Tathastu Newsletter – October 2022
My Dear Guests,
Hara-bhara Namaskar!
In the last edition, my mention that Monsoon in Pench was not at all an off-season has been “bang -on”. Proven by very regular tiger sightings and also, the rare black leopard ‘Bagheera’, gracing guests with its darshan quite often.
Bagheera brought Pench in the national news with wildlife enthusiasts, photographers and tourists flooding our buffer to catch a glimpse of it. Cameras clicked away to capture the Black-beauty. And talking about BEAUTY, Bollywood actress Ravishing Raveena Tandon was at Tathastu for 3 nights and experienced fabulous sightings of Bagheera.
In tune to our compulsive habit of upgrading, it was the MUD Rooms that caught our attention this time. We have added new Blue Rooms, in addition to the existing Red, Yellow and Orange Rooms. Guests will experience the rural feel even better now.
Team Tathastu is delighted that from 1st November, 22, we will be ready to serve you at the famous Kanha National Park also! Our property situated only 6 km from Mukki gate will be known as “Tathastu Kanha – The Serenity Retreat”. It is a 12-room property spread over more than 10 acres and we hope to add 8 more rooms very shortly.
Ongoing works at Tadoba, Bori and Sanjay Dubri were slightly affected by the incessant rains. The positive side of the prolonged monsoon is that it has added to the greenery and the lushness of the jungle.
Guests have to eventually go back home … but only to come back to Tathastu, you will too!
Anil Agarwala
Managing Director
9823033644
anil@tathasturesorts.com
NATURE MATTERS
The Return of Bagheera!
Rudyard Kipling’s Bagheera, the black panther of his, “The Jungle Book”, is back, and how! Streaking across the road, peering from the behind the bushes at the tourist, disappearing inside the undergrowth, performing acrobatics on the branches! In the monsoon, when the buffer tourism is still on, these black panthers have been giving frequent delightful sightings in the Khawasa and Teliya buffer. Earlier, when the tourists rushed to see the tiger, today these blackies have grabbed all the attention, and the tourists are rushing to PTR specifically for them.
A surprise from nowhere, there were two cubs in the first litter – one normal, and one black male, about 3 years old now. Then again came two cubs in the second litter – one normal, and one black female, about a year old now, bringing the count of blackies to two – brother and sister. Very likely more of them in future.
Family Time: Tathastu has been a regular home for so many species of birds, nesting in our lakes in monsoon. The vegetation around our ‘bada talao’ is an appropriate habitat for water birds to start their families. This year we witnessed the full cycle of a cinnamon bittern’s offspring of 3 chicks. What an exciting experience!
Family Time!
Tathastu has been a regular home for so many species of birds, nesting in our lakes in monsoon. The vegetation around our ‘bada talao’ is an appropriate habitat for water birds to start their families. This year we witnessed the full cycle of a cinnamon bittern’s offspring of 3 chicks. What an exciting experience!
HappeningS
The Beauty and the Beast!
The big highlight of the quarter was a stay with us by thoroughly focused-on-wildlife, actress, and wildlife buff, Raveena Tandon. Needless to say, social media did more than its bit and mesmerized her with Blackie, so she, through her contact, Sarosh Lodhi, stayed with us, though she was in the forest most of the time, taking all the safaris, her chief aim being sighting Blackie, who had been giving very frequent sightings in the buffers of Teliya and Khawasa. We organised a formal event for her with the Forest Department. She would obviously be a great promoter of Pench, thanks to her excitement with the wildlife in PTR.
Dedication to
Wildlifers!!
We have hit upon an idea to dedicate our villas, Falcon and Flycatcher, on the other side of the lake, for hard-core wildlife buffs and photographers whose professions and interests often need a little exclusiveness and isolation. So, we are trying to give them this exclusive service, with a dedicated staff and a small restaurant catering to their needs. Also, people from abroad who may have different expectations could avail of this personalized experience to make their stay as enriching as possible. We are also adding a room to the mud rooms’ category, refurbishing them in a spacious arrangement.
