Five encounters in fifty years were all Raju had in his lifetime. Too less, don’t you think? This was his tryst with forests, and whenever he could, he got carried away in this secret romantic relationship with them.
The first, from 1965 to 70, a 10 to 15-year-old Raju was allowed to visit a manmade forest called, Sir George Allen Forest, in Kanpur multiple times. And this was only because his father worked at a top position in JK Singhania group, and he could get permission to enter this private property. Yes, Kamala Retreat and Allen Forest (Later converted into Kanpur Zoo) was indeed a private property.
Raju was mesmerised by the flora and fauna of the forest where he would spend hours walking and sitting alone in the lap of nature with plants and trees. No doubt, the bigger attraction was always the sumptuous lunch served on a long, 20-seater mahogany table and no less, was the marvel of India’s first wave-pool and a fountain series which would create a rainbow artificially, in less than an hour. Icing on the cake was meeting G.R. Vishwanath, who was staying here for his debut test match.
The second, came 15 years later when he changed the usual venue of Grand Hotel in Calcutta for a Dealers Meet, to a 2 nights 3 days rendezvous at Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, Sundarbans.
This was 1982 and a five-hour boat ride from Sonakhali, was the only way to get there. What a ride it was through the tidal waterways, streams, and channels! One was completely enthralled and enchanted by the flora and fauna on both sides of the rivulets. A sight to behold. Eventually, lodging in a machan like forest rest house having just ten rooms for thirty of us, was a bliss. The sighting of tigers and blissful moonlit nights with constant chirping sound of crickets was enrapturing.
The third, was a chance encounter, probably on the periphery of Yawal Wildlife Sanctuary. While driving south from Maheshwar Raju’s Ambassador was crawling on a state road with incessant rain all through the day culminating into a rare downpour by the evening.
What a wonderful sight it was with trees and plants on both sides of the narrow winding single road! With no habitation nearby, the fear of where to spend the night was overwhelming. A dilapidated Forest Rest House came to the rescue, where the guard allowed to spend the night after much persuasion. The sunlight was just about dwindling, and the trickling rain presented an opportunity to take a walk within five hundred yards of Forest Rest House. 35 years later those scenes are so vivid in memory as if it happened yesterday.
The fourth, was a wonderful weekend outing with friends and family to Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in Kodagu, Karnataka in 2010. The real taste of peace and tranquillity at Dubare Elephant Camp and meeting a week-old baby elephant chaperoned by his mother. Wonderful surroundings and living in cottages, was an experience cherished for all times to come.
The high point of the trip was indeed was a drive to the highest point of Coorg district, Pushpagiri Peak. This led to a last mile trek to reach the top, once again this was an experience par excellence.
The fifth, was an unplanned visit to 3000 square kilometres Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. Taking a ten-hour drive from Morogoro to Mbeya it is mandatory that you pass through this amazing African Savannah.
A midway restaurant at 10.00 am left me stranded after seeing a flock of zebras and decide to stay on at the wonderful Mikumi Resort about ten kilometres in the deep forest. Afternoon safari in the forest took me to an indescribable sight of a large tower of giraffes and bolting impalas. The wondrous moment was a lion on a tree trunk.
Evening saw the mighty flock of amazing exotic bird flock, of seemingly thousands zooming above your head almost like supersonic jets passing above with little lesser degrees of sound. The next morning the thrill of the chase occurred after having driven about 50 kilometres on the highway. A herd of elephants marching across the highway that looked like they were parading for almost half an hour, By Jove, there were so many of them.
This brings me back to the question Five encounters in fifty years? Too less, don’t you think? Shouldn’t masses be drawn more towards nature, than Bollywood? How do you spread awareness of their easy accessibility and exploit inherent interest of masses in nature and forests?
This draws me to the case of what is needed to transform nature tourism to protected areas into ecotourism, having genuine social benefits and serving as a tool for sustainable community development. I argue that for ecotourism to promote sustainable development in communities that are its supposed beneficiaries, three fundamental conditions must be met.
First, opportunities to capture the economic benefits of tourism must be structured in a way that is culturally appropriate, and therefore accessible to the target population.
Second, for communities to benefit from ecotourism, they need secure land tenure over the area in which it takes place, as well as the ability to make land use decisions for that area.
Third, tourism benefits to local communities must be more than economic; they must promote deeper social and political justice goals that, if left unaddressed, restrict people’s’ ability to enjoy the economic benefits of tourism.