Tigerless in Sundarbans' tiger territory

During my father’s posting at Kolkata (Calcutta of yore), some friends, along with families, decided to go on a trip to Sundarbans, the home of the Great Bengal Tiger.

On the appointed weekend, we all hopped onto buses and travelled across the beautiful countryside of West Bengal to reach South 24 Parganas, the district which has some major wildlife sanctuaries, and home not only to the Great Bengal Tiger but also alligators, dolphins and olive ridley turtles.

After reaching South 24 Parganas, we further travelled by ferries across the beautiful mangrove forests and mudflats.

Most people in our group were obviously keen to spot a tiger despite being told that such sightings were rare, as tigers preferred to remain in the interiors of the forests and did not visit the areas where tourists frequented. But still, every rustle of the leaves was being imagined as a potential sighting, only for everyone to be disappointed when a monkey or a spotted deer was sighted.

Some had their cameras ready so as not to miss even a fleeting sight. Others literally started manifesting sounds and smells which indicated to them that the tigers were near. But despite all efforts, we remained tigerless in the tiger territory of Sundarbans.

We came back disappointed though the trip had its moments, as we saw the lovely mangrove forests and other flora and fauna.

The next day when l went to college, a friend asked, "Did you see any tigers?" “No, just monkeys,” l replied.

Everyone had a good laugh. Perhaps, so did the Great Bengal Tigers, who made a monkey out of us city folks.

Gurnoor Grewal, Chandigarh.