Jim Corbett

The name brings back the stories of man eaters - Tigers, but much less talked about are the birds, hundreds of varieties, both rare and non-rare (actually all varieties seem rare for Gurgaon dwellers!) This photo-story is not just about the birds, its about the experiences, of bonding, of knowing each other and our own selves. Me and Baani, my daughter were part of the group of 7 kids and 7adults had gone together on an Unhotel trip to do birding and trekking in Jim Corbett National Park. Sumantha is someone in love with birds, with nature, true naturist and explorer at heart, he has his resort on the banks of river Ramganga. He was our storyteller and host for this Unhotel trip.

We crossed this bridge, trekked for 3 kms to reach our resort on bank of river Ramganga. As we crossed the bridge the network was gone, and our three days of Unplugged Unhotel experience began!

Beautiful open hut used for reception, dining, discussions, lazying and listening and seeing the nature welcomed us.

The first mantra we learnt was 'What is the best drink -  Nimbu Pani', so no plastic bottles, no packaged food, this is plastic free zone.

After food we were assigned our cottages, ours was yellow lamp! Some cottages had resting chairs, some had moodahs in verandahs, to immerse in nature.

Such places free us from our own bondages and bring out the real selves, which is free and full of joy.

                  As the sun went a lil down we walked through the resort towards river, explored various corners, for sitting together, bon fires and trails for walking with yourself. 

As we reached the river, Sumantha asked us to close our eyes and listen. Being a good listener is not easy. Mostly we are either listening to the chatter of our mind or not listening at all, just looking around. As we all closed our eyes, he asked what all are you listening to? Sound of sky - one replied, sound of river, peacock, wind... and then he made us listen to another shrill, which was a low flying eagle!

Small puddles near the river were full of Tadpoles. Thats the sign of healthy habitat and no pollution.

Walked back to the resort, listening to various birds sounds and their stories. Reaching the dining hut, which was a no electricity zone too, kids picked up a birding book and kept discussing and seeing all the birds they saw and will see in the next day's trek!

Next day started early morning, we crossed the river and headed to the jungle with our binoculars and packed breakfast!

A small bamboo raft took us all to the other side of the river. 

 Yellow leaves covered the ground, we carefully climbed up the rocky trail, saw almost 60 varieties of birds, goral with its baby, fox, barking deer, jungle goats.. heard the calls, indicating the big cat was around too!

Had our breakfast at a point overlooking the river.

And stopped for lal chai break, a sit out in the middle of jungle was a delight. All this with conversations and moments of silence and listening to the sound of flapping wings of the rare Great Hornbill flying over us! 

Trek ended with a long dip in the river, everyone just swam and splashed for about four hours, ignoring the sun and enjoying the cool fresh river!

Nothing tired the kids. The simple delicious food and glasses and glasses of nimbu paani, nobody missed chips or cold drinks, tv or ipads. The hut was a hang out point for all, irrespective of age. 

The Buddha lay under a shady tree in front of the hut, with a water bath for birds around it, giving a serene effect to the place. Number of birds kept coming there to drink water or chirp on the tree!

In the evening, everyone compared notes, made list of birds they saw, made some art works and created memories!

The round of cuppas, laughters, sharing life and stories.. the unpretentious relaxed moments.. and time just flowing with the cool breeze.. Sometimes we wanted it to pause, the illusion of time. 

 It is all about creating space of love and care for each other, for nature, birds, animals, water, air, trees. We get what we give. We create people around us. We create our world.

Time to leave came sooner than we thought!

We all got back a bit of jungle along with us, left a bit of us back there, to go back again and again!

Byes are never final.. they are ways of saying ' See you again'!