Somewhere along the stretch of Western Ghats, in the forest roads connecting Mysore – Coimbatore lies a place called Hassanur (Satyamangalam district, Tamil Nadu). A forest check post and a police station are the only visible structures in the region. Inner roads that lead to deep forest and intermittent green farms are the region’s highlight.
Touchdown and approximately half a kilometer walk from the check post nestles a small restaurant which is a stopover for buses, heavy motor vehicles and other commuters in that route. Little do we expect is the existence of small resort besides this restaurant. Seated in the restaurant table sipping hot tea, we are awaiting a person whom we came to hear a few months ago someone who inspired us to travel all the way to this isolated region.
Ever since we began exploring places, we are meeting different kinds of people whom we never dreamed would meet in life. The journeys helped us capture different views and perspectives of life. But this was the first time ever that we traveled such a long distance to meet someone whom we came to know about from an online article.
It was during our previous travel to Parambikiulam that we came across many stories about the Satyamangalam forests which tempted us to travel 212 Kilometers all the way from Parambikulam Tiger Reserve to Satyamangalam, clueless of what was awaiting us. However we failed to explore the forest region due to heavy restrictions and limited information. But before we left Satyamangalam that day, we had a new Name added to our contact list, ‘Krishnakumar’. It was an online article which we came across while searching for details to explore Satyamangalam. The article, written by a professor in Coimbatore details a visit to Satyamangalam and gives special thanks to Krishnakumar for taking them around the vicinity of Satyamangalam forests and also praising him about the initiatives taken by Krishnakumar in preserving the wild of Satyamangalam. Few conversations over phone and rising curiosity about the place which less people dared to explore due to the fear of the legendary Dacoit, we decided to hit the road.
10th May 2014 –
After an overnight journey from Trivandrum > Coimbatore and in a Coimbatore > Mysore bus, through the ghat roads of Dhimbam we stepped out in the Hassanur stop in front of a forest check post. The welcome note at Sathyamangalam was a scary round of questioning by the forest officials. The policeman at the check post was specifically not happy with the DSLR which Ajit was unfolding from his backpack. We managed to get away convincing the officials that we were heading straight to Bhama resorts and that the intent was just to meet Mr Krishnakumar who owned the resort.
” Don’t sneak into the forest “
” Refrain from using the camera “
” Restrict yourself to the resort during the stay at Hassanur “
The instructions went on to which we kept repeating “Yes”, “Seri Annai”, “Ok Annai”. “Nandri Hai” before they let us walk off without being tagged as followers of Verappan. However all that we said YES to NOT DOING were the things which we had in our TO DO LIST at Sathyamangalam.
We switched to ‘DECENT’ mode. The cameras and gadgets returned to the backpacks and we slowly walked half kilometer through the silent road to the small and isolated restaurant. The caretaker of the resort whose name is Santhosh shook our hands and lead us through the narrow path besides the restaurant kitchen which opened up to a greener space behind the restaurant. The space had many huts which well blended with the surrounding. They were given interesting names such as ‘Tiger’, ‘Woodpecker’ etc. We stepped into one of the huts which overlooked a small stream running deep below. It was a simple room blessed with a sit out which opens view of hills and forests. Assemble at the canteen is the instruction from Santhosh who is preparing breakfast for us.
Wondering clueless on our next step, we strolled the resort premises waiting for our days plan when Santhosh handed over the phone to me. Mr Krishnakumar on the line welcomed and inquired our arrangements and informed us that he would be joining us by 4 pm. He wished us pleasant stay till then. However to our disappointment he was totally silent on any arrangements made for a safari or other activity which left us totally puzzled.
” Did we travel more than 600 kms just to explore an old farm converted to a resort? “
We started questioning the idea of putting all hopes on a person whom we knew just through few conversations over the phone and an article which was written by a still bigger stranger.The BIG decision was to keep all these scary thoughts apart and to make a fest out of the unlimited breakfast offered to us.
“Paper Dosa, Set Dosa, Kal Dosa, Omlette, Chapatti” we dint spare any items listed in the old and crumbled menu.
