#PACE : QuTi (Quick Tips) for the Day_When Your Prayers Leave You Awestruck!!

Dear Patrons,

In PACE' Quick Tips Series, today, I am going to talk about a mesmerizing experience in an amazing place where Tigers reign the woods to enchant the visitors with their royal stature,...Yesss,..I am talking about BANDHAVGARH TIGER RESERVE!!

The story goes like this...

If Tiger is the animal you are fascinated about, Bandhavgarh is the place to encounter them! It was a fine morning of April 2015 when we started the tiger safari in the wee hours starting from our hotel at 5.30 am. The wind was chilly and we were in high spirits with a deep desire to see the beast roaming in the woods like the king of the jungle. Bandhavgarh has open gypsy jeeps that take the visitors in a group of 4 to 6 to different tracks where tiger sighting is highly probable, and even though the reserve has a decent population of tigers, it is still your good luck to actually see it right in front moving freely in the jungle.

We were surely, lucky to witness one right there passing through the kuchcha road and marking its territory by spraying its urine on the trees and bushes.

The jungle ride itself is so fascinating that you instantly fall in love with the thought of taking the safari to various tracks, adrenaline running in your veins yearning to see the tiger passing. The tiger undeterred by the noise of the engine, when several gypsies run through the tracks with the visitors, walks with such grandeur that you just miss a heartbeat and fixate your eyes to follow the tiger right till it disappears in the bushes without taking a breath, literally!! Those moments are the moments of being awestruck as if your dream just came true to see the beast right there, right in front!!

The safari lasted for almost an hour and a half as we covered some 15 kilometers in the dense jungle, first hour passing with only deers and neelgais to be seen, that too at a distance. We were standing on our feet in excitement right through the journey while the gypsy driver kept requesting us to be seated citing safety reasons. Our strong desire to see the tiger kept us on toes to keep looking left and right in quick succession not to miss a glimpse as and when the moment arises. And surely, the moment came when all of a sudden, the driver stopped the vehicle and whispered to us to stay quiet. Soon, the giant royal figure appeared crossing the road from left to right. All of us were watching with disbelief, our mouths open in awe. What a sight it was!!

We happily returned from the safari with the mission successfully accomplished. We just witnessed the Tiger walking past us freely and uncaged. The gypsy dropped us back at the hotel at around 7.30 am. We took a bath and prepared for breakfast. I wanted to tip the waiter after we finished breakfast and reached out to my back pocket of my trouser to take out my wallet...but, where was my wallet? It was not there in my back pocket and in an instant, all our excitement turned into grief. My wallet was gone!!! It had my driving license, aadhar card, my car RC, a couple of credit cards, my bank's debit card, some cash, and important documents.

I couldn't believe that I just lost all of them and felt quite dejected and frustrated to imagine the repercussions and hassles that I would have to go through in controlling the loss and applying for the documents all over again. No, it can't happen to us!! We have come here to enjoy our holidays, this loss can't ruin the entire trip. We reported the matter to the tour operator. He tried to contact the gypsy driver who took us to the jungle. But, his phone was out of reach and he could not be contacted. The tour operator told me that the driver has gone back to the jungle taking the other visitors around and shall only be back in the afternoon once his shift gets over. We knew that it would be next to impossible to find the wallet now. I was not sure whether I dropped it in the jungle or in the vehicle. Throughout the morning safari, we were so excited to see the tiger that I do not even remember if the wallet fell from my pocket while we were peeping left and right for a glimpse of the tiger as the vehicle moved on the kuchcha road of the jungle. We also got down at one or two places during the safari and who knows when and where the wallet must have fallen from my pocket.

We quickly went back to our hotel room and sat down to pray. I and my wife prayed in earnest and we continued for almost two hours without a break. We checked again for the driver and found that he had still not returned. We again sat down to pray and went on and on till it was 2 pm. The only thought that kept crossing our mind was to get the wallet back through some miracle. And surely, it would be a miracle if we found it as the law of probability was completely in our disfavor.

In about 10 minutes past 2 pm, we heard some noise at the hotel gate. The driver who took us in the morning apparently returned from his day-duty and was being questioned by the tour operator. I rushed to the gate and started looking frantically in the vehicle. The driver said that he has not seen the wallet and it must have got dropped somewhere in the jungle while we were hopping up and down the vehicle during the safari. I still kept my search on with prayers on my tongue. And, surely, after searching for good 5-6 minutes, I noticed a brown-colored shadow right beneath the back-seat of the gypsy near the support of the seat frame. It was barely visible from the side as I kneeled down on the floor of the vehicle and tried to retrieve the brown thing. It was stuck between the vehicle body and the seat frame and I had to literally stretch my full arm to reach there. With great difficulty, I finally succeeded to get hold of it and to my surprise, I was holding my lost wallet that gathered quite a dust since morning. It might have slipped from my pocket and found a place between the seat frame where no one noticed it lying there through the day. I checked for the contents and everything was in-tact; My prayers just got answered!!

I called my wife and we hugged each other delighted in disbelief. The sinking feeling immediately turned into a feeling of true joy and with folded hands, we thanked God Almighty. We were awestruck and had no words to express our gratitude. Even the driver, tour operator, and all others who by now knew about our story felt relieved as they congratulated us having found our lost treasure.

We were extremely happy as our wish just got fulfilled with earnest prayers!!!

-- Ajay Garg