If I were to draw a histogram of that scene.. it would cover entire range of 0-255.. every shade of grey... almost black of the monstrous rain clouds... and towering spikes of thunders... which covered the entire scope of my view and extended beyond. A 'Tandava' in true sense... no... not a movie setup or a graphic wizardry... I bet there's no software.. however advanced.. and no imagination.. however creative/destructive to simulate that situation.
There I was... along with 6 other people... watching the madness. I can't comment on their state of mind back then... but I was trying to come up with a reaction to best fit that situation. I was not sure... whether to be afraid of or to marvel at the display.
As a photographer... it was a lifetime opportunity to try to capture the exhibition of sheer strength that the nature displayed... as a tourist it was playing a spoilsport in the trip... which I will come back to later in the post. As a nature lover... I couldn't have asked for more to witness... as an ordinary human I was supposed to be scared for life... as someone who recently bought an expensive photography gear... I should be concerned about my equipment getting damaged... but every such reaction was suppressed by the thunderbolts hitting the water surface every minute... Did I mention 'Water' ? Yes.. That's what surrounded our jeep... jeep ? Yes... that was our vehicle, the smoothest of all.. The 4WD suzuki gypsy that took us inside that jungle and out on our safari... Jungle ? Yes, Ranathambore National Park... one of county's best tiger reserves... Tiger!!! Yes, The big cats were the reason we were all there... just to catch a glimpse of them in their natural habitat would be a lifetime memory. However harshly photographers call the Tiger images cliche... everyone secretly wants to have his own. To let you know... I'm far from it.
All these thoughts crossed my mind in a flash... and as they subsided I decided to just play the role of a witness to whatever was about to happen..
Brief Background :
It was a long time unfulfilled wish to experience the actual jungle safari... not that I had missed the opportunity in the past... I never tried. So, when my best buddy Jayant pinged me and told about his plans to join a group which conducts such trips.. I immediately enrolled myself.
The tiger sighting season was almost over as the monsoon was setting in and ours was supposed to be the last batch of tourists and if you think that was foolish.. then read this. The moment we boarded the open canter to reach our hotel... it started raining heavily.Even though we enjoyed the rainy ride we pretty much got the idea that, it was just a glimpse of what was about to happen in the next 3-4 days... Total washout.
To be continued...
All these thoughts crossed my mind in a flash... and as they subsided I decided to just play the role of a witness to whatever was about to happen..
Brief Background :
It was a long time unfulfilled wish to experience the actual jungle safari... not that I had missed the opportunity in the past... I never tried. So, when my best buddy Jayant pinged me and told about his plans to join a group which conducts such trips.. I immediately enrolled myself.
The tiger sighting season was almost over as the monsoon was setting in and ours was supposed to be the last batch of tourists and if you think that was foolish.. then read this. The moment we boarded the open canter to reach our hotel... it started raining heavily.Even though we enjoyed the rainy ride we pretty much got the idea that, it was just a glimpse of what was about to happen in the next 3-4 days... Total washout.
To be continued...