Apart from good food, what caught our attention was the canteen wall which was covered with news paper cuttings, articles and certificates of honor, all of which had a common name mentioned in it ‘Krishnakumar’. While the articles lauded the efforts from Krishnakumar to protect the Tigers at Satyamangalam, the certificates and appreciation notes from various Government bodies, other institutions made him look like a real hero.
We were not totally sure about what would prompt someone to spend his time and earnings in protecting the wild cats. The famous Dacoit, local Hero who went around hunting inhabitants of the wild and the not so famous unsung Hero who spend his life trying to protect the wildlife. Two contrasting souls who belonged to the same soil.
Time was plenty with us an some among us were found sleeping while the others were busy photographing the sleeping ones hoping for some funny portraits.
4:00 pm – we were at the restaurant sipping a cup of hot tea when we heard a Jeep ’s roar. Walking towards the restaurant was a tall man in his late 50’s, with white hair that talked about the deep experiences he had. He was heavy on his footsteps and yet his body language radiated a lot of positive energy. Seeing us he approached our table with a tea and cigar in hand. High pitched, sharp and commanding voice, he introduced himself to us in fluent English. He talked like a strong and powerful leader. However we didn’t fail to surprise him as we narrated the events that unfolded during our previous travel that lead our hunt for Nature’s Magic all the way to Satyamangalam.
We sensed the adrenaline levels rising as Krishnakumar narrated about how he managed to get special approvals to take us through the restricted woods. Though zone was declared as Tiger Reserve in 2008, no major work has been done till date to secure the wildlife and the place was totally closed to public access. We were to be one among the first few explore the place post Verappan’s death. The Tea cups were cleared in quick time and we pushed ourselves into the jeep
Mr Krishnakumar took the drivers seat while one of his local acquaintance accompanied us. The jeep began accelerating through the not so busy streets of Hassanur before taking a turn to inner roads leading to the forests. We passed through small villages with green fields on either side. Every villager passing by had a respectful look at Krishanakumar. He stopped the Jeep at the sight of an old women inquiring her recent happenings and promised her all his support an smiled at us before accelerating the jeep.
The jeep advanced into the forests. Rather than capturing the beauty around, we are all our ears listening to Krishnakumar’s narrations about the life around.
We referred back to the numerous articles displayed in the canteen and the details we deduced from the little online research we did about tiger population growth in Satyamangalam. He had a story for all of them.
” Have you ever seen a tiger in its habitat? ” was the first major question to us from Krishanakumar – for which a quick “NO” was our answer. But along with the answer , Ajit opened the stage for Krishnakumar giving the same question.
Krishnakumar took us along with him to the days he first learned from the villagers about the Tigers at Satyamangalam forests. Ever since he had a never-dying curiosity to learn more about the Big Cats and with time he himself learned about the marks which confirmed the presence of the Wild Cat. Till recent, the woods at Satyamangalam was home to the much feared Dacoit ‘Veerapan’. However if the stories are to be true, he was looked upon by the villagers as the local ‘Robin Hood’. The Dacoit king hunted down Wild Elephants along with officials who dared to step into the woods. Though the Elephants and Officials were in war with him, the other wild inhabitants worshiped him as God.
The forest remained unexplored and untouched because of Veerappan. Me, Sooraj and Ajit was stunned listening to Krishnakumar and the villager who narrated about the better side of the Dacoit while we earlier knew him only through the scary news and criminal charges against him. Veerappan’s presence was indeed a blesing in disguise for the nature lovers and wildlife enthusiasts. The Tiger population at Satyamangalam steadily increased during Veerappans reign.
Veerapan’s downfall triggered a decline in the Tiger population at Satyamangalam. With the savior of the jungle getting restricted to a legend, the villagers started exploring the woods. They would let the cattle grace freely at open spaces near to the jungle. The Wild Cats at Satyamangalam found the cattle an alternate source of food with less prey base in Satyamangalam. The Tiger’s had a unique hunting pattern that they would kill its prey, eat the soft flesh on the outer layer and would leave the carcass to rot over the next couple of days. The decaying flesh would turn more soft and the Big Cat would return to finish its meal. However the Tigers prey was the major source of livelihood for the villagers which left them in despair and vengeance. Knowing the Tigers hunting pattern, the villagers started began poisoning the carcasses of the dead cattle. This resulted in more Tiger death’s and the majestic Roar’s slowly started disappearing from the woods.
