When a tripod saved my life!!


In my decades of roaming around the forests of India filming wildlife, I have been at the wrong end of the barrel more than a dozen times, with a few very close encounters – like the incident detailed below.

If I remember right, it was 2009. I was on a photo shoot at Masinagudi, looking for Sloth Bears along with Sundar, another wildlife phtographer. A friend had a home stay inside deep jungle where a few bears were reported to be frequenting a clearing near the place and we decided to stay there. It was a wonderful home, right at the foot hills of the mountains, unfenced and in the middle of the wilderness. After breakfast, we set out along with the Cook (our guide for the day, an excellent tracker himself) to the clearing, hardly 500 meters away where we had decided to wait for the bears to make their appearance.

It was nearing noon when we walked to the clearing, Sundar and the cook were almost 50 meters behind me. Nearing the clearing, I heard branches being torn apart. Moving closer, I was spell bound seeing a lone tusker right in the open, munching slowly on the lush green grass, as I hid behind a bush and began filming the majestic animal – barely 200 meters away.

Sundar and the cook had by then seen me and the elephant, so they hid behind a tree (Sundar took this photo). Since we were not very far from the house, we did not bother about the wind (though I knew we were walking downwind) which actually turned out to be a huge blunder. While composing the frame I did see some disturbing signs through the view finder, like the animal feeling the air with his trunk, stiffening, flapping his ears quickly and the front leg scraping the earth. These were tell tale signs of an impending charge and I was getting nervous, for though the house was just about 500 meters away, there was no way we could outrun an elephant if it did charge.


Sundar and the cook  sensed this too, and gestured to me to get back. As I was communicating with them through gestures and signs, the beast charged. A loud trumpet, one of the loudest I have heard in the jungles shook the earth as the massive animal blasted through the clearing aiming straight at us. Sundar had the extra burden of the tripod mounted camera to carry as we turned and ran back towards the house. We were no match for the speed of the elephant, which was closing the gap at a very rapid pace. It was just minutes, before it would be reaching us.

Then it happened. The tripod that was attached to Sundar's camera came loose and it fell down making a clanking noise, as we kept running. Along with the tripod Sundar had a red and yellow carry bag (holding the water bottle, a pack of Marie biscuits and anti-leech lotion – a local concoction) which fell down as well. This distracted the animal for it slowed down and was sizing up the tripod and the biscuits, especially the foul smelling anti-leech concoction, This gave us precious moments, enough time to put more distance between us and the animal. We did not look back to see the fate of the tripod. Later, coming back with more reinforcements, we saw the completely smashed, shattered and mangled remains of the tripod and shredded remains of the bag – which could have been us, had it not been for the sacrifice of the Tripod!!

Popular posts from this blog

The Magician of Masinagudi

Image
Mark Davidar, a blessed son of the well-known conservationist E.R.C Davidar is no more. Rivaldo, his most cherished tusker will miss him more than anyone else. Having lost a good portion of his cheek and trunk to heartless poachers, Rivaldo was all at bay, when Mark decided to take care of him, and the rest is history. Though fortunate to have spent a bit of time during my visits to his wonderful place, it took me a long time to see beneath and beyond Mark's complex, sometimes intimidating yet mature persona.  Yes, he had a short fuse, true the huge influence of alcohol was disturbing, agreed that his profanities (especially when drunk) were annoying, yet here was a simple man, with a mature head on his frail shoulders. A man who had an uncanny ability to have a serene, calming approach to the wildest of the wild, and a love for the wilderness which is simply unmatched even today. A wonderful human being, like his illustrious father, Mark was a great lover of the wild
Read more

Yercaud Skywalk

Image
It was one of those gloomy September evenings at Coimbatore. The holidays were drawing to a close and it was time to drive back to Chennai (where we had moved a few years ago), for another few months of hectic, noisy, polluted metro life. Then the brainwave struck. Lalli’s suggestion to break the monotony of the drive back by a visit to Yercaud, was music to my ears. A couple of phone calls to friends at GRT and we had a Grand room at GRT Skywalk, the latest from GRT stable, waiting for us. The drive from Coimbatore was smooth, though the slow moving early morning truck traffic right until Avinashi, was a huge dampener, especially for my speed hungry Civic. A small break before Salem, to munch on mom’s lovely fluffy idly’s, and we were soon on the road from Salem to Yercaud, which was a breeze. Born in the racing / rallying town of Coimbatore, our weekend drives to the various hills and ghat sections around the city made me a seasoned Ghat / Off roader and this little stretch was no
Read more

Indian Gaur

Image
Often mistaken for a bison, the Indian Gaur is part of the cow family. The bison is a species found in two places – Europe and the USA. The gaur is amongst the largest and most powerful wild cattle found across the world. Found in abundance across the country, they are very adaptive to the environments and surroundings. An average gaur stands over 180 cm tall and weighs a little under a ton (1000 kg). This gives you a picture of its massive structure. It’s normally found in herds of at least eight to ten and is extremely aggressive – especially when it comes to protecting its young.   The massive size normally makes one believe that no predator gets close to these mammoth bovines, yet these gaurs are easy meat for the tiger, which is known to regularly hunt full-grown adults. As you may have guessed, these huge animals provide a tiger with enough meat for a few days, if not weeks!   The gaur plays a very crucial part in maintaining the ecological balance of the forest, espec
Read more