Well this story transpires in Kanha National park where I had been with some of my friends for a couple of days to 'get away from it all' as we say it. It was June of some year which I dont remember and the monsoon had already set in with a couple of showers in nagpur, my hometown. Kanha had experienced very heavy rainfall already and was just a few more showers away from being closed for the public. So anyways we set off early morning in my friends car to make the forest by about 1200 hrs.
We had decided to stay in the Dormitory provided by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism authorities in the buffer zone inside the forest. The Dormitory is pretty cheap and gives you the actual 'Kanha experience'. Now I dont think many people have been to a forest after so many showers for the simple reason that it becomes very difficult to spot any animals. However someone who can appreciate the beauty of the forest will realize what I am talking about. The forest was so picturesque and beautiful because of the greenery that it was certainly a sight to behold. As expected we did not get to see any of the prized possessions of this forest. But that is not what this story is all about. It is about what transpired later that night, and it shall surely be a story we are not to forget very easily.
After returning from the forest we decided to go for dinner in one of the dhabas just outside the buffer zone. Now bear in mind that the forest is far away from civilization and as such when darkness descends it is absolutely pitch dark and it becomes very difficult to distinguish for even a couple of yards further. Also on top of that and rightly so the MP tourism authorities have used absolutely minimal artificial lighting in the buffer zone to preserve the sanctity of the place as a forest. So we had our dinner and were making our way back to the dorm rooms when suddenly.......lights out!!!!!
As it was raining very heavily since the evening this was bound to happen. We parked our car near the dorm and got out. We could not make out where the door was or how to get there and crazily we had forgotten our torch in the room. Now mind you in the dorm having a capacity of 32 people, only 4 people were staying and we were three out of them. Somehow we managed to get to the dorm, when the other guy came out with his torch. Thank god for him!! We chatted with him for some time and he gave us the sad news that the electricity will not be back till the next day as there is nobody to repair the lines. We saw insects of sizes that you dont imagine practically possible. Man the forest is a crazy place at night. We said goodbye to our friend and decided to get some sleep. Perhaps things would look better in the light of the day.
We got to our room. One of my friends had just opened his mobile phone for some light when he saw a scorpion right beside his foot!!! He screamed and told us to get on our beds. I took out the torch and we checked all around the room to find that there were two more scorpions in the room. We were now really worried. We were in the middle of the forest with no possible source of medical care and here in our room were dangerous poisonous animals. We huddled on one bed and waited observing them in the dim light of the torch. Dare we go to sleep. Now obviously as it was supposed to be, my torch went out promptly after some 15 minutes and we were left with only our cell phones for some light. And so we waited, sitting on one bed waiting for the day to dawn so that we could get the hell out of that place. We all decided that its best to get going home the next day.
Obviously that did not happen. We fell asleep at about 3 in the night. We woke up safe and unharmed and got out of the dorm rooms. What a beautiful sight. There is nothing like the fresh morning air of the forest. Things certainly looked better in the light of the day. We decided to take another round in the forest before heading home. Rest of our journey was uneventful but surely it was a night to remember!!!
We had decided to stay in the Dormitory provided by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism authorities in the buffer zone inside the forest. The Dormitory is pretty cheap and gives you the actual 'Kanha experience'. Now I dont think many people have been to a forest after so many showers for the simple reason that it becomes very difficult to spot any animals. However someone who can appreciate the beauty of the forest will realize what I am talking about. The forest was so picturesque and beautiful because of the greenery that it was certainly a sight to behold. As expected we did not get to see any of the prized possessions of this forest. But that is not what this story is all about. It is about what transpired later that night, and it shall surely be a story we are not to forget very easily.
After returning from the forest we decided to go for dinner in one of the dhabas just outside the buffer zone. Now bear in mind that the forest is far away from civilization and as such when darkness descends it is absolutely pitch dark and it becomes very difficult to distinguish for even a couple of yards further. Also on top of that and rightly so the MP tourism authorities have used absolutely minimal artificial lighting in the buffer zone to preserve the sanctity of the place as a forest. So we had our dinner and were making our way back to the dorm rooms when suddenly.......lights out!!!!!
As it was raining very heavily since the evening this was bound to happen. We parked our car near the dorm and got out. We could not make out where the door was or how to get there and crazily we had forgotten our torch in the room. Now mind you in the dorm having a capacity of 32 people, only 4 people were staying and we were three out of them. Somehow we managed to get to the dorm, when the other guy came out with his torch. Thank god for him!! We chatted with him for some time and he gave us the sad news that the electricity will not be back till the next day as there is nobody to repair the lines. We saw insects of sizes that you dont imagine practically possible. Man the forest is a crazy place at night. We said goodbye to our friend and decided to get some sleep. Perhaps things would look better in the light of the day.
We got to our room. One of my friends had just opened his mobile phone for some light when he saw a scorpion right beside his foot!!! He screamed and told us to get on our beds. I took out the torch and we checked all around the room to find that there were two more scorpions in the room. We were now really worried. We were in the middle of the forest with no possible source of medical care and here in our room were dangerous poisonous animals. We huddled on one bed and waited observing them in the dim light of the torch. Dare we go to sleep. Now obviously as it was supposed to be, my torch went out promptly after some 15 minutes and we were left with only our cell phones for some light. And so we waited, sitting on one bed waiting for the day to dawn so that we could get the hell out of that place. We all decided that its best to get going home the next day.
Obviously that did not happen. We fell asleep at about 3 in the night. We woke up safe and unharmed and got out of the dorm rooms. What a beautiful sight. There is nothing like the fresh morning air of the forest. Things certainly looked better in the light of the day. We decided to take another round in the forest before heading home. Rest of our journey was uneventful but surely it was a night to remember!!!
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