This beautiful bird parked itself most graciously over the slender shoot. Quite intrigued by its brilliantly hued form, I zeroed in my lens on it only to find it was the bee eater species. characterized by richly colored plumage, slender bodies, and usually elongated central tail feathers. All have long downturned bills and pointed wings. This chirrupy little creature glanced two supersonic glances towards the camera and then made some sounds that seemed like an ode to the rising sun. It was this moment that I intended to capture and lo behold! Here you are little bird.

I never believed in the fuss. A tiger legend here another epic there. What hyperbole I said! As my eyes lay sight over the passing striped creature, all of my senses erupted in what seemed to be the shattering of a few notions. What amazing amazing beauty I said! The skin of gold and the marks of dread shining on it. As the tiger receded from sight I heard a sound that made me clench my wrists and bite my tongue in a fear I hadn’t ever felt before. I had heard its growl! To this day when I sit with my self assured city folks who claim to be masters of the Earth, I think to myself it's just a matter of territory and sheer numbers then. For you can conquer the world and all its wealth but do not make the folly of believing that you can master the earth.

The sight of the safari jeep halted restfully near the quiet stream, both tired and fulfilled after a long day of purpose had been achieved. One is rough and mechanical while the other, silent and natural. One is masculine while the other is feminine. However as we clicked this picture we realized the incompletion of one without the other. While both meander through land and carry along with them a thousand odd things, one is the vehicle while the other is the way. And it is the union of the vehicle and the way that makes the journey complete.

It was on a warm tepid evening that we had decided to take on the rough of the road. Us, a collective of decidedly differentiated individuals, never too in agreement on any particularity of our common ambition. Just as we spotted this visual playing itself before our eyes and as the cameras starting sounding the song of untamed clicking, we understood a little more of the bare traits of the jungle, getting a taste of the raw properties of animals. This was also the first time, we went home all of us, as a group of enthusiasts bound by one tool, one passion and one story.

This was a day when the warm evening Sun was heading home behind the hills of the northern plains of India. As this magnificent yet harmless giant swayed towards our curiously anchored cameras, it conjured up far forgotten histories of our land in our heads. At night in our camps, it was remembered reading about how Alexander the Great’s invasion of the frontier of India way back before Jesus lived was failed by this gait of the mighty tusker who as an aborigine of the Indian soil created fear in the King of Kings to result in the return to his homeland. This is how the mighty warrior fell short of conquering the world and how the Indian civilization flourished and still flourishes on the back of the tusker.