This incident took place many years ago in which I believe I may have acted irresponsibly. At the time, and even later, I often justified my actions as self-preservation. But I sometimes wonder – Should I have handled things differently? Could I have done that in the circumstances?
Disclaimer: this story is completely fictional except for the parts that are completely f***ing true! 😊
It was a typically hot day in June that year as our team wrapped up the last of the Census activities we had planned. The team had spent a very productive 22 days in this remote Tiger Reserve with a name most people cannot pronounce and I had been with them for the last 7! Unlike most other Tiger Reserves, this one was in a remote area with very few “jeepable” trails – so most of the activity required strenuous trekking through jungle trails! The team decided to celebrate the completion of the difficult project with Beer and Chicken before boarding the evening narrow gauge train to the Broad Gauge Railway Junction at Guntakal from where we would take separate trains to Bangalore or Mumbai.
It was on the platform of that remote mofussil Narrow Gauge Railway station, Beer Bottle in one hand and a Chicken Leg in the other, that I first heard of Dr.Rao*, a former scientist with the Indian Space Organisation who had apparently lost his mind and had been living in the forest for years. A man living inside a Tiger Reserve is unusual and illegal! But Forest Guards, local Tribals and even the Range Officers tolerated and even covered up for the eccentric person. Once the topic of Dr.Rao began, the Fantastic stories kept on coming! It seems that Everyone in the group had atleast one interesting anecdote about this person! I had been with the team for the last 7 days but never once met this gentleman who seemed to have made such an impact on this motley group! I didn’t quite know how to react to some of the fantastic, and seemingly exaggerated stories being told — though I must say this — I had never once heard the word “Mad” being used so casually before in this group of mostly Social Science/Humanities graduates!
Five months later, I found myself with some free time as my US based clients dropped off the radar in Thanksgiving week. They wouldn’t be calling again till after New Years! I usually spent this relatively free month every year as a Digital Nomad, living & working remotely while exploring Forests in Salem District or around the Nilgiris. But this year, the jungles of Andhra had piqued my interest. So one Saturday morning before dawn, I loaded up the Gyp with supplies and headed North.
Unlike Forests elsewhere, this one is totally isolated even today! The tarred roads disappear a few kms out of Nandyal Town and its all rough jungle driving after that. A car will not make it and nor will those crossover toys masquerading as SUVs these days! While 4WD is not strictly needed outside of monsoon season, You will certainly need a solid Body-on-Frame type vehicle with ample Ground Clearance for these roads!
A Narrow Gauge railway line running from the Broad Gauge railhead at Guntakal Junction passes through this Forest on its way to meet another Broad Gauge trunk line on the East Coast. With the lack of motorable roads, this small railway was the main connect with the outside world used even by the Forest Staff on patrol. On this Line are 4 or 5 little shacks spaced roughly 30 miles apart on average, serving as Railway Stations on this section.
One of these remote stations is Bokada. The "road" outside Bokada Station runs on a roughly East-West alignment. Around 2 miles East, the road dissolves into a rough track and turns Northwards at a point I call “Death Valley” — walk the 12 miles through this valley at Dusk or Dawn sometime and you will know why I call it that! Driving 30 miles North of Death Valley down this jungle trail, you will come across the marvelous stone structure of the “Gummaraya* Bungalow” on your Right.
Located on an Escarpment on the edge of a plateau that falls sharply down to the Coastal Towns in Andhra, the views of the plains below from the rear facing Terrace are just superb especially at night! The Bay of Bengal would be less than an hour away as a Cessna flies! Which means that every afternoon, we get a marvelous breeze flowing in from the east. The real magic of the place however is the view from the Verandah facing out the front side of this Bungalow. This Verandah looks out on the Trail we had just driven down and on the other side of this trail is a park like clearing with thick jungle stretching for miles! Over the years, I have spent hours sitting out on this Western Verandah- morning, noon and night - with a mug of Tea or Rum, looking out at herds of Spotted Deer, Sambhar Deer and Wild Pigs feeding and playing in the park and on more than one occasion, Tigers/Leopards lying up in the lantana bushes beyond the clearing!
