a long way to catch a sight of me? I could see that keen intensity in your eyes, this afternoon. So, I decided to meet you in person. Here, I am in front of you! I stood still and took a deep breath. I felt comfortable by his amicable reaction and smiled at him. He was the one whom I was searching for in the bushes that afternoon. He sighed, Hey, you have a pretty smile too!. I blushed.

Then, he asked, Now, Can I help you? I nodded. Immediately, he buried his sharp paws in the land, thus, making the hole wider. I was relieved. He smiled, and asked, Would you like to take a ride and meet my friends?. I smiled again in positive and at once, I was sitting on his back. It felt as soft as silk. Though, he was bulky but he had a long orange body and broad shoulders. His friendly behavior made my fear vanish. His name was Jay. We exchanged many thoughts and I expressed my passion for wildlife photography. He was impressed. On the way, we met an Asian Elephant, Niaz. He rolled his trunk and trumpeted aloud. It was an expression to honor the Tiger. I was surprised to know that animals also had names. Niaz, further, moved with us. He had a great sense of humor. He made me laugh with his witty jokes. Then, we met langurs, gorals, deer, bears, wild boars, leopards and other tigers. I realized that the animals too had love and respect for each other. Everyone started following us as Jay introduced me to them one by one. Suddenly, Niaz suggested, Lets keep a party in Yashvis honor and make this night memorable. I was thrilled by his idea. Then, the celebrations started. I was amazed to find the langur, Mike, playing as DJ. We laughed and danced a lot to his mind-boggling songs teaching steps to each other. It was fun. All of a sudden, we heard a loud cry in husky voice. Jay was missing! Everyone was startled and we turned off the music. We searched for him everywhere but couldnt find him. We heard his moan again. At last, we found him and were shocked to see his condition. He was trapped in a net, which, probably, some mischievous poachers would have set. We were upset but I gathered all the courage and shouted with determination, We ought to help Jay. Hes in danger!. Everyone, at once, agreed. Unlike humans, animals do have unity. I thought of a plan and told to all my new friends. First of all, we collected lots of bamboo sticks, ropes and Niaz called his siblings. Elephants, because of their enormous size, could be used to scare those poachers. I tied the ropes on different trees keeping a uniform distance in order to trap those cruel hunters. After that, we heard their noises. The poachers were near and the plan was set. One of Jays tiger friends, Felix went ahead and made sounds to attract them so that they could chase him as humans were famous for their greed amongst animals as well. It worked. They started to follow Felix. One, two, threeafter a minute, the three musketeers were hanged to the tree upside down. They got puzzled and anxious. Taking advantage of the situation, the elephants trumpeted aloud to scare them like hell. Other animals put sticks in their mouth and surrounded those cruel poachers. They were screaming as if they saw some ghosts! I already told Niaz, not to hurt them instead teach them a fine lesson so that they never commit this mistake again. Till then, we went to the back side and got Jay free of the trap. He was overwhelmed. With tears in his eyes, he expressed his immense gratitude and thanked me a thousand times. He said, Thanks Yashvi! You are my savior, I owe you one. What can I do for you gal? Everyone gathered around us and clapped in excitement. That sense of joy can never be expressed in words. My eyes were wet. I smilingly said, One Photograph please! and winked at him. Suddenly, I felt some violent movement in the ground as if Earth was shaking and Splash!!! My sister poured a bucket of cold water on me. For a minute, I couldnt figure out what was happening. Tanya screamed at me, Get up lazy-bone; for Gods sake, we are already late!. Oh No!! a Dream???, I asked. My sister said, Huh? I laughed at myself and got up from bed. My father had planned for an Elephant Safari so that he could show me the Tiger. I was constantly thinking about my bizarre dream last night. This time, whenever I clicked pictures, I could sense an unusual connection with every animal. Finally!, my dad said. He had spotted THE JUNGLE KING. My eyes were persistently glued on him; orangish long body, black stripes and broad shouldersHe stood up on his hinder legs promptly and tried to wave. I was s tunned. I immediately captured him in my camera. That day changed my life. I smiled in return and whispered, Thanks Jay!