The memory is quite vague….i was intrigued by this pair of ears behind a cage mesh at the Delhi zoo….being shorter than the hedge that separated me from the ‘thing’ that seemed to be walking along with me, I couldn’t just wait to find out…..i walked along the boundary with short, hastened steps…..till I came on to a bend…there was a small clearing that happened to be at a point where the mesh was wide enough for me (and it!) to see each other…..and I hadn’t even finished deducing this, when ‘our’ suspense was broken!....three pairs of stripes right below those ears; on the sides, two crimson gold eyes that were wide open; a pinkish black nose under that…..that whole symmetry was almost my size…or at least my weight!!... and lastly and most interestingly, a very peculiar but distinct- Smile!....and impulsively enough, I returned the gesture…
Strangely, I found satisfaction in looking into that non-human face…there was something really honest about it.


Twenty one years had passed and I grew bigger- more able bodied and more articulate and conversant….but no matter where I was, what I did, whatever I achieved and lost…..whenever I found myself free, mentally and physically from the daily ‘chore’ called life, I always dreamt of being in the midst of nature……again, the practical side of me did enable me to upgrade- schooling, college, free lance…and people!…..but after a day at any of these involvements, I used to have this very pertinent sense of voidance…something incomplete what made me feel I’m not actually in my element.

The internet is not really my ‘thing’…..though I owe it all based on what I shall write further.
In October 2009, I came across an icon at the side of my home page on Facebook…..not being that net savvy, I ignored it for a while and went on to ‘bigger’/more readable things….it said ‘The Wildlife Film Academy’…..instinct made me click on it…

And thankfully it did because what happened in the last month and a half has been, in totality far more fulfilling than anything I have undertaken to do till now…

30 days of living inside the African wilderness!!!....without a flicker of an eyelid, I applied to this intensive training in wildlife filmmaking…..and February 2010 found me living my dream!

The Entabeni Private Game Reserve- the quintessential location of The Wildlife Academy- a perfect haven for wild animals; divinely fresh air and water; the food- more than sumptuous; guides and trainers who know every inch of the surroundings; heavy duty Land Cruisers to negotiate through the game trails; experienced, well-versed, competent and most importantly, cooperative lecturers and teachers; state of the art equipment for filming; lodging and accommodation that were more comforting than what one expects in the wild, comrades/ fellow students each serious about their work and helpful at the same time…..summarily, the exact environment for any aspiring filmmaker…..

The whole area is 22000 hectares of wilderness…..a tasteful, yet natural mix of flora and fauna, mountains and water, rivers and dams, predator and prey….of birds, trees, reptiles, scavengers, insects……irrespective of its approachability by man or beast, a sturdy electric fence runs diligently at all places to distinctly mark the territory…..all this contributes to and is consequential of the most important tandem- that is between Humans and Nature…..or rather, Humans ‘in’ Nature!.....

P.S; more pics later
stay tuned for the next part
thanks