Aditya sliced a triangular piece of cheese masala omelette from his plate and placed it in his mouth. He bit into his buttered toast and sipped from a glass of cool watermelon juice. In India, it was a delicacy to add some masala, red chilly powder and finely chopped pieces of green chilly to a cheese omelette. Watermelon juice was the freshest and most organic in these parts of the country. This was standard fare breakfast for Aditya since the past week.
The weather was rather cold and tourists wore sweaters or jackets. Some wore woollen caps to cover their ears as well. Children flocked around equally excited parents, in anticipation of their elephant ride. The 1 hour elephant ride was the most coveted part of a 2 or 3 hour tour in the Wildlife Sanctuary situated in South India. It was coveted because they promised a sighting of the Majestic Indian Tiger..
The Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over 600 square miles of forest reserve in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka, is known for its large population of tigers. It was once the private hunting ground of the King of Mysore. Apart from tigers it is also home to elephants, spotted deer, bison, antelopes and numerous other native species. It forms the largest habitat of wild elephants in Southeast Asia.
Aditya was a zoologist by education, and had written his bachelor's thesis on the relation between stagnant water and animal health in man made forest reserves. Aditya always believed he belonged with nature and studying wild ecosystems would be his calling. Soon after he finished his master's degree, he had undertaken to complete his doctorate, in forest ecosystems by doing a research thesis.
Through a friend's recommendation he had tied up with National Geographic Channel. They promised to fund his thesis, if he brought them quality video footage and helped direct a TV show on functioning of these eco systems on their channel. Aditya had just what he wanted. He had then purchased very expensive high quality photography equipment for wild life photography. He had trained with national geographic for 6 months before beginning his research.
This wildlife sanctuary was the 3rd reserve for his research. His target was to study about 8 or 10. He would visit any reserve about thrice a year during different seasons. He would stay sometimes for weeks at length. At this reserve, he had another 3 weeks to go and it was winter.
Aditya's father was a high ranking government official and his contacts had been useful to obtain permissions for Aditya to stay and take photographs in the wild, even at night. Aditya would stay over in the forest sometimes to observe behaviours of animals. The forest ranger, his dad's closest friend from school, had taught him how to use a shotgun and had given him one too, for defence if it came to that..
Aditya finished his routine heavy breakfast and got into the open-air, 4 wheel drive, rough terrain vehicle with a high suspension. It was specially designed for forest officials to deviate from human paths in the forest. It was dirty green in colour and covered with thick layer of reddish dust. They kept it that way for camouflage. It didn't have luxurious interiors or air conditioners or a music system. Aditya never cared for these pleasures anyway. He was happy the machine was powerful, could handle uneven terrain and had enough space for him to load equipment and food. There were 8 of these and another 10 look-alike SUVs to take tourists on one of the 6 motorable trails through the forest. Those for tourists were ordinary sports utility vehicles.
Aditya exchanged pleasantries with Sam. It was 6.45 am. Sam was from Bangalore and was the care taker of 4 zones of the reserve. His job was to drive and walk through the forest, keep watch, help in census, look for poachers, fire, disease etc. Aditya had established camp about a mile away from the watering hole of the zone where many animals from the forest came for a drink. Water reserves were the best places for research of ecosystems. His high zoom lens and binoculars afforded him the view from a distance. His low illumination video recorder was also set up here, which he would now rewind and study.
Sam made small talk as they started off along one of the trails. They would drive in the mud, off the road for about 6 miles. Sam mentioned he was to ferry a group of 4 students along one of the trails the next morning, on special request from the head of the forest department. Aditya poked fun at him. He called Sam a Forest ranger who doubles as a tour guide. He raised protective hands to shield himself from Sams playful punch.
Sam picked up Aditya from his post after his evening round and they came back to the residential area of the reserve. They entered the rangers office and Sam introduced Aditya to the zoology students that he was going to guide into the forest the next day.
"Oh My God, Is that you Aadi?"
Aditya heard someone exclaim these words from amongst the group. Suddenly recognition dawned! It indeed was his school friend Mitali! Aditya had schooled in Mumbai, during his childhood. Mitali came ahead and gave him a tight hug! She looked different. She was grown up, taller, didn't have a pony tail, wore a well fitting T and jeans and was much more forthcoming than Aditya remembered her to be. He couldn't help feel a tingle when her breasts pressed against him. Aditya was pleased but awkward since he was dirty and sweaty from spending 12 hours in the forest.
Aditya was 30 and well built. He was tall, rugged and strong. Unlike guys of his age who showed off sculpted and often disproportionate bodies, he had an outdoorsy physique, like that of a rock climber. It was tough, agile and most suited for the forest. He had a chiselled, rugged face, and in his forest fatigues which were coloured like military fatigues for camouflage, he looked like a special ops commando. All he needed was a beret cap.
Aditya excused himself to freshen up and promised to meet them for dinner. He noticed one of Mitali's friends was watching him intently. She was few inches shorter than him but tallest amongst the group. A snug fit collared black T with slightly short sleeves worn on dark green khakis made her look very appealing and smart. Her T-shirt covered ample breasts that looked proportionate with her height. Aditya smiled (almost naughtily), nodded at Mitali's friend and turned on his heels. Mitali had noticed how her friend Vidya's eyes had followed him out the door.
They checked into the same cottage as Aditya. There were about 5 cottages owned by the forest department which would typically have 3 bedrooms, a common sitting space and a kitchen. Rooms in the same cottage could be leased out separately as well. Dinner was always at the cottage made by a special Chef to prevent tourists from loitering into the forest at night. Aditya had one bedroom and the 4 girls of the group occupied the others.
This cottage was often given out preferentially to government or forest department dignitaries or their guests.