I was not really intending to car-camp this time and planned to make myself comfortable in this Forest Bungalow for at least a week — the max allowed according to the Forest Rules. However, while the location of these old Forest Bungalow are certainly fantastic, there is almost no food suitable to our palates available. When we were there for the census, the team had to bring rice and vegetables once a week all the way from Nandyal! The only other “decent” food available was stale, day old vadais** at one of the local Narrow Gauge Railway Stations both of which were at least 20 miles away of rough Jungle trail each way from the Bungalow.
So I was carrying all the staples I would need from Bangalore — Vegetables, Eggs, Pickled Fish, Bread and Rice. I had no car fridge back then and this Forest Bungalow didn’t have a Fridge either. So I was carrying food that would hold well in the heat for a week. Potatoes and Onions were a must of course. Par-cooked Tomato + Ginger-Garlic paste prepared in advance holds well in bottles for weeks without refrigeration and forms the base for many of our curries. Canned Coconut Milk for our South Indian curries handles well usually but for some reason these curdle in the Andhra weather — not sure why that is! Beef/Pork Chunks pressure cooked with Salt & Turmeric for 4 whistles and suspended in Vinegar/Kerala Wine Solution also holds well for a month in airtight glass jam bottles. These can be easily reconstituted later for curries or roast preparations later. Dry Poha can also be prepared in advance and reconstituted later with Hot Water! The ol’Gyp was certainly packed to the brim with food on this trip! Anyways, I digress! 😊
The 30 odd miles from Bokada Railway Station passes through thick, desolate forests of the kind that you rarely see in the India these days! Dozens of smaller jungle trails branched out of this main trunk “road” into the jungle on both sides. Exploring each of these trails would keep me busy for Decades and I still wouldn’t be done! There were lots of old-school Bullock carts still being used in these parts because almost all trails had deep ruts made by passing carts. Even the nimble Gypsy was being hammered on these rough Tracks. So It was well past 730pm that I finally pulled in at the Forest Bungalow which was going to be my home for the next 7 days! Thankfully, the eggs had survived this rough journey!
I had been on the road since 2am that day, and I didn’t think I had the energy to do anything except go straight to bed! I didn’t even unload the Gypsy in the evening! But after a refreshing cold bath, I found myself ravenously hungry and craving a drink! I built myself a fire, and munching on some by-now stale chapattis and Roast Beef I had bought from Bangalore, I settled down for a much-needed drink of Rum! The local CCF (Chief Conservator of Forests) happened to be staying at the guest house that day on one of his monthly visits and welcomed my offer of a drink. The CCF was a rather pleasant and rather attractive Andhra Christian gentleman called Reddy who smoked a Pipe which he called a “Briar”! He was physically very fit with surprisingly boyish features! He was in his 50s but looked like a 30 year old! Only his grey sideburns betrayed his real age! The pipe plus the Robe gave full “Brown Sahib” vibes! 😋
The first thing Junglee folks like us usually ask each other when we meet is the “Jungle-Khubbar” – Latest News about the Jungle. Which Tiger has moved to which area? Who is the dominant male Tiger in so-and-so area? Has the Bison population stabilized and so on. So it was on this occasion too! Reddy also had some interesting observations and questions about our Census earlier that year which I tactfully avoided. Talk about the census reminded me about some of the interesting stories I had heard on that Railway Station platform 5 months ago.
In an instant, Reddy’s mood turned sour the moment I mentioned Dr.Rao! It was one topic that he was clearly uncomfortable talking about! When I persisted, Reddy downed his drink and got up to leave signaling that his evening by the fire was over. Before leaving, Reddy turned one last time and said “He is harmless okay?! Just a misunderstood man trying to stay alive!” I hadn’t meant to cause any offense and was just curious but apparently my questioning had clearly rattled some nerves! Before I could clarify, Reddy left for his room!
Waking up at dawn the next morning, I first made a gallon of Masala Tea and so refreshed, began the painful task of unloading the supplies in the Gypsy and moving it to the Rest House pantry. I noticed Reddy was up too! But he quietly got into his official Bolero and left without saying a word! Clearly he was still upset for some reason!
My plan for the day was to head out in the Gypsy at 7am for some “Jungle Ghooming” in the area to the North of the Bungalow. The caretaker Syed rushed out with some chapattis he had packed for my lunch on Reddy’s orders. Syed held on to the food packet for a second and speaking in his native Dakkhani Urdu said “Memsaab, let that poor man be!”
