I didn’t hold much aspirations as sighting the majestic Panthera Tigris doesn’t occur on every jeep safari inside a forest reserve. Also, besides Kanha, the big beast was never sighted by me at any of the game reserves i visited in India from Corbett to Bhadra. Panna was going to be no different, i thought to myself & resigned diffidently onto the back seat of the jeep. We took the longest possible route from Madla Gate to the highest point at Panna National Park at Ghari Ghat. It was a hot afternoon as warm breeze grazed past my intent ears. Our driver informed us he spotted a tiger the morning before, all was not lost, though drivers masquerade as story tellers!

Visual delights lay in store for us: lazy-eyed sambhars, over attentive spotted deer grazing on foliage, fawn clinging to its mother, a family of playful langur that didn’t approve of our presence! Thought to myself, this is quite interesting, as the jeep shifted to lower gears & clambered to the top from where views of stunning ridges & deep valleys appeared. As the driver slowed down, he mentioned we had approached `Vulture Point.’ Overlooking a dense green valley, Vulture Point is a semi-circular overgrown rock formation affording dramatic, views, awesome gliding wind & a a birds-eye view of the forest. On one such narrow ledge sat a volt of Indian Vulture making raspy hissing sounds & grunting noises as they scrambled for space. Once in a while they gracefully took off, flapping their over stretched wings, gracefully gliding in sky before choosing yet another ledge to gain foothold on. Truly an out-of-the world experience, also captured on film.

Guided by a helpful hint from another driver we drove past dense forest until we reached a point where of couple of jeep had stopped. Drivers pointed to a spot more than 100 meters away where a tigress was supposed to be resting. It took awhile focusing my tired eyes until i was able to spot the distinct movement of the head through the undergrowth. It was the famous three year old T-1 tigress we had spotted. We waited for a good ten minutes before she lazily got to her feet & started ambling towards the path where our jeeps waited. Full grown & measuring close to eight feet, the T-1 tigress is fierce & known to charge at tourist jeeps. She stopped dead in her tracks, turned & looked both sides before letting out an incredible roar & charged past our jeeps before entering the jungle once again. We applauded the length of her stride & the speed of the charge; the last couple of seconds though were a blur. Tiger sightings are both extraordinary & memorable, luck & timing play a major part. Remember tigers don’t exactly love intruders!!