To the world, I am a shooter. My air rifle is my source of sustenance. Shooting with the gun is a skill that I acquired around the age of ten. Almost a decade later, I picked up another shooting device - a camera.
Thanks to my coach Stanislav Lapidus, my interest in photography was channelised in meaningful ways. We bonded not just over learning to shoot perfect tens, but also over producing perfect frames at dawn and dusk, and the composition and framing of pictures.
I was drawn into photography because it was a stress-buster. My sport requires a lot of mental energy, and photography gave me an outlet. It became my favourite past time and a means to channelise my mental energies.
And I captured almost every nice thing I saw around me, from people to places to moments.
Over the last ten years or so, my photography went hand-in-hand with training and preparation for events.
So when I began training early this year after a hiatus, a happy coincidence happened. I got a call from Nikon to try out their flagship model D4s with 20-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8 and 200-400 f/4 lenses. It is not an easy decision shifting brands since I had a great deal of loyalty towards Canon. But I decided I'd give it a try anyway. I was coming off a break, so a new camera meant renewed impetus to shoot. In fact the camera accompanied me to my selection trials in Kerala in February, where I did exceedingly well.
I was itching to experiment more with the camera before the long season of the World Cup started and fortune favoured me. A friend in the shooting community offered to put me in touch with his contacts in Kanha in Madhya Pradesh. I saw this as an opportunity to live my dream. A four-day vacation fitted perfectly into my window, as I did not have to answer my coach for the absence!
I just packed my kit, my travel bag and boarded a plane for Jabalpur. It was the start of an incredible adventure. The idea of experiencing the sights and the sounds of jungle always intrigued me, but here I was promised a little more - seeing a Tiger.
After meeting the kids at my Jabalpur academy, I headed straight to Kanha. Since I was keen to experience the best of the jungle, my shooter friend organised my stay at the Taj Safaris Banjaar Tola, one of the most luxurious places where I could indulge my senses.
I had also picked up a second body from Nikon, which was to make it easy for me to take those close and wide-angled shots, without the hassle of changing lenses.
Batteries charged, memory cards emptied, I was ready to enter the wilderness. At 3 pm, we set out for the evening safari from Mukki Gate.
A couple from Australia was with me in the jeep. It was not their first safari. I didn't have many problems with my jeep mates as it was only their second drive, while it was my first.
Ashish, our guide, explained the landscape to us in great detail. He fed us with much more information that one could grab from Google. This man knew the terrain like the back of his hand.
I was thoroughly enjoying the calm of the jungle when suddenly we heard a chital deer, alarm calls indicating that a tiger was on the move. Suddenly there were sambar alarm calls and the whole jungle around us came alive. To add to the cacophony, there were the langoor calls. It was an Ang Lee frame, set in real time. Our heartbeats leapt up by a few notches while we waited with bated breath to spot the tiger.
Sadly, the stillness descended again. I was told that the tiger probably chose another path, instead of coming our way. The jungle again wore its silent mask.
We started our return journey at 5.30 pm as we had to get out of the gate by 6 pm, a minute over and you attract a penalty and ban from the park.
I was told over dinner that a tiger was spotted at the swimming pool deck two days ago while a chef was crossing by. It was a very unnerving and unsettling feeling to sit and have dinner at an area where the animal was spotted that recently.
I was up for the most part of the night as there was complete silence, very unlike any urban set-up. It was too silent for me. With the jungle painted on my retina, I went off to sleep.
The next day, I woke up at 5 am and got ready to leave for the park. The mornings are absolutely gorgeous in the jungle. The sounds of the resident birds fill the air as the sunrise filters through the trees while we drive though Saundhar and Bisanpura meadows, the famous places for swamp deers.
We went around Chota Chatter Patthar area following alarm calls and just missing sighting the tigers, each time by a few minutes.
I was luckless for the next three drives. The tiger was proving to be more elusive than usual.
Though I must admit that I was totally enjoying the wilderness.
On Day 3, I shifted deeper into the forest, to the forest guest house, that afternoon.
As we got ready for my final drive through the magical forest, I was filled with a sense of gratitude for mother nature, for the bounties she has showered on us.
We were crossing a river canal called Samrahi nala (stream) and keeping an eye towards our left. My jeep-mate was saying that sometimes the tigers are just sitting and cooling off in these river canals. At that moment, we looked to our right to see the other side of the canal. And it was the moment of serendipity!
There it was, sitting in the water, camouflaged in a way that even a park guide and naturalist would fail to notice. The tiger was sitting with its body in the water and just his head out .
At that very instant I charged my camera at the animal. The tiger was about 70-100 meters away and I was firing away with my 400 mm lens.
It was difficult to reach a close shot of the tiger, but I had enough time to put on a 1.4 teleconverter on the lens. Soon the other jeeps behind us rushed towards ours to see if we had spotted something.
The commotion and the excitement of the other jeeps disturbed the tiger and it just turned around into the bushes.
It was a magic moment! Later when I looked at the pictures, I saw that the Tiger was looking straight at us.
That sight has left an indelible mark on me. It is like that scene in the movie that comes unexpectedly and then you remember it always because of that moment.
We headed into the jungle in the hope to see some more at closer range. But I had reached the high point of my trip to Kanha.
We went to Bhamni Dadar, which was a beautiful table top on a mountain, almost 300 meters above the jungle. From here one could see the entire Tiger reserve.
But not all is well in Kahna.
The 250-odd jungle camps, where the forest guards stay, are in much need of our help and support to improve their general living conditions. I was told that even for a pinch of salt, sometimes they need to walk/cycle down 15 to 20 km.
Solar energy has been made available and water filters have been given to all the camps. However much is needed to help the forest guards. True, they are equipped with GPS devices which are used to track and collect data of animal sightings around the camp posts.
Technology to preserve the ecosystem has trickled in but what about the people who live in the ringside or in the jungle? They live their passion and their stories are very intriguing too.
(Ace shooter Gagan Narang is an Olympics Bronze medalist.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.