Yet another indication that my innocent question about Dr.Rao the previous night had clearly caused some misunderstanding! I drove away intending to clarify matters once I returned that evening but I was befuddled by the whole experience! Why had the mere mention of Dr.Rao triggered such a reaction from both the senior officer and the caretaker? Something just didn’t make sense!
The road from Bokada turned sharply westwards around a Kilometer north from the Bungalow. A smaller trail branched off at this turn for about a furlong towards the North-East to a small Tribal settlement which shared the name with the Forest Bungalow that I was staying in. The Tribals in the area are from a tribe called the “Chenchu” and like other Forest Tribes, they are excellent trackers and hunters with a good grasp of the Jungle and its residents. They are a must have for every Census project IMO! The tribals didn’t speak any Hindi or Kannada however and I didn’t know their Telugu dialect. So communication was limited to sign language!
The Chenchus are nice people and have many excellent qualities. Unfortunately, cleanliness and hygiene are not among them. The “Village” consisted of around a dozen huts each around 12 ft square, laid out randomly in a clearing cut into the dense forest. The forest itself grew barely meters away from some of the outlying huts! Between the huts itself, the space was filled with garbage and human waste of all kinds while the air was filled with flies attracted by that garbage!
In the 90s, I remember visiting a similar jungle settlement called “Jaamni” deep inside Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve near Nagpur. As I write this(2007), Jaamni village has been resettled to outside the boundaries of the Forest Reserve but Similar challenges existed back then – small clearing with a dozen huts inside the forest miles away from civilization and surrounded by Tigers and other wild animals! But Jaamni village was spotlessly clean! The mostly Gondi tribals there had clearly demarcated areas for various functions and divided responsibilities to ensure the place was kept spotlessly clean! If you go to Tadoba, do ask the Guide to take you to this place - Very close to where the trail to C98 waterhole leads off from the main road today! Gummaraya in sharp contrast was absolutely filthy! Within a few minutes I was physically sick, almost to the point of throwing up and decided to get away!
The main trail running West and Northwest was a welcome relief! Rough jungle trail surrounded by Jungle on both sides. Around 10 miles from the Gummaraya junction, I found a marvellous macchan+ built in a large grove like clearing. Actually, it wasn’t a wood macchan like the kind built into trees. This one was a metal platform around 20ft high with a 10ft square “room” built on top with stairs leading up to it! Looked tacky but it did offer some amazing views! Reminded me of Panchdhara area inside Tadoba — another place with a similar metal platform overlooking a grove where we had spent hours during the Census!
I never get bored in the Forest! I can spend hours at a spot looking into the Jungle. This time however it wasn’t boredom but a strong instinct from within that was telling me to head south, back to the Forest Bungalow and beyond. Around 6 miles further south from the Bungalow on the road to Bokada, there was a narrow wooded trail that led Westwards and opened up in a clearing. This clearing had a small oval lake about a couple of kilometers long on its longer side. My instinct was asking me to head here! I can’t explain it but I have always benefitted from this inner instinct in the Jungle! So within an hour of reaching the macchan, I headed back and by 10am I was at the lake. I had heard about this lake from my friends during the Census and they had said that this lake would be a great spot for Car Camping! Now watching the lake come into view for the first time, my spirits soared! I was already making plans to spend at least a couple of nights car camping by this lake!
I was maneuvering to get the Gyp properly parked when I noticed a man, down on his knees looking closely at some plants growing close to the ground beside the lake. Clean shaven, old but clean clothes, Bushy eyebrows. Long Hair tied into a neat ponytail, shirt tucked into his khakis but one end hanging out. He looked up hearing the Car rev, smiled at me and said “Hello” in rather sing-song voice. My first instinct based on appearance and general vibe was this must be a guy from BNHS or WII here on some research project. The distinct and rather unusual speech pattern on the other hand told me that the man in front of me was none other than Dr.Rao!
I got out of the Gyp not knowing exactly how to react! The man was clean shaven and had maintained his appearance and hygiene well. He certainly didn’t look “Mad” from any angle. But the gossip around him had painted a very different picture in my mind! This says a lot about our attitudes to mental health! The general gossip around the topic makes thing worse. The comments made by my friends 5 months earlier had certainly colored my views on this man – even though I wouldn’t admit to it, it was certainly true!
