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Bliss is rafting down the Jia Bhoroli on a sunny afternoon
It caught my fancy. Jia Bhoroli, what a lovely name for this lively river that we had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy that last week of 2014 on our visit to Assam. Known as the Kameng in the Indo-Tibetan glacial regions and flowing through Arunachal Pradesh, the river gets this typically musical Assamese name as soon as it enters this state.
We rafted down a picturesque stretch alongside the Nameri Tiger Reserve, with the Himalayas behind us, navigating one gentle rapid after another, enjoying a delightful picnic on the raft. Three rafts, five families, many excited and boisterous children. It was a blissful picnic ending in a meal at the Eco Camp, which sports tent accommodation and local produce & handicrafts.
I must ask my Assamese friends what Jia Bhoroli means. If I can take a guess, I would say I agree…something about these waters, their lyrical rhythm, their sweet taste, their meandering gait filled my heart with satisfaction. A unique pleasure that only being with nature can give.
Rafts being set up for us…
The ugly side effects of irresponsible tourism. The State should fine the operator, methinks!
Excitement as we watch the chips and cold drinks being loaded and take in the fresh, clean air!
We begin to see the first of many winged friends….most of them visitors for the season, some native to Nameri…
We flow with the currents, gentle at this time of the year, and watch the mountains recede further and further
Dramatic pieces of driftwood, trees long dead, emerge every now and then, giving a desert-like quality to one of the lushest landscapes in India!
Over the rapid, the currents would seize us and whirl us around for a bit. The kids would shriek in joy and it would be over far too soon…
More winged friends, taking in the lovely warm sun
Or in flight with a hawk eye on the water, waiting to dive for the fish…
Or just enjoying the joy of flight…
Looking back again, not really wanting this journey to end…willing the mind’s eye to capture what it was seeing for posterity
Stunning Skies in Assam
Woke up this morning to a series of stunning pics sent to me by friend Vishal, who we visited recently in Assam. He took them when we were all together one evening, watching a mesmerising sunset in Misamari.
The skies in Assam took my breath away, from the creeping light of dawn to the dotted white puffs scattered over the tea gardens during the daytime right down to the spectacular sunsets.
Here are some of the pics we took from assorted cameras and phones. When I look at them, I remember those beautiful shared moments when we were all, regardless of age and background, awed and humbled by Mother Nature.
Whoa! Chased by an angry rhino at Kaziranga
Kaziranga. I heard the name often as a child and it always sounded like someplace exotic and remote. On the last day of the year gone by, we found ourselves at the gates of this sprawling national park, a World Heritage Site and a safe haven for the protected one-horned rhino.
Located in the state of Assam in the north-eastern part of India, Kaziranga has had a checkered history. It was recognized as a habitat in need of protection by Mary Curzon, the wife of the Viceroy Lord Curzon, as early as 1904 and went through several nomenclatures of protection till it officially became a designated national park in 1968. Kaziranga has been threatened by repeated floods and the ongoing separatist conflicts and insurgencies in Assam. However, the constant fight against illegal poaching of the rhino (for its horn, used in traditional medicine in various Asian cultures) has been the worst hazard for the park and for this interesting creature. In fact, a dead male rhino was found in the park today with its horn sawed off. This is the second incident within the first 5 days of 2015! Even so, of about 3000 one-horned rhinos in the wild today (the numbers had dwindled to 600 in 1975), some 2500 are reportedly in Assam and, despite the hazards, Kaziranga can be considered a conservation success story.
Now the rhino isn’t a creature that evokes the same kind of popular fascination as say, the tiger, who we fear in an admiring kind of way. I’ve heard of many return disappointed. But we found the rhino to be a magnificent animal and we were lucky to see several of them up close. In fact, we were lucky enough to actually be chased by one angry mother rhino who was not happy about us being anywhere near her baby!
See the story unfold in the pic below…
Shortly after dawn, the immense expanse of the forest and its silences. We shiver with the cold and in anticipation too…
Mist and rolling hillsides greet us at first. Its heart-breakingly beautiful here
Hog deer stare out at us from the greenery that surrounds us. They aren’t afraid, just curious. Just like we are…
We halt near a check post. The ranger pulls this baby out from a pond nearby. We drive on…
All of a sudden, the jeep halts. A female sambar deer stands before us. She then decides we are no threat and crosses the trail, heading into the brush once again
The reclusive sambar male, with his glorious antlers, doesn’t show as much trust. He backs into the forest…
We drive on. At one point, we see wild buffalo cross a stream. Slow and lumbering. Free…
We enter rhino country and soon after, we spot our first rhino. The morning light is mellow and he looks peaceful. The Indian rhinoceros male weighs 2200 kgs and is the second largest terrestrial animal in Asia, after the elephant.
He lumbers away from us and Aadyaa exclaims, “His skin is stitched mumma!”
I understood one-horned rhinos to be solitary creatures, but here we begin to see them in multiples…
I also thought they were reticent, but here this one turned around to stare and show off his one-horn!
On our right, the sky turns lighter. In the tall grass, we discern a group of three rhinos…
Yes, three. And one of them is a baby! The ranger gets excited. He tells us to prepare for the chase…
She comes in for the chase, as predicted. I can’t claim this was terrifying. The forest ranger seemed calm. I was being urged to shoot and was standing upright in a moving jeep. Click! Jostle! Click! The dust the rhino kicked up, the bulk of her as she charged, half-heartedly I understand, made for an interesting picture….
I understand why the driver and ranger are calm. The rhino mumma only wants us off her turf. She slows down and watches us drive off. Aadyaa, who has been rather scared, heaves a sigh of relief!
On our way back, ten minutes later, we find the mother-baby duo again. A little bit further from us, less threatened.
She walks away from us, with her calf. Adieu, magnificent mommy!
The enchanting jungle is peaceful as we leave. Rhinos- check! Wild buffaloes- check! Deer- check! Wild boar-check! Migratory birds- check! Wild elephants, we missed you, but we’ll be back someday!
ramblinginthecity 