The view was inspiring. The early morning sunlight penetrated through the huge canopy of trees. The rays looked golden. Darkness eloped and dawn woke up slowly stretching its arms.
We were sitting in the jeep parked at the road side to observe the sounds of birds and foot prints marked on the road. The guide was trying to catch the signals given by birds or monkeys in case tiger was around. We were told to be silent and not to move. My camera was ready for any situation. In the meantime I saw two peacocks coming out from the bushes and walking towards the road. They stood there as if to enjoy the warmth of the rays. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity and took a picture of them standing on glittering grass. I could not capture even half the essence of this beautiful surroundings.
The rays were so soothing and full of peace. We were allured by the calmness of the forest. I took some more.
The guide was alert. He told driver to move fifty meters ahead near a Naala/ pool of water. That was the most common route which a mother tigress had been using for last two weeks. There were strong indications given by monkeys that she was approaching fast and reach there anytime.
He drove fast and parked near the  above naala. The tigress generally was taking this route to go inside the core of forest. She had given birth to four cubs three weeks before and she had to hunt a big animal every three to four days to feed them. She killed one wild boar four days back and it must be finished by now therefore predictions of her coming out for a fresh prey were quite strong.
Minutes gone, half an hour passed. No movement, zero appearance. Suddenly the driver started the vehicle and turned the jeep at 360 degree. We got scared. He drove really fast this time and went to the other side of the naala. He parked the vehicle near the turning. What we saw coming towards us was something grand and amazing !
A full grown up adult tigress was walking just in front of us. I could feel chill in my body finding her so close. Actually she had outplayed all guides. She changed her track and rather coming out from pool of water she went in opposite direction to come out at the other end of the road.
She looked absolutely graceful yet wild, ferocious yet quiet. The striped big cat was walking fearlessly in her habitat. She walked few meters on the road. I was clicking like crazy, must have clicked hundreds of pics until she crossed the road and vanished into the thick bushes. What a day it was at Kanha National Park !Â
I was so thrilled when Cee at Cee’s Photography Blog invited me to join for this challenge. Marilyn also asked me to join on the same day and I said,” why not?”
The rules of Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge are:
1) Post a photo (or more!) each day for five consecutive days.
2) Attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or nothing more than a short paragraph. It’s entirely up to you.
3) Nominate another blogger to carry on the challenge. Your nominee is free to accept or decline the invitation. This is supposed to be fun. It is not a command performance!
Today was the fifth and final day of this challenge and I admit that I enjoyed it so much. I had so much fun in finding the old pictures or clicking fresh ones to write a story based on them. THE BEST PART WAS TO READ THE WONDERFUL COMMENTS OF MY DEAR FRIENDS AND READERS. Thank you all.
On this day I invite all of you my talented friends to carry on. I would love to see my dear friend Robin of Witlessdatingafterfifty joining me but I know hers is a picture less blog and she is happy with it. She writes such lovely posts that you don’t miss pictures at all. She paints it with her words.Â
I also want to invite Amy and many more who spell magic with their photos as I believe it is always good to give an open invitation for these challenges. Â So it’s for you my friends ! Have a great day 🙂
This is also in response to Serendipitous Photo Prompt presently running on serendipity.