I approached him cautiously. He stretched out his hand enthusiastically and introduced himself removing any doubts on the topic – this was indeed Dr.Rao! I told him I was staying at the Gummaraya Bungalow and had come here 5 months before with the Census team. I didn’t ask him what he was doing in the jungle because I already knew but I wasn’t sure about how to bring it up! He did that himself when he said that he had moved to the jungle 3 years back and was living in a cottage he had built.
I offered him a chapatti and some roast beef that I was carrying for lunch. I completely forgot to ask the man if he was vegetarian or tell him about the kind of meat but it didn’t matter – because after the first tentative bite. the man almost swallowed the thing whole! He was clearly hungry so I offered him the whole lunch packet I had carried with me.
“How do you manage food in the Jungle?” I asked hoping to understand why this man was so hungry!
“Food is good in the Jungle! We grow what we can, Forage what we can and hunt what we can!” and without being asked, going on to talk in detail about Proteins, Vitamins, the importance of having a balanced diet with all these and how the Jungle helped him live a healthier life!
Sure! He had an unusual speech pattern and was spewing facts out at Express speed, but this man was making perfect logical sense if people actually listened to what he was saying! This man was NOT insane!
Since I had lost my chapattis and roast beef, I grabbed a packet of biscuits from my emergency supply and told him I had come today to recce this lake hoping to camp here for a night or two. He was now eyeing my biscuits in much the same way that my dogs Romeo and Psycho did back home, so I gave it to him. Munching on the biscuits, he said that it was a great idea! He himself had been living at the lake for over 2 years now and it was Fantastic!
“You live here at the Lake?” I asked.
“Close by! You can pitch your tent here” he said pointing to a spot under a tamarind tree.
“Oh I am going to sleep in my car!” I said casually adding that it was safer in a car than in a ground tent. Half in jest I asked “Are there any man eating Tigers here right now?”
Ignoring my question he replied while swallowing two biscuits at once “I sleep in my car too! Isn’t it great?”. The reference to car camping seems to have built a kind of bond between us! Because he suddenly wanted to show me his house.
To be sure, I was hesitant but in the end I decided to go along! Looking back, Perhaps I should have exercised more caution given the circumstances! A man, living in the jungle for 3 years, and said to be stark raving mad was inviting me to come to his “house” in the jungle! And I went anyway?! See! All evidence upto that point showed a rational man making excellent logical arguments and speaking excellent English to boot!
We got into my Gyp and started driving towards his “house” less than a mile away on a different side of the lake. His house was next to a long abandoned Patrol House of the kind used by Forest Guards for night halts. It had clearly fallen into disuse decades back and was overgrown with weeds. There was no way anybody was living there! Right next to this broken down cottage, there was a small shed built with bamboo tied together and a roof made of bamboo fronds and tarpaulin sheet. Under this shed, was a 1980s vintage Fiat car — sold in India as the Premier 118NE. The car had clearly not moved in years and it was clear that it was actually where he slept! Showing remarkable ingenuity, Rao had refurbished the toilet of that broken down Patrol House and made it usable again! A broken down section of the House served as his kitchen where he had built himself an eco-friendly, smokeless wood burning stove – his own invention! All around this little house in the jungle, Rao had setup small fields to grow various produce. There was even a section where he grew something he called “Black Rice” – it looked like Rice soaked in Ink! He claimed this Rice would end the problem of Protein and Vitamin deficiency in India! Also, quite unlike the Chenchu village I had been to earlier that morning, this whole clearing was kept spotlessly clean by this one man!
What was clear to me by now was that this man, while eccentric, was certainly not Mad! His mind was sharp and constantly finding innovative solutions to problems he faced! That smokeless and super efficient wood stove he built was pure genius- he could patent it and the govt could build it in all villages across the country! In a split second, the decision was made! I would return to the Bungalow to pick up some food supplies and return to camp here with him that night. While I was ok to camp, I was certainly not going to eat that Black Rice! Rao was beaming as he watched me drive away! I think he was just very happy that he finally had someone to talk to!
