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Mr. President Likes Our Tiger
October 17th, 2006 @ 05:31:05 | BRHills_KGudi, India, Karnataka
Kalyan had mentioned that Mr. President (Dr. Abdul Kalam, India) was visiting B R Hills and he (Kalyan) would interact with him (Mr. President) explaining certain things. From his (Kalyan’s) recent blog entry, I do understand that Mr. President, amongst quite many pictures shown to him during the photo exhibition at B R Hills, had a particular liking for our tiger (he also liked one other picture – you can read about it in Kalyan’s blog). Guess you are wondering What the hell does he mean by our tiger? I am talking about the tiger we (Kalyan, Mandanna, Phillip and yours-truly) saw during one of our safaris while in B R Hills in late August and since then, it has been our tiger. Read this entry for more details. About Mr. President, I was fortunate enough to meet him once (well before he assumed Presidential office) and had pretty much the same experience with him (as did Kalyan) leading to a similar opinion – his (President’s) childlike inquisiteness to know and learn things makes anyone wonder whether his inner child has ever grown up at all… If you ever get a chance, do read his biography – Wings of Fire (I have it thanks to my friendly seniors from Bangalore University)… (Thanks to Srimatha for pointing out a grave mistake saving quite a bit of disgrace for myself)
Just to clarify certain things – I did nothing to aid the sighting of that tiger (tigress to be precise) and its two cubs. It was Kalyan who spotted it, Mandanna was driving the jeep and Phillip was keeping his keen eyes open on the other side of the forest. Like an old subhaaShita goes…
guNavajjana samsargaat yaati swalpOpi gowravam |
puShpamaalaanuShangENa sootram shirasi dhaarayate ||
– subhaaShita sudhaanidhi
meaning just like a thread gets worn on/around the head (as part of a garland) because of its association with flowers, little known people get fame because of their association with well known ones…. I am quite sure that Mr. President wouldn’t have liked our tiger had he seen my picture (high ISO, grainy appearance, ….) and if you don’t trust me, have a look – and compare it to Kalyan’s picture…
Mother Tiger in B R Hills
Hi gowtham,
you are really lucky to have spotted a tiger. we had been to nagarhole and bandipur recently, and forget the tiger we did not get to see a decent herd of wild elephants. the last time i saw a tiger was when i went to banerghatta national park, and you must have a fair idea of how the experience would have been.
I agree with you about our president. i have had the privilege to attend one of the programs where he had given speech about entrepreneurs and enterprise. he is full of energy and he passes it on to the audience. i would make it a point to read his biography.
Keep enlightening us with new facts and share your experiences with us.
@namratha,
I wasn’t the first one to sight the tiger and credit should go to others in our safari. However, I do agree that I was very lucky to see one – our group thought I was the *lucky charm* but I would beg to differ….
I know you are busy but thanks for stopping by to read and post comments
you are priviliged on 2 counts. 1 is that u could spot this majestic animal (sant.. no comments pls) and the other is this pic has been liked by one of the visionaries of India.
suuuper magaaaaa !!!
@Prashanth,
yeah agreed – it so happened that others on the safari were looong due for a tiger sighting and I just tagged along with them at the right instant. And needless to say, there were pro photographers (like Kalyan, Mandanna, Phillip)…. Just to get the fact right – President does not like my picture, he likes the picture of our tiger, shot by Kalyan
Hey gowtham….super experience mann…i know its so tough to see these animals in the wild…We had been on a night drive in Bandipur….we were lucky to spot a bison just next to our car….i didnt have my camera that time…..i saw kalyan’s gallery…..ohh mannn amazing snaps kano….
keep updating us as u always do….
)
@Santosh,
I believe Kalyan had his photo-exhibition in Bangalore (guessing in Taj) around the same time Dr. Kalam visitied B R Hills. When it happens next time, I will let you guys know – you will have fun seeing his pics
“I am quite sure that Mr. President wouldn’t have liked our tiger had he seen my picture (high ISO, grainy appearance, ….) and if you don’t trust me, have a look – and comapre it to Kalyan’s picture…” – E self- defeatist lines yaake?
Anyways, good to know your tiger is getting popular…like your reputation ..
Are you having fun with your newborn?
@MarwaDi,
About my newborn, yes – it’s fun indeed and I haven’t stopped bragging about it . My next blog entry will all be about it 
Self defeatist statement alla, it’s a fact. It’s better that I say it about me than someone else saying it. And there is no shame in accepting something that’s inferior and praising something that’s superior
Hey Gowtham, Amazing picture maaan. How far were you from the Tigress when you captured this pic? It must have been an amazing experience.
I can relate to one such experience some time back though we did not encounter any animal. We were travelling through Kudremukh national park en route to Horanadu. It was around 8 – 9 in the evening. It was a 40 km stretch in the forest area, there were no street lights, we did not spot any vehicle throughout that stretch and the visibility was bad due to fog. There were wildlife signboards along the way. My mom and aunt who were travelling with me gave me lectures for next 2 days
@Govind,
Thanks dude; we were probably about 100 feet (plus/minus 10) away when we shot it
[...] Posted on Fri, 27th October 2006 @ 5:21 am under Life Tags: B R Hills, Forest Credits, PresidentAs you may be aware (from your reading of this entry or otherwise), Dr. Abdul Kalam was in B R Hills recently and interacted with *concerned* folks (folks who are concerned about the sustenance and developement of B R Hills as well as its residents). Yesterday, Kalyan sent me few pictures (that he got from the President’s Office I believe) and here they are, for your viewing pleasure: [...]
[...] From the tales of B R Hills’ Safari, /me learnt that seeing a Tiger has very little probablity, with one of the frequent visitors not being able to see one even after 20+ years. It just happened that I was travelling (on this Safari) with those people who were loooong due for a Tiger sighting. Though others on this Safari (viz. Kalyan, Mandanna and Phillip) thought I was their *lucky charm*, I would beg to differ. I know my luck too well to be anybody’s lucky charm… More about what this Tiger sighting did to us is entailed here (and here). This snap, though nowhere near crisp and to my personal satisfaction, is still my most prized snap of B R Hills visit and tiger’s cold stare still gives me goosebumps… [...]
गुणवज्जनसंसर्गात्
याति स्वल्पोऽपि गौरवम् ।
पुष्पमालानुषङ्गेण
सूत्रम् शिरसि धार्यते ॥