Dudhwa. The land of grasslands, swamps and tall sal trees. Mentioned in the Ramayanas. Renowned for its rich fauna, including swamp deer, Indian rhinos and huge tigers. And for the conservation efforts of Billy Arjan Singh, who was somewhat of a tiger himself. Contiguous to Royal Bardia National Park in Nepal, Dudhwa is located in [...]
I had driven down to Uttarakhand from Bangalore. It was a 7,000 km roadtrip, up and down, and I need to write about it someday 😼 I spent a few days in Kaladhungi, where Jim Corbett had his winter home, and where he learnt his jungle lore. I went for a few jungle walks, visiting [...]
I was out on a roadtrip with my IIM Calcutta friends, and had driven to Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary from Bangalore. Part 1 of the travelogue can be found here: https://nilanjanray.in/2016/08/a-4000-km-roadtrip-to-nagzira-tadoba-and-satpura-part-1-nagzira-sanctuary/ It was time to head to the next destination: Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. We wanted to cut our Nagzira stint short and head to Tadoba [...]
The Gypsy headed towards the park exit gate. The evening breeze was chilly. It was almost too dark to shoot, and I decided to put away the camera. As I reached towards my bag, I happened to look left. And thought I was dreaming. A sub-adult male tiger lay on a forest wall. He looked [...]
Overconfident. Reckless. Sloppy. No one is immune from 'it can't happen to me'itis. Even champion fighters who should know better.It happened to my favourite MMA fighter, Fedor Emelianenko (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedor_Emelianenko), 6 years back, when Fabricio Werdum handed Fedor his first regular defeat. And it happened last weekend at UFC 198 in Brazil, to Fabricio Werdum.The parallels were [...]
This was a roadtrip I did a while back to the Central Indian forests. I was supposed to go to Ladakh that October. Get Leh’d - enjoy the mountains and the snow and take a selfie in Khardung La pass and all that. But the plan got dropped, and I ended up doing another autumn [...]
It was long drive through the heart of India. Bangalore – Pench – Jhansi – Agra – Mukhteshwar – Chaukri – Musiyari – Binsar – Corbett – Jaipur – Nashik – Bangalore. A little more than 7000 km. Pench – my usual first day destination from Bangalore (it takes me 15-16 hours for 1200+ [...]
Khabib Nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) returned to the Octagon after two years. I dragged myself out of bed at 5.30 am to watch him fight on the 'UFC on FOX: Teixeira vs. Evans' card, and Khabib didn't disappoint. He seemed a little rusty in the first couple of minutes, but then showed why he is considered the [...]
I had driven down to Satpura National Park (again!) last summer. A 3300 km roadtrip, Bangalore - Pench - Satpura National Park - back. Bangalore – Hyderabad was a steady, uneventful cruise. After picking up a friend from Hyderabad airport, I proceeded towards Nagpur. First night was spent in Rukhad, Pench, after covering 1230 km [...]
First part of the travelogue is here: https://nilanjanray.in/kanha-tadoba-3000-km-roadtrip-part-1/ After Kanha, I left for Tadoba. Kisli to Nagpur was a relaxing drive (Khatia – Seoni – Pench – Nagpur). Picked up my old school friend from Nagpur airport, and proceeded towards Kolara, a Northern gate in Tadoba. We were staying in Svasara, a very nice resort [...]