Dhikala Queen

[Debasis Bose]

It was cloudy day and not that cold, hardly a puff of air could be felt, leafs of the trees and the sharp stems of the tall grasses were motionless, strangely quiet at about 1120. Even the winter birds were silent, and not a leaf stirred or rustles could be heard in the neighborhood. It was as if all of a sudden the motasal area of dhikala had lulled into a deep torpor.
My instinct was saying we were in for some serious excitement. Cameras and video set to record any action, My kids, mother, wife, driver and I sat motionless, with each one keeping an eye for a sound or movement, each pair of eyes were covering 60 degree, and that way we covered complete 360.
Without warning the silence was broken by a long deep note tapering off into a guttural cough a-oongh! Oonooh! Aungh …aungha. And once again the jungle went silent. The tall grasses were obscuring our view, and then suddenly I spotted the striped majesty surveying the area. As if planning to bring the cubs out into the grassland.
Nikon D 3100, Nikor 70-200 f2.8, 200mm @ 2.8, ISO 400, 1/320s