All out of the blue, my pals invited me to go along to Corbett National Park. And since I had nothing better to do (in fact, nothing to do), I was very happy to go. We booked a ticket in the afternoon, boarded the train in the night and viola, we were on our way to Corbett. In the morning, we landed at Ramnagar. There, we rented 2 rooms inside the park and hired a Gypsy (the gypsy car, not the fortune telling kind). We were 6 guys and fitted perfectly in the car – no more, no less. We went first to our rooms and were pleasantly surprised to find not just 2 rooms, but an entire cottage with a dining table, fireplace, kitchen, verandah and a huge clearing surrounded by thick woods. It was picture perfect. We then took our guide along with us into the jungle for the safari.

At first, we didn’t see any animals in our safari. We went through the thick woods and saw a few deer at times. The real safari started when we entered the grasslands. We stood on our seats and rode with the wind in our hair (and the dust that came with it). We saw lots of deer (sambhar, barking, etc.), wild boar, peacocks, mongoose, elephants and eagles. But we didn’t come across a single tiger in the country’s largest tiger reserve.

Anyway, we were not too thrilled with our safari. But I guess we thought too soon. On our way back, we came across a female elephant and her kids in the middle of the road. They refused to budge despite the advances of our car. To add to our worries, a male elephant (tusker) was grazing at the side of the road. With a mixture of caution and urgency, the guide tried to scare away the mother elephant. We contributed with our share of noises. The kid elephants wandered away. But the mother still stood there tearing the bark of the nearby trees. It was truly an awesome sight. We tried to sneak past the grazing elephant. But just as we neared her, she turned around in a flash which seemed impossible for such a huge animal. Then, she let out a loud trumpet and seemed to charge us. That single moment was extremely scary. The driver drove reverse as fast as he possibly could. He looked almost like he’d just pissed his pants. Thankfully, the elephant strolled away and we drove safely back to our cottage.

In the evening, we played some football with a miniature rugby ball and then played cards. The cottage had electricity only for 3 hours in the night. We were served rotis, rice and sabzi straight from the kitchen. The home-cooked feel along with the dinner table and fireplace really perked us up. After dinner, the electricity ran out. We were in pitch darkness in the middle of the forest. The caretaker had given us candles without any matches. As we stepped out of the cottage, we were amazed by the streaming moonlight which brightened our clearing. And we were equally scared to see innumerable glowing eyes looking at us from the woods bordering the clearing. The setting was as chilling as it could possibly get. Surrounded by wild animals and listening to wild noises, as we stood there bathed in an eerie moonlight, we truly felt powerless in the hands of nature. We called out to the caretaker and after numerous attempts, he came out with a lantern. He looked very scared for a guy who’s been living there for so many years. He gave us the matches and hurried back.

We spent the night in candle light and befitting to the atmosphere, we started telling ghost stories (or rather supernatural incidents) – like the one about the house in which no one lived beyond 50, or the one about the house in which the first children were all born with disabilities (I even told my spooky poem about the murdering father). As some guys started getting really scared with the stories, we turned the conversation to psychology. Illuminated by candlelight, we spoke of ego, love, relationships, fears, joys and a lot more. We shared our perceptions about each other and learnt a lot more about each other. The night we spent in the dark was the most memorable and enjoyable part of the trip. Finally, we went to sleep with animal noises ringing in our ears. In the morning, we found out that an elephant had been near our cottage.

The next day, we played some more football, had our breakfast and left on another safari. This time around, all of us just slept in the car. In the evening, we went back to Ramnagar and visited a barrage to kill some time. We had loads of fun walking across the fast flowing water. Finally, we went back to the railway station at night, had dinner and boarded our train back to Delhi. Only after getting back to Delhi did I really start feeling tired and worn out.

Total expenses – Rs. 1800. The experience – priceless.