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Jungle
PHOTOS: AQUATERRA ADVENTURES

hero
MIKE PANDEY

E
very year, Time Magazine
salutes Green Heroes, remark-
able people who have fought
for the conservation of our planet
and its wildlife. And this year, Mike
Pandey, wildlife documentary film-
maker of repute and our columnist,
was named a Green Hero by the
magazine in its late September issue
for his three-decade war to defend
India’s wildlife and environment.
In 1994, Pandey became the first
Asian director to win the Wildscreen
Panda Award, also known as the
Green Oscar, for his film The Last

Hitting the wall

Migration — Wild Elephant Capture
in Sarguja. In 2000, his film Shores
of Silence — Whale Sharks in India,
also won the Green Oscar and led
to an eventual ban on the killing of
whale sharks on Indian shores.
This week, Pandey talks to us
about what his experiences have
taught him about life in the wild.

What’s the most dangerous

experience you have had in the wild?
This was during the capture of wild
elephants in the forest of Sarguja in
Chhattisgarh. The bull elephant was
heavily sedated and lay limp on the
ground. It was anchored by thick,
hemp ropes that were attached to
two huge kunki or trained tuskers.
I was on my knees trying to get a FALLING HEADFIRST into a Himalayan river can be a ENSURING A SAFE TRIP
ground level shot of its face and limp
tongue, which had turned blue due good contender for the scariest fifteen seconds of your life
to drug stress. The eyes were open
and watching. I had started to stand Dhamini Ratnam the river where our rafts waited for us.
up after taking the shot, when sud- WE WERE SUCKED IN Our head guide took us through the