New Openings!
Resorts at Kanha, Tadoba, and Satpuda Tiger Reserves.
In-House Celebration!
We celebrated Independence Day with all the in-house ladies, and the ladies from among the guests, hoisting the national flag, in spite of the heavy rains that had been lashing Pench then! Ganpati Puja was celebrated with great gusto too!
BEARING CRUELTY
For over 400 years, the Sloth Bear had been a target for human exploitation. A nomadic tribe, the Kalandars, began keeping ‘dancing’ sloth bears to entertain Mughal emperors, which gradually, became cheap roadside entertainment for people who paid to watch them.
The cruel practice of enslaving bears for use as ‘dancing’ bears has been illegal in India under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, but being not well enforced, hundreds of bears remained enslaved. They were poached from the forests as cubs, their mothers often killed, and sold in illegal markets to Kalandars, who have used the dancing bears as a source of income for centuries. With no anaesthesia, a metal rod would be inserted through their muzzle so that a rope or nose ring could be attached and they spent much of their lives in pain, chained to a stake or in a cage. Their canine teeth were crudely knocked out, and the bears were beaten into submission to teach them to perform.
In 1996, Wildlife SOS’s research indicated that there were more than 1200 ‘dancing’ bears scattered throughout India. In collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, International Animal Rescue, One Voice, Free the Bears, and others, Wildlife SOS established the Agra Bear Rescue Facility to rehabilitate bears, in 1999, located in an eight-hectare site inside the Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary (Keetham Lake), 17 km west of Agra – one of the four facilities in India which is operated by Wildlife SOS. It currently houses over 170 sloth bears and other wildlife, and does advanced research, disease management, and provides specialised veterinary and geriatric care for sloth bears. The facility is a tourist destination too.
On arrival to the facility, the rescued bears undergo a complete health checkup, treatment for any diseases, wounds and parasites and are vaccinated for several diseases. After a 90-day quarantine period to prevent infecting other bears, they are encouraged to go into large socialisation enclosures with other bears, where the behaviour and personality of each bear is monitored by Wildlife SOS staff.
After this process, the bear is matched to a group based on its personality, and then moved to a larger free-range area. The facility has full-time wildlife veterinary doctors and bear-keepers along with a laboratory, X-ray, ultrasound, dental suite, operation theatre etc. as well as a special facility for cub-weaning, dedicated to fostering rescued baby bears.
Being captive most of their lives, it’s unlikely they can ever be released into the wilds, but the goal of Wildlife SOS is to, basically, eradicate the awful practice. An important part is finding alternative sources of income for the Kalandars and educating them about the cruelty of their former profession. A number of young Kalandars are even employed at the facility helping care for the bears.
DId You Know?
- Common Basilisk is a lizard that is also known as Jesus Christ Lizard due to its ability to run on the surface of water.
- Cats spend a large amount of time licking their coats to keep them clean, Feral cats are often seen as pests and threats to native animals.
- A Flamingo’s head has to be upside down when it eats as it has to use the bristles at the top of its beak to filter out the mud and water that gets sucked in along with its actual food.
- The heart of a shrimp is located in its head.
Pi(c)k of the Quarter!
Team Intro - Ratnesh Kumar
General Manager, Tathastu, say’s, “Wonderful, wonderful people, wonderful place!” At 57, his debut in a forest resort, makes Ratnesh Kumar overwhelmed not just by the resort ethos, but the work culture, board of directors and the staff, in short, just about everything. He is particularly all praises for Anil Agarwala, Director, for being the person he is and for having created such a superb place!
An alumnus of IHM, Bhopal, a hard-core hotel management person, Ratnesh has primarily catered to business hotels, having worked in Taj Palace, Delhi, Meridien, ITC, Reliance, and helped create hotels, malls, and clubs. For several years he managed a timeshare company in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
With Covid making things boring and unhappening, when Tathastu came along, he decided, why not give it a try, and joined up in Oct 2021. He hails from Delhi, but despite being away from his family, is very happy with this platform.