I was back at his place by 430pm. Rao was busy flitting around doing a dozen things. In the 3 hours that I was away, He had managed to catch a wild piglet with an ingenuous trap and was busy cleaning it. He had also picked out fresh vegetables and was in the process of cooking it when I reached. I parked, quickly setup camp and made another gallon of tea for both of us. It was while we were relishing the tea and watching him cook the vegetables that I realized why Rao had gobbled up the meat, chapattis & biscuits earlier in that way. It was not that he was hungry – he just hadn’t eaten food with salt, spices or sugar in years. Tasting that first bite triggered some old cravings! Since I was carrying spices, I took over the cooking at that point and asked him to clean and carve the wild pig – that is something that I can never do! 😏 Within the hour, most of dinner was ready and the pork would be ready soon! It was time to pour a drink! Rao said he didn’t want any. I poured out my drink, climbed onto the Gypsy bonnet to sit facing the lake and enjoy my drink leaning against the windshield as the sun set! Rao starts to give a lecture about alcohol but stops after I give him my best “annoyed Malayalee Ammayee*” look! 2 mins later, he wants to drink too! He doesn’t say anything, just extends a battered aluminum mug out for me to pour him a drink! 2 mins after that drink enters his belly, our man finally begins to talk! He tells me his life story!
Rao was working for a premier Scientific Lab in the country working on the kind of projects we often hear about in the newspapers! He was married to his childhood sweetheart, had a beautiful one year old kid and was planning to go to Langley Labs in the US for some years to research/study. His life was — how do you say it — Settled! That is until one day his entire life collapsed around him. He found his wife, his childhood sweetheart, was sleeping with his best friend and that the kid was not his! His life had fallen apart and then his ex-wife and best friend proceeded to decamp with the pieces! His house and other property was gone in the divorce settlement that followed and his in-laws, who he trusted a lot, played him for a fool in order to help their daughter. All of this had a severe impact on Rao who went through what would now be called a Mental Breakdown!
He stole his Father-in-Law’s car, the 118NE, and ran away making his way first to Tirupati and then a month later ending up by the lakeside in the Tiger Reserve. How did he end up here specifically was what I wanted to know! This was not a Forest that was well known! Even most junglees haven’t heard of this place! How did he think of coming here?! He said he just drove on from Tirupati till he could drive no more and ended up here! That part made no sense to me! Like how does that even happen?! He just drove out from a place and landed up here?!
I was just trying to process the loose ends in his story when Rao makes the first weird move – He asks for Sex! Just like that! Suddenly and out of the blue with no connection to the discussion we were just having, he asks directly for Sex! I got off my perch on the Gyp bonnet, straightened up and told him NO – that wasn’t happening! While I was sure that this man was not the kind of Mad that people were saying, he was certainly not all ok! I think Rao was just craving some physical contact! Living alone in the jungle for years without human contact does take a toll. I was slightly scared and worried at that point. Rao decides to change the topic! The Pork was ready so he got up and served the food!
Dinner done with, One hour later, I was back on the bonnet having a drink when Rao comes up to apologise. He hadn’t meant to startle or frighten me. But he had lost some of the sophistry needed for such interactions after 3 years in the forest. I accepted his apology and we quickly moved on to talking about other *safe* topics – like the just concluded Census project before moving on to random topics! Like how a certain Telugu film star would come often to this jungle with his buddies to hunt from his helicopter! There was certainly a bit of exaggeration there! While I totally believe that the said Telugu superstar could be coming to this Jungle to hunt, I very much doubt he will be shooting from a Helicopter! 😏 We talked and talked mindless shit like this losing all track of time!
It was past midnight and we were still chattering away when suddenly the crickets stopped chirping. In the silence of the jungle these things are very noticeable. We both heard the silence but I didn’t know what it meant at the time – He did! “Tiger is coming” he said in Kannada. Before I could fully understand that statement, the loud mating call of a Tiger rang out across the lake from somewhere on the far side!
Uuungh! Ooongh! Aaa-ungh!