denly, the trunk uncoiled and lashed
out. I was lifted almost 6 feet in the
air and was thrown some 20 feet
away before landing in the bushes.
The animal was so strong despite
the heavy sedation that even the
combined forces of two kunki ele-
phants couldn’t hold back the tusker.
I was greatly humbled by that and
my reverence and respect for the
most powerful creature on land grew
even more.
What was your most joyful wildlife
experience?
Descending from the escarpment
into the Masai Mara in Kenya, I was
parked on the edge
THE SKY ALMOST of the largest
DARKENED AS breeding grounds
of flamingoes. I
MILLIONS OF was engrossed in
FLAMINGOES, STAR- the watching one of
most awesome
TLED BY THE SHINY spectacles of
REFLECTOR, TOOK nature when my
friend, Mutiso,
OFF INTO THE AIR preparing for me
to take a photo-
graph, sprung open the flexible
reflector board. Suddenly, all hell
broke loose. Nearly 3 million birds
lifted and rose up from the lake in
unison. The cacophony of fluttering
wings and squawks filled the air. The
sky almost darkened as millions of
birds, startled by the shiny reflec-
tor, took off into the air. Ten min-
utes later, they all slowly descend-
ed on to the lake. Those unforget-
table 30 minutes are etched per-
manently in my mind.
What survival skills are absolutely
essential while travelling in the wild?
Forest craft and knowledge of ani-
mal behaviour are essential.
Flexibility and good stamina are also
necessary. Always carry a good
backpack packed with a Swiss knife,
compass, magnifying glass to start
a fire, needle and thread, dry fruit
like dates and figs, ropes and water.
This kit, coupled with an ability to
use stars to navigate your way, is
priceless.
As a wildlife conservationist, what
would you advise wildlife travellers?
Remember you are the intruder and
that animals have the right of way.
Respect the law of the jungle. Do
not leave any garbage. Do not inter-
fere with the natural way of things
O
■ dhamini.ratnam@hindustantimes.com
hno, ohno, ohmygod, here
it comes!” my mind
screamed as a tall surge
of a frothing wave hit our
raft already tipping dan-
gerously to the right. For a second,
everything froze as if I, sitting on a
tall rock by the riverside watching
our swirling raft, had pressed the
pause button. The wave approaching
from the left remained curled and
suspended, and the raft, assailed by
waves from every direction hovered a
few inches above the Ganga. The six
of us on the raft were holding our
paddles in different positions — over
our heads and deep within the water
— in a mad attempt to keep the raft
■ At the campsite located on the
steady on the biggest rapid on the up-
per Ganga called the Wall.
river bank Frozen like that, the sheer terror in
PHOTO COURTESY: MERCURY HIMALAYAN EXPLORATIONS
M Y EX T R E M E M O M E N T | N A R A I N
AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, I WAS
SOMERSAULTING MY WAY
UNDER THE GANGA AT
BREAKNECK SPEED. ALARM
SIGNALS WERE GOING OFF IN
MY BRAIN.
our eyes could have easily been mis-
taken for a glint of excitement. In the
mountains surrounding us, all was calm.
Eagles swooped and the occasional
branch snapped. A light breeze lifted
off from the rocks and set off down-
stream, leaving brown butterflies with
ink-tipped wings in its wake. Then the
moment unfroze.
HITTING ROCK BOTTOM
The wave uncurled and slapped our
raft, toppling it. We were sucked in and
before I knew it, I was somersaulting
my way under the Ganga at breakneck
speed. By the time I was vertical again,
alarm signals were going off in my brain.
I needed air. I needed to know my pad-
dle hadn’t floated off. And I hoped every-
one else on the raft was fine.
I was numb with cold, and a sharp
pain in my nose reminded me that I was
running out of air. I thrashed about with
increased vigour trying hard to get to
the surface of the river. About seven
terribly long seconds later, I was spat
out by the river just as unceremoni-
ously as I was sucked in, and to my utter
disbelief I found that I was just fine.
FACING THE ELEMENTS
Earlier that morning, our head guide
had told us about the Wall (a grade 4-
rapid on a good day) adding that only
those who felt brave enough to attempt
it, should raft through it. Fissures of
excitement spread through our group
of 18, and slivers of conjecture about
what it must be like spread like Chinese
whispers. “It’s a vertical drop,” said one.
“It is several feet high”, said another.
Our guide kept silent.
To hit the Wall, we were driven up
the winding Rishikesh-Devprayag road
to Kaudiyala. The plan was to raft down-
stream towards the camp. At Kaudiyala,
we were given our life jackets, paddles
and helmets and told to trek down to
K A R T H I K E YA N
instructions again. This time he added
two more. “When the instructor says
‘hyside left’ the ones on the right of the
raft, grab hold of the person sitting to
your left.”
“And when your instructor says ‘get
down’, everyone come to the centre,”
he added. He looked serious. But we
were buoyed by our successes of the
previous day. We had tackled grade 3+
rapids with theme-park names like
‘Roller Coaster’ and ‘Golf Course’.
We sailed merrily towards a rocky
patch from where our instructors want-
ed to show us the Wall before we
attempted it. Standing on a tall rock,
several of us sighed in relief. There was
nothing wall-like about it. It was anoth-
er rapid, albeit with what seemed like
rather large waves, even from that dis-
tance. “Easy-peasy,” we thought and
whistled in anticipation. Stay calm, he
said, as we all got back into the raft. We
smirked and nodded at each other.
A FEW TUMBLES LATER
Later, after resurfacing from the Wall,
I bobbed along the river in the gener-
al direction of the rescue raft. The
strong current of the river pushed me
with a bubbling urgency, but around
me, things were slowly coming back to
their leisurely pace. Floating with the
life jacket on, the river didn’t seem as
intimidating as it did barely moments
ago, and the rocks seemed less men-
acing. A paddle soon floated past me,
and I grabbed hold of it. Another fol-
lowed, and a few moments later, a floater
of one of my raft mates drifted by. I
might as well salvage what I can, I
thought. By the time I came in sight of
the rescue boat, I was chuckling to
myself, the full incongruity of the situ-
ation having hit me. What’s a couple of
tumbles when all you have to show for
it are three paddles and a shoe, I thought
to myself as I raised my thumb towards
the head instructor. “Are you alright?”
he had signalled. “I am,” I signalled back.
And indeed, looking at the way the
mountains met at the skyline and feel-
ing the cold breeze around my face, I
realised, everything was just perfect.
The writer, who was visiting Rishikesh
after several years, came back more
excited about seeing a sunrise over the
horizon after four and a half years
■ The tents in the camp had beds
with heavy blankets to ensure you
slept like a baby
■ Stay to the inside of bends along a
whitewater river course.
■ Always wear your life jacket.
■ When in doubt about tackling a
difficult stretch, get out of the raft
and scout the river ahead.
■ Avoid strainers — fallen trees,
bridge pilings, undercut rocks or
anything else that allows the current
to flow through it but still holds you.
■ Steer clear of loose line
entanglements in the water.
■ Always keep a rafting group
together.
HERE’S WHERE YOU HEAD
Apart from the Ganga, there are several
rivers in the north where you can go to
get some whitewater action. These
include the Beas in Punjab, the Teesta in
Sikkim, the Tons bordering Himachal
Pradesh or the Zanskar in Leh. You can
also go rafting in the Bhaghirathi and
the Alaknanda — both tributaries of the
Ganga — in Uttarakhand. Here are few
adventure companies you could contact:
1. Aquaterra Adventures, Camp Silver
Sand (www.aquaterra.co.in)
2. Mercury Himalayan Explorations,
MHE camp
(www.himalayanadventure.com)
3. Great Indian Outdoors, Camp Nirvana
(www.greatindianoutdoors.com)
4. Escapades, for tailormade camps
(www.escapadesindia.com)
com/rush
Like what you see here? There’s more.
Rush has its own website where you can log on for
slideshows, wallpapers, and videos. You can con-
tribute too by telling us about your own adventures
on ‘My Extreme Moment’.
You can also email at rush@hindustantimes.com

