BOOKS BY VALMIK THAPAR
Winged Fire: A Celebration of Indian Birds
Saving Wild India: A Blueprint for Change
Wild Fire: The Splendours of Indias Animal Kingdom
Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India
Tiger: Portrait of a Predator
Tigers: The Secret Life
The Tigers Destiny
The Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent
The Secret Life of Tigers
Tiger
Wild Tigers of Ranthambhore
Bridge of God: 20 Days in the Masai Mara
The Cult of the Tiger
Tiger: The Ultimate Guide
The Last Tiger
The Illustrated Tigers of India
Ranthambhore: 10 Days in the Tiger Fortress
Tigers and the Banyan Tree
An African Diary: 12 Days in Kenyas Magical Wilderness
The Tiger: Soul of India
Tigers, My Life: Ranthambhore and Beyond
Tigers in the Emerald Forest: Ranthambhore after the Monsoon
My Life with Tigers
BOOKS CO-AUTHORED BY VALMIK THAPAR
With Tigers in the Wild with Fateh Singh Rathore and Tejbir Singh
Tigers and Tigerwallahs with Jim Corbett, Billy Arjan Singh, Geoffrey C. Ward and Diane Raines Ward
Exotic Aliens with Romila Thapar and Yusuf Ansari
BOOKS EDITED BY VALMIK THAPAR
Saving Wild Tigers, 1900-2000: The Essential Writings
Battling for Survival
ALEPH BOOK COMPANY
An independent publishing firm
promoted by Rupa Publications India
First published in India in 2016 by
Aleph Book Company
7/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj
New Delhi 110 002
Copyright Valmik Thapar 2016
All rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and the facts are as reported by him/her which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.
While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain permission, this has not been possible in all cases; any omissions brought to our attention will be remedied in future editions.
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eISBN: 978-93-84067-86-1
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.
This book is dedicated to
My son Hamir Thapar whose engagement with the wildlife of Africa and India is
enthralling. I hope his experiences in the future are as engaging
as mine have been.
And
My nephew Jaisal Singh who not only shared some of these encounters but continues to find ways to engage with the wilderness in India and Africa.
We all must strive to connect good innovative strategies in India and Africa in order to
keep these amazing areas safe.
CONTENTS
AUTHORS NOTE
I FIRST CAME UNDER THE TIGERS SPELL FIFTY- FOUR years ago, at the age of ten, sitting astride an elephant in Corbett National Park in the Lower Himalayas of north India. It was early in the morning and ten elephants were sweeping through high grass in an attempt to spring some tigers into a clearing on the far side. I remember looking down from my perch and seeing a tigress snarling up at the elephant and then darting away with two large cubs at her heels. I was struck by that experience and continue to remember it vividly. It was thirteen years after this encounter that I saw my next tiger in Ranthambhore. The year was 1976. That was the year my life with tigers truly began.
This book is not only about my favourite tigers but also the very best of my encounters with one of the most magnificent animals to walk the face of the planet. Over the past forty years I have tried to serve them as best as I could. It was a dream for me to publish my first book nearly thirty-five years ago and to share my experiences with tigers with people across the world. This is my thirtieth publication and I have loved every minute of my time as an author. Through my books I have shared some of the best photographs showing the diversity of tigers in the wild. This time around I have used only a bunch of sketches. I have to thank Rose Corcoran for her brilliant sketches.
My Ranthambhore journey would not have been possible without Fateh Singh Rathore, the wildlife warden, welcoming me into the folds of the park. He was not just my tiger mentor but my closest friend. Many of the encounters with the tigers that I describe in the following pages took place when I was with him; he was, in a myriad ways, responsible for my life with tigers. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi always referred to him as Fateh Singh Ranthambhore. His warmth and generosity of spirit were infectious. He invited me to another home under the canopy of Ranthambhores forests thus changing my life forever. He inspired many who today fight endless battles to keep wild tigers alive. When he passed away a few years ago he left a void in my life. I miss him sorely and know he will be a presence in my life until the end of my days.
Valmik Thapar
August 2016
New Delhi
THE TIGER OF RANTHAMBORE
RANTHAMBHORE TIGER RESERVE IN RAJASTHAN HAS been the root of all my learning throughout my life. It still is. It is within the folds of this forest that I discovered the secrets of the tiger and have had my favourites among these majestic animals over the past forty years. This is the story of the tigers that I befriended and became close tonot just physically but also emotionally. But before I write about them, I should describe the setting in which I worked with them. This setting changed my life in many ways. The best way to recreate it is from my impressions of it forty years ago.
Late one afternoon, in early 1976, I boarded a train for the small town of Sawai Madhopur, a place that was totally unknown to me. I was a city boy and unsure of what lay ahead. All I knew was that I had to get out of Delhi. I had heard of Ranthambhore through my work on various documentary films but could not have imagined then that I would find the lure of the jungle irresistible. All I knew at that time, at the age of twenty-three, was that something was missing in my life. There was a sense of emptiness and despair and a lack of excitement. I needed a break. I remember that that train journey was one of the most difficult that I have ever taken. Instinctively, I must have known that my life was about to change. I watched the dusty plains rush past as the train sped on and soon it was pitch dark. When I disembarked at 10 p.m., I found myself at a station that was dark and deserted. I somehow managed to wake up the driver of a horse carriage that was standing outside. In those days Sawai Madhopur did not boast many jeeps or motorized vehicles. We trotted off to the only hotel nearbythe Maharaja Lodgewhere I had to wake the watchman who took his own sweet time to open up a room festooned with cobwebs for me. I spent a sleepless night. The next morning I set off for a walk and was surprised to see that there was no sign of a forest nearby. This was a sleepy district town sprawled untidily around the railway track, which seemed to be the only reason for its existence. I walked around amidst hooting train sounds and felt people staring at me. I must have seemed like an alien. I began to wonder whether there really were any tigers in the area. Soon I found another horse cart that would take me to the office of Project Tiger. The office turned out to be a dismal building in the middle of a mess of concrete and brick that is the mark of every small town in India. A cement factory nearby belched out dirty smoke. Could this be the base for a tiger reserve?