There was no mistaking that sound! It was the call of a Female Tigress and she was coming towards the lake looking for a mate! The crickets by the lake had heard or sensed the Tigress’s calls long back and so had stopped chirping. A minute later, we could see her blurry figure standing under the same tamarind tree that I was planning to camp under earlier that day and 10 minutes later, she boldly walks into the moonlight to the lake to drink! Rao says he can mimic the call of a male tiger just to see what would happen! I stop him saying that the Tigress will come bounding across the lake bank and reach us in 2 minutes and then she is going to be real mad at not finding her mate! While we were still debating in whispers about this, a male tiger called from somewhere in the woods to the East. The Tigress looked back and when the call was repeated, she took off in a flash!
Sitting on the other side of the lake, I was beside myself with excitement – the sighting of a wild tiger, especially in circumstances like this one is the sort of experience you cherish for a lifetime! “Tigress in the moonlight” is a story that I would be telling and retelling at jungle campfires for eternity – like I eventually actually did many times! 😂 I was in a very good mood! The good mood, the alcohol and the jungle all conspired against common sense that evening and I started feeling my inhibitions slipping away. We kissed! And then it spiraled rapidly out of control! Tongues, Hands and, everything else were reaching for each other as we fell into the bed in his car! Fortunately, common sense came crashing back just in time and I pushed him away! What the hell was I doing? Hooking up with a stranger in this manner was entirely out of character for me. Plus this man may not be Crazy but he clearly was not a 100% alright! Did I really want to take this further? Hell no! I extricated myself from the situation, walked quietly over to the Gypsy and went to sleep! Rao did not pursue the matter!
Next day morning, there was a cloud over the camp as both of us were embarrassed by the turn of events. I announced my decision to return to the Bungalow while Rao was trying to convince me to stay another night! But the damage had been done! I packed up camp and drove back to the Bungalow. I told the caretaker Syed later that evening that I had met Dr.Rao the previous evening though I obviously left out the details. I clarified that I had not meant any offense to anyone earlier and I now had a better understanding of the whole situation. Syed seemed convinced by my explanation – at least he didn’t make any comment to the contrary! 4 days later, it was time for me drive back to Bangalore. These 4 days had given me time to introspect, think things through and take a more rational approach. Mental illness spans a wide spectrum and while I am no medical expert, I think Rao was clearly exhibiting signs of Bipolar Disorder along with other symptoms on this spectrum! Rao clearly needed help that he would not get in the Jungle. But I knew it would be difficult to get him out of this jungle and back to civilization!
I decided to stop by Rao’s hut on my way back to Bangalore in order to reopen a line of communication. It did work to an extent – we got back to being friends. But the moment I mentioned him getting back to Bangalore and rebuilding his life, it seemed to trigger an almost violent reaction! Clearly, I was touching a nerve and very clearly I was not equipped to handle this situation! This needed a professional touch.
I carefully backed out of a confrontation, promised to stay in touch and drove back to Bangalore. Once back, I called up Junglee friends who had known about this man and told them the relevant details of our interaction as well emphasizing that this man needed to get help! This is where I ran into an issue. Almost no one wanted to help since they felt it was not their domain of expertise or that it simply was none of their business! One person even asked me if I would have said the same things if the man in the jungle was not an English speaking city dweller but just another guy with similar mental issues! Fair point, I guess?!
Months passed and it was July before I got an opportunity to visit this forest again! A research group was heading back there again and I managed to get on the team for the first week! It was only on Day 3 that I could manage to get an opportunity to drive to that part of the forest where Rao lived.
Reaching the spot, I was baffled to see that not only had Rao vanished but the spot had been so thoroughly cleaned up it was almost like he never lived there! The old broken patrol house was still there. But the bamboo shed with the car and adjoining cultivation was all gone. The only clue was the clear shadow that marked the spot where the car had been parked for 3 years! What had happened here exactly?
I returned to the Bungalow and over the campfire that night, bought up the topic of Dr.Rao hoping to get some answers. Syed said that Rao had disappeared 3 months ago in March. Nobody had seen him after that! I didn’t ask about the car because I didn’t want to reveal the fact that I had visited the spot earlier that day.