It was a simple philosophy which prompted Krishnakumar to step up as a Guardian for the woods. ” A common man’s thoughts and worries are more concerned on his primary occupation and how to feed the family, before worrying about the nature.While on one side, it is a cause of the villagers’ primary occupation, and the other side what is also at stake is the possible extinction of an animal that we need to protect to balance the eco system and food chain ” … the narration went on.
While you can’t prevent the tiger from preying upon the cattle, the only solution was to convince the farmers not to poison the carcass which the tiger leaves for next day’s feed. There was only possible solution to refrain the farmers from poisoning the carcass was to compensate them for the loss incurred. Thus, he began paying the farmer’s for every kill by the Big Cat. He also started putting efforts to educate the farmers on the importance of tiger conservation thus welcoming farmer’s participation in tiger conservation. Krishnakumar’s efforts help spread word of mouth throughout the region and then the farmers began knocking Krishnakumar’s door whenever they had their cattle’s killed by the Big Cat. We could sense the pride in his words when he concluded that ever since he began compensating the farmer’s loss, it has helped to keep the tiger population steady.
6:10 pm – the drive continued in the woods. The Jeep had a surprise for us. It was Sooraj who noticed a latch on the rooftop and he pushed it up with Krishnakumar’s approval. All three of us were seen super excited peeping out of the opening on the roof as the Jeep slowly started grumbling through the rock laid path. The view of Nilgiri Hills at some distance blushing under the setting sun’s rays was breathtaking.
Krishnakumar took an unexpected pause and quickly jumped out of the drivers seat. what caught his attention was a fresh pug mark in the path. Click Click .. He observed the pugmark and explained that it belonged to a Male Tiger. He knew how to read the clues left behind by mother nature.
We occupied the jeep and the ride continued along with the narration. The road ahead took us across a fleet of huge Sambar Deers which was too quick for our cameras as well as eyes. The final stop was at a watch tower with few security guards deployed at that point. There existed a water tank close to the watch tower where the Big Cats were often found visiting in search of water. We listened to one of the guards narrating about the strange experiences within the wild while spending the night at the watch tower. We slowly walked towards the water tank in anticipation of animal presence. Unlucky we were …
It was almost 7 when we started the return drive. Though the woods turned pith dark, the road still was illuminated by the setting sun. The slight drizzle breathed fresh life to the fireflies. The road’s were totally covered by the fireflies and we had to jump back to our seats closing the latch on the roof. We had all chances of spotting a Bear on the road since the fireflies were a major attraction for them.
It was around 8 pm in the evening when we were dropped back at the resort. We kept Krishnakumar busy with the conversations for some more time talking more about the efforts of wildlife conservation and various challenges lying ahead. Even though funding is a major challenge for conservation he manages mostly through the revenue from the restaurant and resort. Before wishing us good luck for the rest of the night, he inquired about our plans for the next day and arranged a morning trek to the highest peak in Hasanur. It was a blessing for us that he offered us free stay at the resort till next noon.
The final day was spend on a 6 hours trek as it drizzled to one of the most scenic view points we have ever been to. Three of us dint have to think twice to climb the rocks towards the edge of the cliff to capture some of the best portraits at Satyamangalam.
The trek also took us across a heard of wild Buffalo’s charging towards us. The two guides who accompanied us narrated about how the Elephants dominated the woods post Veerappan’s saga and why the presence of the Buffalo’s would help us stay away from any threat from the Elephants.
1:30 pm – A final walk around the resort premises, one final meet with the staff to thank them for the rich hospitality hey have offered to us. Our hunt for the lost souls at Satyamangalam comes to an end here. It was around 2:00 pm when we bid bye to the soil with a promise to be back once more.
9:30 pm (Somewhere on the route connecting Coimbatore and Trivandrum) I’m on my comfortable cozy seat traveling back to face the challenges in life. The thoughts and discussions still reflects back the life of Krishnakumar and many other similar people across the world. People because of their unique life’s purpose, we in the urban space breathe life every day. These people who perform heroic mission on earth aren’t famous, but still they remain and serve as a guardian of nature for the benefit of mankind. In search of more special people and places, untold stories and life, Haunting India to continue ..
WOW !!! 