Lap of Nature

The journey started keeping one thing in mind to get out of the fast happenings in the city life where things changing with a blink of an eye, where everyday we will be out dated if we are not running. A forest is may be the best way where we can be present in every situation and feel the silent nature of the woods. This may be my first ever trip to the forest, but the intention is too witness and feel the serenity of the nature. with a short notice me, with two of my childhood friend booked ticket to New Alipurduar. Destination was Chilapata forest which is in the Dooars region. Around 9 in the morning we reached to New Alipurduar station. In around 30 mins we have started seeing long Sal trees standing tall. It took 40 mins to reach to our guest house from where the the entrance of the forest is around 50 feet may be. 

After a quick breakfast and a shower we took a small stroll near the forest, saw a villager having a kukri knife walking with few cows around the forest fence. The march month is pretty warm in Chilapata but not humid like Kolkata. After having a good Bengali lunch with rice, moong dal, one mix veg curry, and a good portion of Katla fish curry and in desert chatni, we took a short nap as around 3 in the afternoon we needed to start the jungle safari.

 At 3:15 we reached near the entrance which is basically opposite of our guest house. A open hooded jeep came to pick us up with a driver and a well experience guide. Me along with my two friends and Avik da, who actually managed our Chilapata trip and a well known guy in North-Bengal forest department enter into the forest. The village workers usually collect Sal from the nearby Sal trees in the forest, as we entered we see few workers carrying Sal out of the forest, as we move deep inside slowly the sound of silence wrapped us around, and we couldn't hear anything except the dry sound of the leaves and the chirping of birds. 

The one thing I started feeling that every moment you will feel that someone or something may be watching or stalking you from the tree hides, the more we go inside the more this feeling started growing.

 One point we come across near Nal Raja's territory where the marking of the territory is still presence, We came near a tree named Ramgua where the red liquid flown from the tree is really mysterious to watch. We come to know the tree bleed like that. After almost 1 year we have come across a place where there is no bound to wear a mask as the purity itself can be felt. A place where we can breathe without thinking of anything. Slowly few barking deer we have seen from the guides eye, as rarely anything is missing from his eyes. sometimes the peacock was checking us from a distance and move inside. After reaching deep inside one place our guide pointed the finger in a distance and we saw a Bison was looking straight to us with her two cubs, and one is bathing in a nearby river and somehow got scared by us and disappeared into the deep. 

Although there was elephant, Leopard in the forest they didn't bother to give them its presence to us, the Leopard usually seen near by village side and tea gardens. The forest is unpredictable sometimes, and we need to love that as it may surprise you anytime, you may not seen any animals but the presence and serenity of the nature the sound of the dried leaves will make you fall in love with it. As the sun started going down we have decided to make our way out of the forest, as we headed out of the forest suddenly from the open hood we noticed something in red color is standing in between the narrow lane, as we moved forward, we noticed a village woman was entering into the village. We didn't get any reason why she is entering into the forest on that time where may be she will not get out there alive. Somehow we managed to tell her its not safe and picked her up in our jeep and dropped her near the checkpoint. On my first visit this incident was really mysterious as anything seen in the forest specially a human being in the evening truly makes you think differently. 

Although we haven't seen any animals as such but the forest didn't disappoint us at all. That night we finished our dinner with chicken curry and chapati and frequent mysterious call of peacock from deep inside the forest said good night to us. 

Simlipal forest was burning that time now Bandhavgarh forest also facing the consciences of the fire, as we were seeing the dark forest and listening the sound from deep inside of the non-humans, and were thinking and hoping this forest should stays like this.