The day I saw a tiger!

The Royal Bengal Tiger, the big forest beast, our national animal…
Here is an incident of how I spotted one.
Rajiv Gandhi Forest range is one of the prime forest ranges in India. It is a very dense forest, famous for its safari.
Spotting a tiger is a very rare thing, and one should be very lucky! Hundreds of people have spent weeks together to
just get one slight glimpse of the big beast and still returned disappointed. Spotting a deer is the most common sight, and an elephant pretty rare.
Elephants are generally spotted crossing the roads during the early mornings, when they go to drink water. I have myself seen many, in the bandipur range.
Tigers generally don’t seek attention, and try hiding themselves. So if you found one, you should have had a great deal of luck!

We were on our way from hunsur(near mysore) to Irpu falls. And for this, we had to pass through Nagarhole forest range. Once we entered the forest area, We
thought of going for a safari, and got a guide in our car. We were 9 people in all, me, mum, dad, brother, aunt, grandparents,cousin and the guide.
We were guided through the dense forest… Excited… Eyes wide open.. Every boulder looking like an elephant, deer, or tiger, or sometimes even
a lion (which is not found anywhere in India!!)

The forest is a very beautiful thing. So beautiful, So calm, so serene, very different from the buzzing city life. The light drizzle, the enchanting breeze,
added to the beauty of the nature and it was a real pleasant ride. The world seemed so beautiful. So green, so fresh, so full of life… Until My dad screamed “TIGER”.

Stunned… shocked… “Where where where”..
There behind those bushes.
YES.. there was a tiger. I saw the yellow and black stripes. Everyone in the car was shouting. “There”… Behind those lantana bushes.
“Get the car back.. No front.. No back… Look.. There it is..It’s hiding.”

It wasn’t a clear sight, but I saw the animal. It was pretty large. I didn’t realise which part of the animal I was actually seeing. was it the face,
body or the base? There was a big confusion and everyone were shouting out of shock and excitement.

BUT…
All our excitement and enthusiasm was shattered only when the guide clarified that it was not a TIGER. It was just some leaves of the plant which had turned
yellow. We all realised that we had only seen dried leaves, after all the excitement, we were Disappointed.
The only thing that we did on our way back was see the beauty of nature. And even if you thought you spotted something, You just shut up.
There was peace and silence..
The lantana bushes and a drizzle had played a game.
That’s how I saw a TIGER!