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| Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn... |
I am not sure how much a nature lover I am but since childhood forests have attracted me like magnets. Inside forests I feel much like home and they are surely my favourite getaways from the chores of city life. Even when I am not travelling I love to read books related to wilderness, hunting and animal conservation. Few of my favourite writers are Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhay, Kenneth Anderson, Jim Corbett, and John Henry Patterson. Their real life experiences and writings have moved my soul deeply everytime I went through their writing. When I was young, books like Chander Pahar and Aranyak left deep impact in my thought process and the love that I developed for nature and wilderness stayed with me since then. It helped me to transform into a person I am today.
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| How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you... |
While returning from Santineketan, my vlogger friend Abhranil (DaBong Family) requested me to plan for the next trip. Much to my delight this time his preference was forest. There are numerous forests throughout India and to choose amongst them is the most difficult part of the plan. Also, we had to keep in mind our pockets as regular travelling sometimes hit us hard financially. Straining every nerve and keeping the budget in mind I zeroed in at the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in Jharkhand.
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| At the entrance... |
Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is located ten kilometres from the city of Jamshedpur in the state of Jharkhand. Inaugurated in 1975 it holds significant population of Indian Elephants. On hearing that we were planing for Dalma my brother and Promita joined in. While I called few of my friends to check their availability so did my brother. Finally we were ready with a team of seven people.
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| Team Dalma |
After preparing my team, the next thing that struck my mind was where to stay in Dalma. Though there are many hotels in and around the sanctuary, my aim was to stay inside the forest. After searching for the availability of the Forest Rest house we found one at Makula Kocha inside Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.
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| Makula Kocha Eco Hut, Dalma |
According to the plan we commenced our journey on 28th May, 2022. From Howrah we boarded Howrah-Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express(12021) at 6.20 A.M and reached Tatanagar Junction at 9.52 A.M.
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| Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination... |
On reaching Tatanagar Junction we searched for our already booked car driver (Dhananjay-8210867744) and headed straight for breakfast to a nearby South Indian stall where most of us had Dosa and some Idlis.. Jamshedpur is a very well planned and properly maintained city. We were amazed to see the cleanliness of the roads. After breakfast we visited Jayanti Sarovar just opposite to the famous Jubilee Park.
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| Jayanti Sarobar |
We found Jayanti Sarovar very similar to our own Rabindra Sarobar. It is a beautiful place and is a home for migratory birds during winter season. Tata Steel Zoological Park is adjacent to the sarovar and is one of the popular tourist destinations in the town. We booked a battery driven car inside the zoo for forty minutes for Rs 50 per head and went around the park.
We spent a lot of time inside the park observing the animals. Finally the humidity and heat got the better of us. We skipped Jubilee Park and headed straight to Dalma. After taking our respective bathes, lunch was served. Here I would like to mention that once you decide to stay in Forest Rest House you cannot ask for home like comfort. If you say why should I book one then? My answer would be to enjoy the ambience and the lifetime experience of spending a night inside the pristine jungle.
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| Go where you feel most alive... |
That day, after lunch we headed straight for Chandil Dam. Promita and my brother were too tired and decided to stay back. On our way to Chandil Dam we stopped at an unknown Shiva Temple situated in a picturesque location. The ambience and the remoteness of the place touched our soul. We were so engrossed in the ambience that we almost forgot about time and our next destination until our driver called us.
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| Life isn't a matter of milestones but of moments... |
When we reached Chandil Dam, the sun was setting in the western sky. We were just in time to witness one of the memorable sun sets of our life across Subarnarekha river. Only a few lock gates of the dam were open during our visit.
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| Chandil Dam |
When we left Chandil it was almost dark. While returning to the forest rest house we drove through pitch black forest. Whenever I travel I carry a powerful four battery torch and decided to flush it through the dark forest to catch a glimpse of reflecting animal eyes. Sadly, I could see none. That was a full moon night and the jungle around us looked magical. I requested others to go for a walk through the jungle though it is not at all recommended. The rest house authorities warned us against going too far in that dark. However, we decided to visit the area adjacent to the deer park. There we saw something that is supernaturally beautiful. We saw thousands of well lit eyes from the pitch dark dense jungle. It was sheer adrenaline rush. Although, all the eyes were of the different kinds of deer sheltered in the deer park, our excitement knew no bounds. Later we also went to the shelter of Forest department's tamed elephant. Walking through the jungle in a full moon night was a long cherished dream of mine and believe me the experience was overwhelming. I thought about the hunters who have spent night after nights in the forest sitting ontop of a tree or wooden platform tracking man-eaters. It gave me goosebumps.
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| Wilderness touches the heart, mind and soul of each individual in a way known only to himself... |
Next day, i.e., 29th May, 2022 we woke up early. After breakfast we headed straight to Dalma Hill top via Pindarbera Forest Rest House. The view of Jamshedpur city from Pindarbera is breath taking.
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| Pindrabera Forest Rest House... |
From Pindarbera we went to Dalma Hill top. In my personal opinion I didn't like the place much. Apart from the Hanuman Temple at the top the entire place lacks maintenance. Moreover, the tourists from the adjacent places have filled the place with plastic trashes. My humble request to tourists travelling anywhere in the world is to "take only memories and leave only footprints."
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| Dalma Hill Top |
We spent around two hours at the top enjoying the view it offered. Enriched, we returned to our rest house.
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| No one who loves the woods stays on the path... |
That afternoon temperature went as high as 42 degree centigrade. That day, in the evening it felt like as if the heaven broke down and atrocity of the rain was relentless. We enjoyed the fierce downpour from the comfort of the rest house with a cup of tea in our hand.
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| Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain... |
That night we chatted for long hours while playing cards. Finally, the dinner was served and we retired for the day. Next day, i.e., 30th May, 2022 we woke up at 4 A.M and went to the Makula Kocha Village located three kilometres away from our rest house.
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| The cleanest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness... |
We checked out from the rest house at 11 A.M, put our luggages in our car and went to the adjacent deer rescue centre. We left Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary and headed for our last destination of the trip Dimna Lake. Dimna is an artificial lake in the steel city of Jamshedpur. It is located in the foothills of Dalma mountain range and is famous for its serenity and pleasant greenery.
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| Dimna Lake, Jamshedpur |
Few locals were bathing in the lake and as usual Promita, Sudipto, Suman, Abhranil and my brother could not resist themselves from plunging into the lake.
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| Learn the art of growing without losing your inner child... |
As we had a train to catch so we could not prolong our enjoyment at Dimna any longer. We had our lunch at a renowned Chinese joint near Tatanagar railway station.
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| Nothing brings people together like good food at a good restaurant... |
Dalma left a deep impact in each one of us. The memories of moonlit jungle pathways, adrenaline rush while driving through the jungle at night, staying in a forest rest house and childish plunge into the Dimna Lake will stay with us forever.
Until next time...
(Picture Courtesy: Sudipto Sinha, Emon Bag, Suman Karmokar and Abhranil Kundu)
(N.B- Videos of our trip to Dalma can also be see in DaBong Family youtube channel.)
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