Sliding into a wet turn at 250kph is quite a rush

in the forest. Keep talking to a min-
imum or talk in whispers. Don’t wear
brightly coloured clothes. And if you
see breeding animals, move away
as soon as you can. Look, listen,

observe. Always be the observer.
Does wildlife travel help raise aware-
ness about conservation in India?
Conservation comes from aware-
ness and is the key to environment
protection. Eco-education is much
needed in a country like India to
understand the interdependence of
life and to get sensitised towards the
need to protect wildlife.
Every little action will help our
fractured planet.
As told to Sai Raje
TALK TO US
To ask our comprehensive panel a
■ ‘95 Indianapolis 500 race, and the ‘97
question, just send an email to
rush@hindustantimes.com
T
he career of a racing driver trans-
lates into pushing the limits most
of the times – whether it is the
car’s or one’s own given that the vehi-
cle is exerting such inordinate amounts
of stress on the body. Crashes are some-
thing we learn to live with, as accidents
are a part of our lives. So I really can’t
say that one of those is my most extreme
moment.
The most vivid moment that leaps
to my mind is when I held my own
against Jacques Villeneuve. This is the
man who has won racings premier
championships and events – the ‘95
ChampCar Drivers Championship, the
F1 Drivers Championship. Only three
men have ever achieved the feat.
When I was driving for Jordan F1 in
2005, most of time it was a frustrating
experience, as the car just did not have
the grunt, or the handling, to challenge
the bigger teams. But at Spa that year
it rained. The best thing about the sprin-
kling from the Gods is that it is a great
performance leveller for machinery.
Fancy setups to the cars go for a toss
as the track is awash. I have always
driven well in the wet as, given the budg-
et constraints, I have seldom had the
luxury of the best-tuned car on the grid.
The wet has always given me an oppor-
tunity to display my skill.
I was just behind Villeneuve going
into Eau Rouge and I had got a better
The wet has always given me an
opportunity to display my skill
and I was not going to back off
N A R A I N K A R T H I K E YA N
exit from the previous corner. Now, this
particular corner is one that’s all about
guts and driving skill. Astride a Sauber
Petronas, Villeneuve had the better
machine but I was not going to give up
easy. Eau Rouge has a long straight
downhill headed into a bit of depression
in the track before it rises uphill into a
sweeping right. Going flat-out into the
turn we were both in seventh gear and
nudging the speedometer needle in the
vicinity of 300+ kph. I got a good slip-
stream on him and made my move on
the outside, as he was hold-
ing the inside line into the
next corner. We went
into the corner side-
by-side at about
250kph in full opposite
lock with both cars sliding on
the wet track. His wheels
touched my car for a fraction of
a second but there was no way I
was backing off. I bounced off him
and then headed straight over the grass
to head him off in the next turn. TALK TO US
That was wild given the speed of the ■ To see your adventures printed here,
tell us about you extreme moment at
maneuver and my ability to hold my
rush@hindustantimes.com
own against a former word champion.