Pen & Ink

Here are the pen and ink sketches I've been working on.

The Woodlands Big Bungalow was built in 1830 or so.

There's a monkey puzzle tree in the garden which is so tall it can be spotted from Doddabetta in Ooty. It was raining when I went to sketch this particular bungalow so I sat in the back of the Scorpio with the radio on, R was reading his book and we were served tea there by the butler.

Engifer the family cat at the home of the Managing Director came to inspect my progress.
There's a stunning garden in front of the bungalow with a beautiful lily pond and weeping willows. Bison are frequent visitors and can be found sitting on the lawn chewing the cud early in the morning.
The Manar Bungalow
Elephants come to eat the Jackfruit when the tree at the back of the house bears fruit. There's a lot of wildlife on the Craigmore property. Bison can be seen grazing in the tea fields at all times of night and day, camera traps set up by WWF to map the flora and fauna on Craigmore have captured leopards and panthers. Tiger has been sighted but has not been captured on film.
The Halashana Bungalow
A large garden umbrella was found to protect me and the sketch from the unpredictable weather so I could continue my sketching unhindered for two or three hours at a stretch. Garden umbrella, folding chair and table became a part of the standard equipment which were loaded into the Scorpio every morning.
The Craigmore Tea Factory. R's first visit to a tea factory to see how Orthodox tea is manufactured.
I sat in the tea fields under a garden umbrella, listening to my ipod while sketching the factory. Inspite of the garden umbrella I got sun burnt.

Must say this has been the most luxurious assignment I've had to date.

Tiger

I hope the road ahead this year is as fantastic as the one in the picture.This is the road down from Ooty to Gudalur and one stretch has these awesome towering eucalyptus trees.Its a road traversed a good twenty years or so back so there were parts I remembered clearly, names of places I'd forgotten but remembered the instant I saw a board and there were changes, improvement as well as signs of neglect.
The highlight of the trip was the sighting of a Tiger in the Bandipur forest on 31st evening. Unexpected, by chance and simply spell binding for all of three mintues. This was the first sighting for R and me and the first photo opportunity of the big cat for our friends who have captured the encounter with their brand of unparalled wildlife photography.See it all here.

Have you seen a tiger in the wild?Where did you encounter the tiger and what was the experience like?