I couldn’t sleep at all that night! I tossed and turned thinking about where Rao might be now and in what state! The next day, I left at dawn to visit that spot again. This time I looked around the area a little bit. The clearing where Rao had lived was surrounded on three sides by dense lantana bush with the lake on the fourth side. Beyond the lantana was a small grove full of Tamarind trees planted close together. For no specific reason I decided to start from the Southern side and go clockwise. As soon I as crossed the lantana, I smelled the faint but distinctive “sweet” smell of decomposing flesh. My first thought was that there must be a Tiger kill lying somewhere around here! You know how the smell of decomposed flesh goes from Rotting to “Sickly Sweet” over a period of a week? This was clearly the latter kind. If there was a kill lying around it was old and there was no immediate danger of a Tiger because Tigers never return to a week old kill! But I couldn’t see a kill or signs of a kill anywhere around the place! No tiger had been here in a long time! And then suddenly I saw it! As I turned to go back through the lantana back to where my Gyp was parked, I saw a large Duffel Bag jammed under the thorny lantana! I remembered seeing this specific type of bag before! My friend Ibrahim’s dad had one of these at his farmhouse! It was one of those large duffel bags that sportsmen use to transport rifles by air. But what was this large and clearly expensive bag doing jammed under the thorny lantana bushes? Perhaps it contained Rao’s belongings and he had stashed it here?
Believe it or not, the decomp smell was there but it had no “direction” meaning that it didn’t seem to be coming specifically from that bag! So I had no reason to suspect anything when I grabbed that bag and hauled it out of the bush. It was only when I forced the jammed zip open that the grisly truth came pouring out – LITERALLY! Once the zipper was opened, there was no more doubt where the smell came from – it was all over the place and over me! For Inside the bag was a heavily decomposed body. We all know the difference between 3 day and even 7 day old kills in the Jungle. I am not sure how old this body dump was – weeks/months? But this body, protected from vultures by being in that bag under the lantana had basically turned to a tar-black oozy liquid and a bunch of bones!
There was no way to positively identify the body except that the victim was definitely male. Strangely, there were 2 bangles in the bag – robbery was clearly not the motive for these looked expensive! Was it Rao or was it someone else? If it was someone else did Rao do this and escape? If this body was of Rao, Was it that Telugu Film star and his cronies who did this? Was it the manipulative Father-in-Law?
That was an expensive type of duffel bag – tracing the owner might perhaps lead to whoever did this? One thing was clear – this was no accident! Placing a body in a duffel bag and then jamming that bag under the lantana bush showed clear deliberate action by someone!
Some of that oozing liquid got onto my wrist and fingers. Shaking my hand in disgust, I rubbed my hand on the ground below to get the awful thing off me and then walked away. My initial thoughts as I crossed the lantana and got back to the Gyp was that I would go to the CCF and then with him to the Police. But as I was driving back I began to have second thoughts. I parked the Gyp right at the point where the trail meets the North-South trunk road going towards Bokada and stopped to think.
We all know how the minds of Indian policemen work! If they don’t find an obvious suspect they will try to pin the whole thing on the person who bought it to their notice! At the very least, they will try to intimidate the person who reported it to extort some money from them. What were you doing there in that part of the forest? It wasn’t part of your assigned census route for Day 4! Did you meet this missing/dead guy in December? Were you friends or something more?
Perhaps the right course of action would have been to go to the cops. But the key to being safe in India is to stay beneath the radar so to speak! The moment she shows herself in any way, she runs the risk of being targeted for persecution! So I decided to do nothing and keep quiet! Feigning a medical emergency, I returned back immediately and drove through the night to reach Bangalore by the next day
morning.
Another thing I learnt from this experience – the smell of decomp doesn’t go away with a bath! I took 3 baths – one before leaving for Bangalore, one after reaching in the morning and another that evening! The smell was still there! Strong as ever! Apparently, the decomp germs or whatever get into your Hair and skin cells and follicles! Very fortunately, I met an experienced Jungle hand that evening for beer and he guessed the problem immediately! He thought it was from hanging around a Tiger kill for too long! He had just the right solution! Lemon juice everywhere especially the hair and scalp followed by scrubbing with the remaining Rind! Leave Lemon juice on for and an hour and rinse off after that! It worked!
* - Names of Places and individuals changed
+ macchan - platform made of wood tied to the branches of a tree for observing wildlife in an Indian jungle. The simplest variety is nothing more than an old wooden cot (charpoy) tied to a branch upside down. In the last 2 decades, pre constructed metal macchans have started appearing. These are nowhere near as comfortable! 😠
**vadai – Savory street-snack made of Lentils popular across South India.
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