Skip to main content

Lost in the woods

It was a Hot October morning when I set out to my newly discovered hobby, studying the jungle life.

This time the target was the woods near my native place on NH17.

These woods are quiet familiar as when we were kids we would have crossed them several times to reach our picnic spot hidden inside these jungles.

Though there isn't much wildlife left there now, the feel of being inside the woods wasn't less.

As I had been there a few times in past I knew the way...

My confidence was boasted when I found few familiar land marks... And then after the small munching break, I took a left turn...

And I had reached where I shouldn't have... and I was lost in the woods.

The place where I had reached wasn't the one I was expecting to reach. I had reached near a pond which I never knew existed.

And As expected I saw the first wildlife sign - the pugmarks. I was shivering with scare.

And then there was a movement in the nearby and there came a wolf & her newborns.

It was a real scary moment of my life. I was dead sure that now I won’t be going back to my world.

I started thinking about the incomplete tasks, assignments & my dog Rickie.

Same time I recollected Robert Frost's lines -

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep."

For first and only time in my life I started praying God to save my life.

I wondered to myself about the reckless driving practices that I followed sometimes,

About times when I jumped off a cliff to swim the river, about times when I trekked the Himalayas.

And the moment came and passed the wolves drank the water and went away. They didn't even pay any attention to me.

I was surprised. All I could think was probably the prayers were really answered.

I decided to go back the same way I had entered, every way looked just the same.

I was confused what to do next.

I kept walking for some more time; soon I saw some smoke rising in the sky.

It was a good sign indicating human dwelling and I decided to keep the faith and reach there.

And I was right. I had found the way out for the jungle safely.

I sincerely thank God for teaching me the value of life with this simple incidence.

Popular posts from this blog

Riki - The dog and Me -the Human

A promise that will last forever...  It was third week of November 2003. I was recovering from relapsed Malaria and pneumonia and had returned to my parent’s place from Navi Mumbai. My then husband turned up one early evening and surprised me with a gift. The gift was a cute little black Labrador retriever puppy of less than 3 months of age. (November 20, 2003) I always wanted a dog but my parent’s understanding of responsibility had always denied acceptance of a dog. We had fish and birds but a dog was too much. I had dreamt that when I will grow up I will get myself a German shepherd and my ex-husband always had dreamt of having a black lab. So obviously he picked up a black lab. When the puppy came home, my first reaction was, "ohh my baby is here!" Day one On day one, this pup sat near the chair which was like ten times his size, six months later he found that the space beneath this chair can be his hideout when a bath is called upon, and a year lat

How got Leh'd Part Three (10 August - 12 August 2014)

10th August:  It was a good morning as it I could get up leisurely and get ready. We packed all luggages and kept in the guest house’s cloak room. (There were barely two big backpacks technically.) Today, I was well prepared with motion sickness tablet. We set ourselves in the SUV and picked up 2 Austrian girls Viktoria and Christa. They were on long vacation to India. We withdrew some money as we did not have any bookings made at the Nubra Valley. Our driver Dorje was a middle aged man, who claimed to be an ex-army. Jolly good fellow. He was fun to chat and seemed to be experienced as he knew how to handle 4 girls. Khardung La is barely 40 km from Leh. And most of the road to Khardung La overlooks Leh city. Shanti Stupa looked glorious in soft sunlight. Now, we were gaining altitude rapidly and I was haunted by the memories of Kargil war and Formula One car at Khardung La. Every time, we drove past the Army Officers, a feeling of regret, shame and pride kept revolving in my hea

In search of footsteps of the Great Shivaji Maharaj - Umbarkhind

February 1661: It was 2nd of February and the Mughal Army was marching fast towards the Konkan region from Pune. The army consisted of Horses, Bulls, Elephants, small canons and men. They were equipped for a full fledged war anytime. Their head, Kartalab Khan, was a fierce Uzbek warrior. Trusted by the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb, he was sent to the Pune region to assist Shahista Khan to wage war against the Great Shivaji. Kartalab Khan was assisted by Kachhap, Jasawant Kokate, and the lady sardar RaiBaghan. The army had reached Lohgad and Khan had decided to take the pass between Lohgad and Visapur to enter Konkan. The spies informed Kartlab Khan that the Great Shivaji was resting at Kuruwande Village, roughly 4 miles west to the Lohgad. Khan instantly jumped at the opportunity to siege the Great Shivaji and gain higher ranks at the courts of the Emperor. Thus, the army changed its course and turned towards to Kuruwande. As they reached Kuruwande, they found that the informers